How does a fire damage insurance claim work?

Do not re-enter until the fire department says the structure is safe. Soot is corrosive and smoke residue is a health hazard, so protective equipment matters even for retrieving documents.

The adjuster's job is to determine what the policy owes. The scope of loss — a room-by-room, line-by-line document of what has to be cleaned, replaced or rebuilt — is where the settlement is really decided.

A contractor who writes in the estimating format carriers use, with photographs and moisture and soot documentation attached, changes the conversation from opinion to evidence. We do this on every restoration project and meet the adjuster on site.

Fire damage is rarely limited to what burned. Smoke travels through cavities and ductwork, deposits acidic residue on surfaces far from the fire, and permanently etches metals and glazing if it is not neutralized quickly.

Proper restoration includes HVAC cleaning, sealing of structural surfaces, thermal fogging or hydroxyl treatment for odor, and contents cleaning. Painting over soot without sealing means the smell returns in the first humid week.

Fire claims run in two phases. Mitigation — board-up, water extraction from firefighting, soot and odor treatment, demolition of unsalvageable material — happens fast. The rebuild follows once the scope is agreed and permits are issued.

As a design-build contractor we do both, so the crew that documented the damage is the crew that rebuilds the room, and nothing gets lost between two companies.