My family home caught fire a few days ago, nothing was salvageable.
is it normal for home insurance to pick up a percentage of the mortgage?

No. You still have to make the mortgage payments. The insurance is for what was destroyed.

You must maintain the mortgage payments until the note is paid off by u (not the insurance company). The loss of ur home (unfortunate as it is), does not clear the mortgage debt. There is an insurance & fire investigation to ensure that it was not arson (which is not covered if the owner is in someway responsible directly or through a proxy).

Depending upon the type of ur coverage: The insurance company will pay to have the home rebuilt plus give u some living expenses until the home is rebuilt. Then u move back in. They will not pay off ur mortgage. If they did, the insurance company would own the burned out home & lot. They r not real estate owners, nor do they want to be.

They do this to discourage arson. Arson of a home to clear the mortgage is never successful. If it was successful, we would not be in the mortgage crisis we r in today.