Fire damage restoration after a house fire

The burned area is often the smallest part of the loss. Smoke moves through stairwells, attics and ductwork and settles on cooler surfaces far from the flames. Hose water soaks walls, floors and the rooms below, and it starts its own clock for mold.

That is why board-up and tarping and water removal usually come first, followed by smoke damage cleanup. Cleaning before the building is dry and secure tends to mean cleaning twice.

Get the fire report details from the fire department, then call your insurer. Ask what the policy provides for temporary housing. Do not turn on utilities until a qualified person has checked them, and throw out food exposed to heat, smoke or soot.

Retrieve medications, identification and important documents only when officials say you may enter. If a building is unsafe, ask them to retrieve what they can.

Many hard items clean well: dishes, metal, glass and sealed furniture. Soft goods vary, and clothing and textiles often respond to specialist laundering. Electronics need careful evaluation, since soot can be corrosive. Paper, mattresses and items burned or soaked with contaminated water often cannot be recovered.

On bigger jobs, belongings may be packed out, cleaned elsewhere and returned. Ask for an itemized inventory with photos, and keep your own list as well.

If the system ran during or after the fire, residue may be inside it. Keep it off until it has been checked, and replace filters. Duct cleaning makes sense when soot is actually present, so ask for evidence such as photos from inside the ducts. Related reading: smoke damage cleanup.

Most homeowners search for this in the first day or two after a fire, wanting to know whether the house can be saved and what happens next. In many fires it can, though the answer depends on structural safety, how far smoke travelled and how much water was used. A structural concern is for an engineer or building official, not a cleaning crew.

Even a small kitchen fire can leave residue across the home, because hot air carries smoke to cooler rooms. So assessment should include rooms that look untouched.

Read what to do in the first 24 hours after a fire, then how to prepare for your adjuster.

A stove fire put out with a lid, or a small fire contained by a sprinkler or an extinguisher, may leave only one room burned, but grease-laden smoke can travel further than people expect. The work is mostly cleaning, with a small amount of replacement around the range, the cabinets and the hood. Extinguisher powder needs its own cleanup too, since some types can be corrosive to metal and electronics.

An attic or garage fire is a different job. Garages hold paint, fuel and plastics, so residue can be heavy and sticky, and shared walls can pass heat into the living space. Attic fires are often fought from above, which sends a great deal of water down through every ceiling beneath.

A full structure fire can involve partial demolition, engineering review, permits and many trades. In those cases the contractor's early work is often stabilization and sorting out what remains, and the rebuild may take far longer than the cleaning.

Older houses may contain asbestos in siding, flooring, pipe wrap, ceiling texture and insulation. Fire can disturb these materials, and so can the demolition that follows. If your home is decades old, ask whether suspect materials will be tested before any tear-out, and who will carry that testing out. Rules on sampling and removal vary, with many states and towns requiring licensed workers.

Lead paint is a similar issue in homes built before 1978, and it matters most when walls and trim are being disturbed or sanded. The contractor should explain how that dust will be kept contained. If anyone in the household is pregnant or there are young children at home, mention it early on so plans for access can take it into account.

Heat can damage wire insulation well away from where anyone saw flames, and water can leave corrosion behind in panels, boxes and devices. Have a licensed electrician look at the system before it is used again, rather than relying on whether the lights come on. Gas lines, water heaters and furnaces should be inspected by the relevant trade for the same reason.

Heating and cooling systems are often a route for smoke. EPA's guidance on ducts notes that sealants may have a place in fire-damaged ductwork, but only after proper cleaning, and it says that wet or moldy fiberglass duct material should be replaced rather than cleaned. That is a useful standard to hold a duct proposal up against. A reasonable proposal says what was found, what will be replaced and what will be cleaned.

Plan for the possibility that you may be away for a while, even if the damage looks limited. For immediate shelter, food and medicine, Ready.gov suggests contacting a relief group like the Red Cross. After that, your insurer is the next call. Many homeowners policies include additional living expense coverage, and renters policies often do as well. Ask what it covers, how long it runs and which receipts it needs.

Tell your mortgage company about the fire too, as Ready.gov advises, because insurance payments on a structure often pass through the lender. Also let your children's schools, your employer and the post office know about your temporary address. Mail can be forwarded, so you do not need to visit a damaged building to collect it.

Do not throw anything out until it has been recorded. Ready.gov says to hold on to damaged goods until an inventory is done, so walk through and photograph them, even when an item is plainly ruined. A pile of debris that nobody documented is hard to prove later.

Food deserves caution. Throw out anything exposed to heat, smoke or soot, including canned goods that got hot and items in open packaging. Medicines exposed to heat or smoke should be replaced too, so ask your pharmacist how to get new ones. Family photographs and important papers may be worth specialist attention, even when damaged. Keep them flat and dry, and avoid separating stuck pages or prints until you have advice.

Sentimental items may matter more to you than anything of market value. Say which they are up front, and ask that those items be handled separately.

A fire seldom stays neatly within one household. Smoke can enter the next unit through shared attics and pipe chases, and water may run down to the floor below. Each household generally deals with its own insurer, while the building owner or association handles common areas and the structure. Share what you know, and keep your own records in case the responsible party is disputed.

Fire investigators may want to look at the area of origin before cleaning starts. Your insurer may also send its own investigator. Ask them when the scene can be released, and hold back from clearing the burned area until they say so, because evidence removed early can complicate a claim.

A house is ready when officials have cleared occupancy, systems have been inspected, and the smell is gone with the heating on and the windows closed. Spend an hour there before moving back, and go through closets and basements as well. If the smell returns or surfaces leave marks on a clean cloth, tell the contractor before you sign off.

Keep your full file for years: the fire report, contractor records, inspection sign-offs and the final scope. A future buyer may ask about the fire, and those records show what was done. When you come back, it helps to learn the lessons as well. Check your alarms, plan your escape routes again and store a digital copy of important documents, which Ready.gov suggests doing before a fire ever happens.

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Go straight to the first steps: emergency fire damage services.