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Fourmile Fire:3500 Boulder County mountain residents who were evacuated because of the Fourmile Fire should call their insurance companies at once – even if they do not know whether their houses are still standing.

In general, people who were forced to flee their homes in mandatory evacuations have cover “additional living expenses” in their regular homeowners’ insurance, which should give them money to cover such things as hotel rooms and groceries, according to the Carol Walker, executive director of Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association.

“Unfortunately, no one thinks that the unthinkable can happen, but, as we have seen, this can happen even on weekends, Labor Day. It’s just heartbreaking to see it,” Walker said. “The good news is that the insurance policy for homeowners, this standard covers damage to your structure and personal belongings in the fire. And many people do not realize that they have a certain amount of insurance coverage for out-of-pocket expenses.”

Walker said the typical policies cover personal belongings, down to the cover from 50 to 70 percent of the house.

Boulder County officials said at least 63 structures were destroyed by fire, but residents have not yet been contacted, if their homes were among those who burned.

But longtime Sunshine Canyon resident Steve Spencer said he was confident his home there.

“I had a few phone calls about it,” he said. “Someone watched it burn to the ground.”

Spencer said Monday morning that he plans to call his insurance company later the same day just to find out what protocol. In the end, – if he built a house does not actually take place – he plans to rebuild in the same area.

“I firmly intend,” said Spencer, who built the deck on his house when he first saw the smoke. “But it will have a roof of metal and concrete walls.

Although it is too late for those who have already been evacuated, Mel Telitz, Colorado-based spokesman for Allstate Insurance, recommends that people who are threatened with future evacuations now consider that they would take if they have to leave.

“It is very important that you gather your important papers and documents,” she said. “And it is very important to think about that, easily replaceable, and which items are not as family heirlooms.”

Telitz also said that people should document the fact that in their homes with a video or camera.

For those who have lost their homes in Fourmile Fire and who is not a document that was inside, insurance regulation will continue to work with them as much as possible, Walker said.

“They will try to recreate what they are,” Walker said. “People have much more documentation than they think they are – things like family photographs and credit card receipts.

And even if evacuated homeowners not to take photographs of their homes and property from fire, they should take some pictures as soon as they can return to their property, according to Tamara Pachl, spokesman for State Farm Insurance.

Pachl was the number of exhibition booth, emergency shelter, which was created the day in the Course Event Center at the University of Colorado campus. She said people were trickling in throughout the day.

“We told people to contact their State Farm agent,” she said, “even if they do not know what is going on – and save their income.

Tom Bethke, who was heading into a temporary shelter in search of lunch on Tuesday, said he had not contacted the insurance agent yet because he is not the one who owns the property.

“I live with my aunt and uncle, and now they are in the Caribbean. I tried to catch them, but I can not,” said Bethke, who was evacuated from Lee Hill Road. “So I do not have insurance. I do not know what it means to me.”