Insurance agents stress preparedness ahead of time after Davis Fire destroys 11 homes

RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — Insurance agents across northern Nevada are urging residents to be prepared after the Davis Fire destroyed 11 homes in the Washoe Valley area last week.

Agents hope people learn from that fire as to what to do before the next fire rocks our community.

Many of the personal items burned can be replaced, if you can you can prove you owned them. Insurance agents say it's important to walk through your house and take pictures of videos of items in each room.

Davis Heffern had done that long before he got evacuated the day after the fire started. Heffern was away from the house when the orders came down to evacuate and was more concerned about getting back to his pets than documenting everything in the house. But he's glad he had documented the items in his house.

"Nobody's prepared for this as much as they'd like to think so," he said. "You don't really realize what's of value to you and how fast you need to move."

Farmers agent John Barsanti recommends you take video of your items once a year, especially after Christmas if you receive a new piece of jewelry or another expensive item.

"It's really difficult if you're sitting there with no more house to remember what was in that room," Barsanti said. "What you have to do is walk through the house, take pictures and have a narrative while you're talking, 'this is my closet, I have seven Tommy Bahama shirts, this is my jewelry drawer."

Ironically Barsanti was also evacuated due to the Davis Fire and had time to quickly update his video.

He recommends checking your policy carefully for fire coverage for the exact details about what they will cover in the case of a fire, and what they won't cover.