Having had a home burn down once the main thing you need after a fire is MONEY. You don't have anywhere to store stuff, you're living in smaller, temporary space, and the last thing you need is boxes and boxes of stuff you can't put anywhere.

I've found that prepaid credit cards and prepaid cell phones with lots of minutes are two things that are most useful to people who lost a home.

Of course, if we hear from Chris we'll know more.