I'm really sorry about the theft. Things like this are a violation that often have lasting effects.
I was thinking about insurance when I first read this post. My niece, who had a major house flood from an upstairs leak and has been out of her house for over 12 months while the claim settled and restoration commenced was told to visit the house every 72 hours as per insurance requirements and to maintain heat, water, etc. (in Canada, at least). They were able to visit initially and remove personal items, even though there were many structural and electrical hazards present at the time. If you were told you can't go in by law enforcement, I'm not sure that trumps insurance requirements. I'm not even sure law enforcement can actually tell you that, especially when the risk may be subjective (and they are not qualified). Again may be totally different in US.
Regardless, hopefully you get a lead for recovery or coverage to replace the stolen items.
A couple clarifications seem needed. No one ever said I could not enter the unit, but insurance said they would not cover any person other than me if I allowed them in and something happened because the structural engineer could not certify the stability of the home from what was visible. Because of that the reconditioning company had to suspend work after just 1 day pulling electronics and linens.
Because of the heavy smoke damage I was also advised not to remove items to use them or store in my rental unit. We have yet to come up with an agreement on how to handle reconditioning of the trains, as anything with a magnetic coil attracts ions in the smoke that can be extremely hazardous if not properly decontaminated, or so I was told. Sadly, now that is less of an issue with about 90% of my locomotives gone in the burglary.
The Idaho belt layout is likely toast as the J shaped central peninsula benchwork needs to be removed to allow the flooring to be replaced. It was all unsealed dimensional lumber, which also absorbs house fire smoke and all the contaminants contained in it that our modern treated carpet and furniture fabrics give off when subjected to intense heat. Many of those bi-products are known carcinogens. I was told if I unassembled the benchwork and put it back together after the flooring is replaced sealing the lumber with Kilz stain would probably prevent issues of odors, but do I really want to remove over 1250 drywall screws?
Surprisingly the county never officially declared the unit uninhabitable. Maybe they thought it obvious seeing all utilities were shut off during the fire and remain disconnected pending inspection of wiring and piping. I was able to go inside once a week or so to collect mail and check on a few areas open to the weather. Contractors said not to worry about moisture intrusion there as anything getting wet already needed to be replaced anyway.
No one expected that the burned unit's owner's insurance would take 7 months to concede that the cause was undetermined and authorize payments, so he could hire a contractor. And with labor and material shortages, construction companies in the area have been slammed with more business than they can handle. That situation has gotten worse with many restoration companies sending multiple employees to Florida to deal with flooding and damage caused by Ian. I am 10 1/2 months out from the fire and no significant repairs have been undertaken yet.
Even today, there is still a lingering smoky smell inside, especially on the upper floors. The basement odor has been overpowered by mustiness, and several doors now have large quantities of mold on them. There was significant seepage of water into my basement during the firefighting even though no hoses were used in my home. The new mold and smell probably stems from a combo of the seepage, plus new water entry from the window that was forced being left open. Those old school black boxes with foam cutouts to hold cars are all showing surface mold now. I had to back out today after about an hour of searching and cataloging what was taken despite wearing a mask because of the smell.
As to how surgical the theft was, there are contrary clues. Clearly the thieves were careful entering to avoid breaking glass or making noise, but they seemed to be looking for what they felt were high value items that were portable. They left bulkier items, and even some larger boxes of train supplies holding unopened building kits or scenery supplies (I still have my Sherman Hill dirt gathered on site 8 years ago for example). They left the large white boxes common to many NTRAKers that were filled with cars, but sucked up the engines, including a few newer purchases like my Kato FEFs that were only in their Kato boxes on a shelf, as well as my 3 brass models, and then the two copier paper boxes that were full of MT cars (2 stacked 2 deep) and my Kato, IM, and Atlas engines stacked vertically so I could read the end printing. They also grabbed a fishing tackle box full of engines, yet they left a couple wine boxes that store my PFE reefers and urine sample cup boxes that hold autoracks.
Maybe there is a lesson there.
