Fire in One of Rentals

So, I get a call at 5pm last Friday night from my tenant saying they had a fire at the house and the fire crew were there.

Hopped in my car and jetted on over there - seems like fire started somewhere in the eaves area of the garage where there were no electrical wires or any other potential source of combustion - burned through about three feet of rafters and trusses of garage roof, burning one of the main electrical cables on its way, thus cutting off power to the house.

Fire investigator was perplexed as to what could have happened - still waiting on fire report as they sent off samples for analysis - stay tuned!

I got an electrician to get the power restored - went and got the permit retroactively on Monday morning - so that the tenants could stay in the house (no damage to house, just side wall of garage).

However, on Monday morning the City inspector came to inspect electrical repair, and said that even though the house was fine, the city code deemed it uninhabitable until the roof was repaired on the garage??!!

Luckily the tenants had renter's insurance (which I recommend getting in my lease - have them initial to say that they understand that my insurance does not cover incidental damage to possessions etc. if something happens at house) so they were covered for a hotel stay.

Got bid for roof repair of $4k (replace burnt trusses, rafters and repair all drywall etc.) and $1k for electrical, so went ahead and got repairs underway outside of insurance as deductible is $2500, delays would be inevitable etc. not to mention potential consequences to my insurance premiums.