I briefly lived with my parents before moving into my apartment a couple of years ago. On the 4th of July, the power went out. When it came back on there was a huge power surge that went through the wall outside of my bedroom. It melted all the connections between the AC and house and charred the wall. The wall had a fire (not a big one, but enough that the fire department had to come out) and my computer got melted. It smelled awful. There's just no fixing a computer after a fire.
On a happy note, the insurance company bought me a brand new one that week. It really sucked to lose everything. I had SO many old papers and letters on there. Now I always make sure to back everything up onto disks. I lost a ton of music and pictures too. Bummed me out. I can certainly sympathize.