Fire and smoke
What to do after a house fire
By ARO Restorations · Updated
Short answer
Wait for the fire department to say it is safe, find somewhere to stay, call your insurer, get the property secured against weather and theft, and do not clean soot or throw anything out until it has been documented.
In this guide
The first few hours
- Do not re-enter until the fire department tells you it is safe. Structures can be unstable and air quality poor even after a small fire.
- Get the incident number and the name of the officer in charge.
- Find somewhere to stay. Most home policies include additional living expenses when a home is unfit to live in. Ask your insurer what applies and keep every receipt.
- Tell someone. The Canadian Red Cross helps people displaced by house fires with immediate needs.
The first day
- Call your insurer or broker and open a claim.
- Secure the property. Broken windows, burnt doors and holes in the roof need boarding and tarping. Policies generally expect you to prevent further damage.
- Utilities. Do not turn gas, electricity or water back on yourself. They need to be checked first.
- Retrieve essentials only if you are allowed in: identification, medication, glasses, phones, chargers, insurance papers.
What not to do
- Do not wipe soot off walls, counters or furniture. Dry wiping pushes it into the surface.
- Do not use the furnace or air conditioning. It spreads soot through the ducts.
- Do not eat food, or use medicine or cosmetics, that were exposed to heat, smoke or firefighting water.
- Do not throw anything away before it is photographed and listed.
- Do not wash smoke-damaged clothing in a normal load. It can set the odour.
The damage you cannot see yet
A fire leaves three kinds of damage: what burned, what the smoke reached and what the water soaked. The last two usually cover a much larger area than the first. Soot is acidic and keeps damaging finishes, and firefighting water starts the same clock as any flood.
Documents you will need
- The fire incident report number
- Your policy number and claim number
- An inventory of damaged belongings, with photos
- Receipts for everything spent because of the fire
How long until we are home?
For a small, contained fire with smoke damage, weeks. For structural damage, months, driven by insurer approvals, permits and the rebuild itself. Ask for a written scope and a rough schedule early.
More on the work itself: fire damage restoration.
Who you will deal with
The fire department releases the building and provides the incident number.
Your insurer’s adjuster assesses the loss, explains coverage and approves the scope of work.
A restoration contractor secures the building, cleans, dries and rebuilds. In Ontario you can generally choose your own.
An engineer, where the structure is damaged, to say what can be kept.
The municipal building department, for permits on structural, electrical and plumbing repairs.
Your mortgage lender, who may be named on insurance payments for the building.
Keep a notebook with names, phone numbers, dates and what was said. A fire claim runs for months and details are easy to lose.
Your belongings
Contents are sorted into three groups: unaffected, restorable and not restorable. Restorable items are packed out, cleaned and stored. Items that cannot be saved are listed for your contents claim, ideally with photos, approximate age and what they cost.
Start your own list early while your memory is fresh. Go room by room, closet by closet. Photographs and videos taken before the fire, online order histories and bank statements all help.
Where you will live
If the home cannot be lived in, most home policies pay additional living expenses: the extra cost of living elsewhere over what you would normally spend. Ask your adjuster about the limit, what counts and how to submit receipts. A short stay is usually a hotel; a rebuild that takes months usually means a rental.
Looking after yourselves
A fire is a shock even when nobody is hurt. Children in particular may be unsettled for a while. Keep routines where you can, let schools know what has happened and accept help that is offered. The Canadian Red Cross assists people displaced by house fires with immediate needs.
A realistic timeline
- Day one: building secured, claim opened
- First week: water extracted, structure drying, contents packed out
- Weeks two to four: cleaning, scope written and submitted
- After approval: permits, then rebuild, which runs from weeks for a small fire to many months for a structural one
Questions people ask
When can I go back into my house after a fire?
Only when the fire department says it is safe. Even then, do not turn utilities back on yourself, and limit time inside until the building has been assessed.
Does home insurance cover living expenses after a fire?
Most home policies include additional living expenses when a covered loss makes the home unfit to live in. Ask your adjuster about the limit and keep all receipts.
Should I clean up soot myself?
No. Wiping soot smears oily residue into paint and fabric and can make staining permanent. Leave it for cleaning with methods matched to the residue.
Can smoke-damaged belongings be saved?
Many can. Hard furniture, a lot of clothing and many household items respond to proper cleaning if it is done early. Charred items and porous items with heavy smoke absorption usually cannot.
How long does it take to rebuild after a house fire?
A small, contained fire with smoke damage can be weeks. A fire that damaged the structure is typically many months, driven by insurer approvals, engineering, permits and construction.