The careful work of locating the personal belongings of those affected by the Campanar housing complex fire goes beyond mere difficulty. The Valencia City Fire Department is going from home to home, gathering the most treasured items of each resident through a personalized process. Residents indicate to the authorities where the items they want to recover are located.
As explained to this publication yesterday, the first step is to enroll on a list of affected residents so firefighters can access their homes. Details include the height and the location on the floor, with some numbers having melted away due to the intense heat. Homeowners and tenants then draw a floor plan of each residence. They point out where the firefighters can find the items they are seeking, while the firefighters themselves, during the visit, might come across belongings that hold value for those who lost everything a week ago.
Once inside, the firefighter stationed in the residence makes a video call to a teammate who is with the affected people. Through the screen, they show how the home is arranged and the spots that have been marked on the plan to locate the belongings.
Through the video call, residents offer clues about where items might be found, and the firefighters demonstrate what they are discovering. In this way, rings, valuable jewelry, safes, clothing, keys, computers, and tablets have been recovered, and even a child’s Lego game from a firefighters park that could be returned to its owners has been retrieved.