The First 24 Hours After a House Fire

Do not turn on utilities or appliances until they have been checked. Do not wipe walls, wash clothes in the house or use the HVAC. Be cautious with anyone who knocks offering to manage your claim, and read before you sign. See fire damage restoration and board-up services.

Day one after a house fire comes down to three jobs: keep people safe, get everyone a place to sleep, and start a paper trail. Repairs, cleaning and big decisions can wait. Almost nothing you do on day one needs to be permanent, and very little of it should be.

Ready.gov's guidance is plain on the main points. Get the fire department's word that the building is safe before re-entering. Do not reconnect utilities yourself. Inventory damaged property, do not throw damaged goods away until that inventory is complete, and save receipts for funds spent because of the fire. Notify your mortgage company too.

The U.S. Fire Administration publishes a free guide, After the Fire: Returning to Normal, that covers the first day, insurance, valuing property, replacing documents and salvage. It is worth reading when you have a quiet hour, and you can ask the fire department or local relief groups if you need help finding it.

Permission to enter is not the same as a safe building. Fire weakens stairs, floors and ceilings in ways you cannot see from below, and water from the hoses makes everything heavier. Wet insulation and plaster can come down well after the flames are gone, so look up before you step into a room, and leave at once if you see sagging, hear creaking, or smell gas.

If you are permitted inside, keep the visit short. Wear long sleeves, sturdy closed shoes and gloves, and ask the fire department what breathing protection is sensible. Soot and ash are not ordinary dust, since burned plastics, wiring and furnishings all leave residue. Keep children and anyone with asthma, heart problems or lung disease out altogether.

Go in for a purpose: identification, medication, glasses, phones and chargers, keys, wallets, pet supplies, and important papers. If the fire is under investigation, ask first, because removing items could cause problems for you or the investigators.

Firefighters often break windows and cut holes in roofs and walls. This lets heat and smoke escape and helps them reach hidden fire. It can look like needless extra damage, but it is a normal part of putting a fire out. It also means your house is now open to weather, animals and theft.

New York's regulator names covering broken windows among the necessary repairs that protect health or safety, and Florida's guidance describes temporary repairs as a policy requirement. Ask your insurer about any process it wants followed, and keep a record of what was done and why. Do not wait days for a reply if rain is forecast or the door will not lock.

The board-up and tarping page explains what the work involves. Take photos of the openings before they are covered, because plywood will hide them once it goes up. Then remove anything visible and valuable if you are permitted to, or ask whether it can be moved to a safer room.

Do not sort everything on the first day. Your job is to keep things from getting worse. Generally, throw out food that was exposed to heat, smoke or soot, but photograph or list it first. Sealed jars and cans can look fine and still have been damaged by heat, so err on the side of discarding.

Do not wash clothes in the house, since the machines may not be safe to run, and soot can transfer to other items. Keep cleanable items bagged and labeled by room. Keep valuables, paper, photos and electronics out of damp rooms. Electronics exposed to soot or water should stay unplugged until someone has checked them, because residue can be corrosive.

Furniture and fabrics often respond better to specialist cleaning than to home attempts, and rubbing soot with a wet cloth can drive stains in. If you want to know what lingers after the flames, read why smoke smell lingers.

A fire house is usually a wet house. Water sits in walls, under floors and in the rooms below where the fire burned, and it can start causing its own damage while everyone's attention is on the burned rooms. EPA's guidance on drying within 24 to 48 hours applies here just as it does to a leak, though safety clearance comes first.

Do not start pumping or running electrical equipment on your own. Power may be off for a good reason, and the wiring may have been damaged. Ask the contractor who inspects the home to include moisture in the assessment. Keep in mind that firefighting water may carry soot and debris, which makes it unlike a clean leak. See structural drying for how that part of a job usually works.

A fire is frightening even when everyone is unhurt. Trouble sleeping, irritability, jumpiness and forgetfulness in the days after are common, and children may cling or go quiet. USFA's page points people to the American Psychological Association for information on emotional recovery after a home fire, and your doctor or local crisis services can help if it does not ease.

Breathing problems deserve attention as well. Smoke can affect people after they have left the building,. Call a doctor about symptoms, and call 911 for trouble breathing, chest pain or confusion.

Give yourself permission to do less. Ask one calm friend to keep the phone list, and let them take messages. The rest of the claim and the fire damage restoration work will take much longer than a day, and the first day does not have to solve any of it.

Frightened pets hide, and they may not come out while strangers are in the house. Tell firefighters right away if an animal is missing, and do not go in to search for one. Once the area is calm, check with neighbors and your local animal shelter. Have a vet look at any animal that was in the smoke, since small lungs are easily harmed.

An empty, fire-damaged house attracts attention. Ask a neighbor to watch for strangers, and ask local police whether they can add the address to their patrols. Have your mail held or redirected through the post office so that nothing with your name on it piles up. If you have vehicles at the home, check for soot and heat damage, and report any damage to your auto insurer, since a car is often insured separately from the house.

If you rent out or share the building, tell the other occupants what you know. Attached homes and apartments may have smoke or water beyond a party wall, even where nothing looks wrong. They should get their own clearance before returning.