What to Do After a Fire
Two things keep damaging the building after the fire is out: the water the department used to put it out, and the soot. Soot is acidic and begins permanently etching metal, glass, appliance finishes, marble, and grout within 24 to 48 hours. Do not go back inside until the fire department releases the structure.
Do this now
Do not re-enter until the fire department says the structure is safe. Ask them directly, and ask about the roof and the floor above the fire.
Ask whether they shut off the gas and the electrical, and leave both off until a licensed trade clears them.
Call your insurance carrier and open the claim before anything is cleaned, moved, or thrown out.
Photograph and video everything, room by room, including rooms the fire never reached.
Smoke and soot travel far past the burn. Rooms that look untouched in person show up as affected on camera, and that is the difference between a partial scope and a complete one.
Ventilate only if the department says it is safe: windows open on opposite sides to get air moving through.
Take out essential documents, medications, and valuables if you can do it safely, and bag them separately.
Soot residue transfers to everything it touches. What leaves the building goes into a sealed bag, not loose into the back seat of your car.
What makes it worse
These are the ones that turn a manageable loss into an expensive one, or cost people their claim.
Don't wipe, scrub, or vacuum soot off walls, ceilings, or upholstery.
Soot is fine, oily, and acidic. Dry wiping grinds it into the pores of paint, drywall, and fabric and turns a cleanable surface into one that has to be replaced. A household vacuum blows the finest particles straight back into the air.
Don't ignore the water.
Suppression water often runs to thousands of gallons, and it is Category 3 the moment it passes through a fire scene carrying soot, ash, and whatever burned. It needs extraction and structural drying like any other loss, on the same 24 to 48 hour mold clock.
Don't run the HVAC system.
The system pulls soot out of the affected area and deposits it in the ductwork and in every room in the house, including the ones the fire never reached. Cleaning ducts costs more than not contaminating them.
Don't throw anything away before it's photographed.
Adjusters routinely deny items they never saw. Photograph first, dispose second.
Don't eat or use food, medication, or cosmetics that were in the building.
Smoke penetrates packaging and heat compromises sealed containers. That includes everything in a refrigerator or freezer that lost power, regardless of how it looks.
Don't sign with the first restoration company that arrives at the scene.
Fires draw crews who monitor scanners and work the curb. You are not obligated to hire anyone standing on your lawn, and you are allowed to take the night to decide.
The clock
Soot is acidic and permanently etches metal, glass, appliance finishes, marble, and grout within 24 to 48 hours. The suppression water is running the mold clock at the same time, on the same 24 to 48 hour window on wet organic material. The first two days after the fire decide how much of the contents and finishes survive.
Call us when
- The fire department has released the structure and the building needs water extracted and dried.
- There is soot on surfaces in rooms the fire never reached.
- The building smells like smoke and the smell is not going away on its own.
- You need the loss documented for the claim before anything is cleaned, moved, or discarded.
If you can’t stay in the house tonight
Food, lodging, replacing the documents that are still inside, and how Additional Living Expenses works. Free, and you do not have to be a Peak customer.
Local Resources
What a displaced family actually needs in the first 72 hours, with current Treasure Valley phone numbers. Red Cross, 211 Idaho CareLine, utility emergency lines, records offices.
Read itIf it’s past what you can handle, call.
A person answers 24 hours a day. Even if it’s just a question.