The first day after a fire.
Almost everything that makes a fire loss worse happens in the first twenty-four hours, and most of it is well-intentioned. Wait for the fire department to release the structure, then leave the cleaning alone until someone has documented it.
- Wait for the all-clear. Even a small fire can leave compromised framing and damaged wiring behind a wall that looks untouched.
- Photograph before anything moves. Every room, wide, then the contents. Once cleanup starts, the record is gone.
- Get the structure secured. Open windows, a breached roof, or a forced door is an insurance problem and a theft problem by the second night.
- Take what you need for a week. Medication, documents, chargers, a change of clothes for everyone. Assume you are out longer than you think.
- Open the claim and ask about loss of use. Most policies cover somewhere to stay. Ask on the first call, not the third.
And what not to do
- Do not wipe soot off walls or upholstery. Dry soot lifts. Wiped soot grinds into the surface and turns a cleanable wall into a replaceable one.
- Do not run the HVAC. It will pull smoke residue into every duct in the house and redistribute it into rooms the fire never reached.
- Do not turn power back on yourself. Heat-damaged wiring fails quietly and does not always look damaged.
- Do not discard anything yet. Damaged contents are part of the claim until they have been photographed and itemised.
Three losses, one contractor.
Fire damage, water damage from suppression, and smoke that reached rooms the fire never did.
Secure the structure
Board-up and tarping first, so the house is closed against weather and anyone walking past it.
Document everything
Photographs room by room, a contents list, moisture readings where suppression water traveled, and a written scope.
Dry, then clean
Water out and the structure dried with our own equipment, then soot and smoke residue removed rather than smeared.
Work with your adjuster
We provide the documentation and line-item detail your carrier expects and coordinate directly, so you are not in the middle.
Rebuild it
Framing, drywall, insulation, flooring, cabinetry, trim, paint. Back to how it was, or better.
Cleaned is not the same as removed.
The complaint we hear most about previous fire work is that the smell returned a month later, usually in summer when the house warmed up. That happens for one reason: the residue was cleaned off surfaces rather than removed from the material holding it.
Smoke moves like a gas. It goes into wall cavities, up into insulation, through duct runs, and into anything porous in rooms the fire never touched. Wiping the visible surface leaves the source in place. Warm weather then drives it back out.
The fix is not a stronger product. It is opening up the assemblies that hold the residue and taking the material out. That is more work and it is also the reason we would rather be the contractor who does the rebuild, because the demolition and the reconstruction are the same decision.
- Duct runs inspected before the system is ever switched back on
- Insulation replaced rather than treated where residue reached it
- Sealing and finishing done as part of the rebuild, not as a separate visit months later
Fire and smoke questions.
What homeowners ask in the first phone call.
Tell us what
happened.
If this is an emergency, call us right now and someone will answer. For anything else, the form is fine.
Request received.
Steven will get back to you. If this is an emergency, call us now and someone will answer.
One contractor, the whole loss.
Burst pipes, slab leaks, appliance failures, and the suppression water a fire leaves behind.
Monsoon wind and driven rain. Extraction, then interior repair to drywall, insulation, and ceilings.
The rebuild after the loss, which most restoration companies hand off. Drywall, flooring, cabinetry, paint.