After a House Fire: What to Do in the First 48 Hours

The fire department has left, the adrenaline is wearing off, and you are standing in the driveway wondering what happens now. Here is the order of things for the next two days — what to do, what to leave alone, and who to call.

Before you go back inside

The fire being out does not make the house safe. Floors and roofs weaken, soot and smoke residue are hazardous to breathe, and the fire may have compromised wiring and gas lines. Wait for the fire department to tell you the structure is safe to enter, and even then, treat the first trip inside as a short one.

• Ask the incident commander for the fire report or incident number and which department responded. Your insurer will ask for the report, and it takes days to be finalized. The number lets them request it.
• Ask whether utilities were shut off — gas, electric, water — and do not turn them back on yourself. Georgia Power and the gas company will inspect before restoring service when there has been a fire.
• If anyone has a cough, headache or burns, get checked. Smoke inhalation does not always feel serious at first.
• Find somewhere to sleep tonight. Family, a hotel, the Red Cross — which assists metro Atlanta families after house fires and can be reached through the fire department on scene.

The first call: your insurance company

Call the claims line the same day, even if it is late. Three things to ask for:

1. Your claim number and the adjuster assigned.
2. Additional living expenses (ALE). Most Georgia homeowners policies pay for a hotel, a rental and the extra cost of living away from home while the house is unlivable. Ask how it is paid — some insurers advance funds, others reimburse. Keep every receipt from tonight on.
3. Emergency services authorization. Board-up, roof tarping, water extraction and securing the property are covered as mitigation, and your policy expects you to do them promptly. Ask if they want anything inspected before it is removed.

Expect a large-loss adjuster, an inspection within days, and a request for a contents inventory. The claim will have separate parts: the structure, your contents, ALE, and sometimes a separate section for the detached garage or fence. Our claims guide is written around water losses, but the deadlines and the documentation advice apply to fire claims too.

Secure the property today

A house with broken windows and a hole in the roof is open to rain, animals and people. Board-up and tarping are the first physical work on a fire job, and they should happen the same day.

• Plywood over broken windows and doors; a locked door on any opening that can be locked.
• Tarps over roof openings, properly fastened — a loose tarp fails in the first thunderstorm.
• Fencing or at least signage if the damage is severe; some municipalities require it.
• Tell your neighbors the house is unoccupied and ask them to call you or the police if they see anyone around it.

Document everything — but do not clean anything

Walk the house with your phone on video, room by room, narrating. Then take still photos. Then leave it alone. Fire losses are documented twice: once as they are now, and again as a full inventory during contents pack-out. The first set of photos is for the adjuster; the inventory comes later with help.

• Do not run the HVAC. It will pull smoke residue through the ducts and into every room that was not affected. The system needs to be inspected and the ducts cleaned before it runs again.
• Do not use electronics that were in the house — TVs, computers, appliances. Soot is corrosive and conductive. Many can be cleaned and saved if they are not powered on first.
• Throw out food that was in the house, including sealed and canned goods that were near heat. Smoke and heat get into packaging. Medications and cosmetics too.
• Do not launder smoke-damaged clothes at home. Ordinary washing sets the odor. Textile restoration uses different processes.

The water problem inside the fire problem

Firefighters use a lot of water. In a fire that stayed in one room, the water damage to the floor below and the rooms beside it is often larger than the burn. That water is on the same clock as any other water loss: mold begins within 24–48 hours, and soot-contaminated water is Category 3. Extraction and drying should be among the first things on site, usually the same day as the board-up. The water checklist still applies.

What happens next: the restoration sequence

1. Emergency services — board-up, tarping, water extraction, drying, and stabilizing the structure.
2. Contents pack-out. Everything is inventoried, photographed and either cleaned, stored or listed as a loss. Clothing, electronics, furniture, documents and photos each go to the right process. Our contents cleaning and storage page explains how it works.
3. Demolition and debris removal of what burned and what cannot be cleaned.
4. Smoke and soot cleaning of every surface that stays — framing, subfloor, walls, ceilings, ductwork.
5. Odor removal. Thermal fogging, hydroxyl or ozone treatment, sealing framing and subfloor. Smoke odor that is painted over comes back in the first humid week.
6. Rebuild — from framing to finishes, with permits and inspections.
7. Contents return once the house is clean, dry and finished.

A kitchen fire with smoke through the house can mean a few weeks of work; a fire that got into the attic or structure can mean months. Ask for a schedule early and for updates when it changes. Our fire and smoke damage and smoke damage restoration pages go through each stage.

Three things people regret later

• Signing with the first contractor at the curb. Fire scenes attract solicitors. You have time to choose. Ask who they are, where they are based, and what the paperwork says before you sign anything — and never sign an assignment of your insurance benefits without understanding it.
• Throwing things away too early. Soot-covered does not mean ruined. Photos, electronics, furniture and clothing are often recoverable with the right process. Let the inventory decide.
• Not keeping receipts. Hotel, meals, clothes, pet boarding, laundry — ALE covers a lot of it, but only what you can show.

Frequently asked questions