Can you stay in your house after a fire?

Who decides

• The fire department controls the scene until it is released. Do not enter before then.
• The municipal building official can order a damaged building not to be occupied until it is made safe.
• The utilities and the Electrical Safety Authority decide when power and gas can be restored.
• Your insurer decides whether it will pay for you to live elsewhere, based on whether the home is unfit to live in.
• You decide whether you are comfortable there, particularly with children, older relatives or anyone with a breathing condition.

When the fire department leaves, ask them directly: is it safe to stay tonight, and which parts of the house should we keep out of?

The checks that matter

Structure

Fire weakens wood framing, floor and roof structure, and steel. Firefighting adds the weight of water. Stay out of rooms with sagging ceilings, charred structure, or floors that feel soft. After a significant fire, a structural engineer may need to assess the building.

Electricity

Heat and water damage wiring well beyond the visible burn. If the fire involved the electrical system, or water reached the panel, outlets or fixtures, the power stays off until a Licensed Electrical Contractor has made repairs and the Electrical Safety Authority has inspected them. Do not reset breakers or reconnect power yourself.

Gas, heating and hot water

Appliances and their vents that were exposed to heat, soot or water need checking by a licensed gas technician before use. A house without heat in winter is not liveable, and its pipes will freeze.

Water and sanitation

Check that the plumbing was not damaged. Plastic pipes melt.

Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms

They must be working before anyone sleeps in the house. Alarms exposed to the fire should be replaced.

Air quality

This is the one people underestimate. After the flames are out, the house contains:

• Soot, a fine particulate that irritates the lungs and settles on everything
• Smoke residues from burned plastics, foams and synthetic materials, some of them acidic or toxic
• Odour, which is the smell of those residues still being released
• In older houses, possibly asbestos or lead from damaged materials

Walking through sooty rooms stirs particles into the air and tracks them into clean areas. Sleeping in a house with heavy smoke residue is not advisable, and it is a particular concern for children, pregnant people, older adults and anyone with asthma or a heart or lung condition.

Water damage and mold

Water from hoses soaks walls, floors and ceilings. Mold begins within a couple of days. The drying equipment needed is noisy and takes over the affected rooms.

Security

Broken windows and doors must be boarded before the house is left or slept in.

After a small, contained fire

A pan fire put out quickly, or a small fire confined to one appliance, may leave the house liveable. You can generally stay if:

• The fire department has cleared it
• Power, heat and water are working and confirmed safe
• Structural damage is nil or trivial
• Smoke residue is light and limited to one area that can be closed off
• Nobody in the household is at higher risk

Do these things straight away:

• Ventilate
• Switch off the furnace fan until the affected area has been cleaned, then replace the filter
• Close the door to the affected room and seal the gap at the bottom
• Throw out exposed food
• Arrange cleaning promptly. Residues become harder to remove with time and can corrode metal and discolour surfaces.

If the smell is giving anyone headaches, sore throats or breathing trouble, stay elsewhere until it has been cleaned.

After a larger fire

Assume you will need to live elsewhere, at least for a time, if any of these apply:

• Structural members are charred
• The power, gas or water is off
• Smoke reached most rooms
• The kitchen or the only bathroom is unusable
• Walls and ceilings are soaked
• The roof or outside walls are open
• Demolition, asbestos work or heavy cleaning is needed

Where to go, and who pays

• Tonight: family or friends, or a hotel. The Canadian Red Cross and municipal emergency social services often help households immediately after a fire with lodging, clothing and food for a few days. The fire department can put you in touch.
• Your insurance: home, condo and tenant policies generally include additional living expenses coverage, which pays the increase in your living costs while the home is unfit to live in because of an insured loss. Call your insurer or broker the same day and ask about an advance. See additional living expenses explained.
• Tenants: your landlord’s insurance does not cover your living costs or your belongings. Your own tenant policy does.

Keep every receipt.

Before you leave the house

Only with permission to enter, and briefly:

• Identification, bank cards and cash
• Medications, glasses, hearing aids and medical devices
• Phones, chargers and laptops
• Insurance papers
• Keys
• A few days’ clothing, to be washed before wearing
• Pets, and their food and medication

Tell the police if the house will be empty. Have it boarded and, in cold weather, have the water shut off and drained or temporary heat arranged.

Visiting during the work

Agree with the contractor when you can come in and where you can go. Wear sturdy shoes and, in uncleaned areas, a well-fitted respirator. Do not bring children.

Moving back

The house is ready when:

• Structural and electrical repairs are complete and inspected
• Utilities are restored
• Soot has been cleaned from the structure, the contents and the heating system
• Wet materials have been dried or replaced, with readings to confirm it
• There is no remaining smoke smell
• Any occupancy order has been lifted
• Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are installed and tested

Partial moves are possible. Sometimes the unaffected part of a house can be sealed off from the work area and lived in. Talk to the contractor and the adjuster about whether that is realistic.

More: fire damage restoration. See also what to do after a house fire.