Renter's insurance can be a godsend | Our Opinion

The fire that caused severe damage to a section of Greenhaven Apartments on Thursday was a tragedy.

Thankfully, no one was killed or seriously injured in the early morning blaze that has been ruled accidental, but the fire resulted in a lot of people who lost most of their belongings and one tenant lost her beloved dog.

Some people residing in the apartments only made it out with the clothes on their backs.

It’s a sad situation when events like this occur. People’s lives are turned upside down over the loss of their belongings, finding accommodations until they can find a place to live, acquiring new household goods, losing rent and bill money that may have been inside the apartments and array of other issues that come when a disaster like this occurs.

The building has been ruled to be uninhabitable, so those residents obviously will not be residing there anytime soon. 

Hopefully, the majority of the tenants who lived in the apartment building have now found permanent places to live or at least temporary residences.

Greenhaven Apartments offered space in its other apartments, which is nice of the owners, given the circumstances, but some who live there say that’s going to be tough because they don’t have money for next month’s rent and for bills.

Some who lost their living space and valuables also talked about how, in hindsight, they wished they would have had renter’s insurance.

Hindsight is always 20/20, of course, but looking back, it would have been a good idea.

Many tenants might not even think of getting renter’s insurance. It might slip a tenant’s mind; others might think it’s just not necessary.

Events such as the fire at Greenhaven Apartments and other fires in our city involving other apartments and houses are all the more reason that people should get renter’s insurance.

Renter’s insurance is inexpensive. The process for obtaining it is rather simple and literally, it can be invaluable for situations like this.

Renter’s insurance would help people get funding to help replace belongings lost in a fire.

Although you can’t replace sentimental belongings, insurance could at least help displaced tenants get back on their feet and help them financially recover after enduring an event such as the Greenhaven tragedy and other fires that will, unfortunately, affect other tenants in the future.