The fire is out. Now the hard part. We take it from here.
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Or call (844) 543-5757 nowOne call brings a Washington-registered fire restoration crew to secure the house, stop the damage from spreading, clean the smoke and soot, save what can be saved and document all of it for your insurer. Nothing upfront on covered claims.
On covered fire claims the restoration contractor bills your insurer directly. You pay your deductible, as your policy states, and nothing else for covered work.
Board-up, roof tarping and fencing the same night, which your policy expects you to arrange to prevent further damage.
Photos, inventories and an Xactimate estimate go straight to your adjuster in the format carriers work in.
Your deductible applies to your claim as your policy requires; no contractor in Washington may waive it. Fire is covered by nearly every homeowners policy; additional living expenses and contents are separate coverages with their own limits. See the insurance guides.
The first hours after a fire, in the right order
What you do and do not do on day one changes what can be saved and how the claim goes. The dispatcher walks you through it on the phone; here it is in writing.
✓ Do this
- Wait for the fire department to release the house before anyone goes in, and ask them whether utilities were shut off
- Call your insurer the same day to open the claim, and tell them mitigation is being arranged
- Photograph everything before anything is moved, including the outside of the house and the roof from the ground
- Keep every receipt from the moment you leave the house: hotel, meals, clothes, toiletries, pet boarding
- Make a list of medications, documents, electronics and valuables you need retrieved first
- Get the contractor's name and L&I registration number before work begins, and read what you sign
✕ Do not do this
- Do not run the furnace, heat pump or any fan; it pulls soot through the ducts into every room
- Do not wipe soot off walls or furniture with water or household cleaners; it smears and sets
- Do not turn on electronics or appliances that were in smoke until they have been inspected
- Do not eat food, including canned goods, that was exposed to heat, smoke or firefighting water
- Do not throw anything away before it is photographed and listed; the inventory is your contents claim
- Do not sign a repair contract or an assignment of benefits from anyone who shows up uninvited
Everything between the fire and a finished house
Fire restoration is a sequence: secure, dry, clean, deodorize, rebuild. Each step is its own trade, each is documented separately for the claim, and skipping or rushing one shows up as smell, stains and disputes six months later.
Emergency board-up & tarping
Openings boarded, roof tarped, property fenced the same night: the mitigation step your policy expects and pays for.
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Smoke & soot cleanup
Residue identified first, then dry cleaning, wet cleaning, duct cleaning and sealing in the order the standard requires.
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Smoke odor removal
Odor removed at the source, not covered: removal, duct cleaning, fogging, hydroxyl and sealing in the right order.
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Kitchen & small fire cleanup
The most common fire and the most often cleaned badly: protein residue you cannot see and cannot stop smelling.
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Water damage from firefighting
The water the fire department left behind, extracted and dried before soot sets and framing molds.
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Contents cleaning & pack-out
Every item photographed and listed, salvageable items cleaned and stored, losses documented for the contents claim.
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Fire damage reconstruction
From demolition of charred material to the last coat of paint, under the approved scope and the permits Seattle requires.
Learn moreNot sure what you're dealing with?
Describe it to a dispatcher. They'll tell you what to shut off, what to photograph and whether a crew should roll tonight.
Call (844) 543-5757What fire and smoke work looks like
Board-up, soot removal, odor treatment and the rebuild. The first 72 hours decide how much of the house can be saved.
Four kinds of smoke residue, four different cleanups
What burned and how hot it burned decides what is on your walls and how it comes off. Restoration follows the IICRC S700 standard, which starts by identifying the residue before anyone touches a surface.
Wet smoke
Sticky, smeary, pungent residue that penetrates surfaces and smears if wiped. Needs degreasing cleaners and often removal of porous materials.
Low heat, smoldering plastics and foamDry smoke
Powdery, dry residue that sits on surfaces and lifts with dry sponges and HEPA vacuuming before any wet cleaning.
Fast, hot fires of wood and paperProtein residue
Nearly invisible film with a strong, lasting odor that discolors paint and varnish. The most common Seattle fire and the most underestimated.
Kitchen fires, burnt food, greaseFuel oil and puff-back
Oily black soot distributed through the duct system and across every horizontal surface, which needs duct cleaning as well as surface work.
Oil furnaces, fireplaces, wood stovesFrom the first call to the last coat of paint
Secure
Board-up of openings, roof tarping, temporary fencing and power as needed, the same night. Prevents further damage and is a covered mitigation cost.
Night oneAssess and document
Room-by-room inspection, smoke residue identified, structure and contents photographed, moisture from firefighting water mapped, scope drafted for the adjuster.
Day oneDry and stabilize
Water from suppression extracted and the structure dried, because wet soot sets and wet framing molds. Corrosive residue neutralized on metals and electronics.
Days one to fiveClean and deodorize
Soot removed by the method the residue requires, surfaces cleaned and sealed, HVAC ducts cleaned, odor treated at the source with thermal fogging, hydroxyl and sealing.
Days to weeksContents
Salvageable items packed out, inventoried, cleaned and stored; non-salvageable items photographed and listed for the claim.
ParallelRebuild
Charred and smoke-damaged materials removed, structure repaired, drywall, paint, flooring and finishes restored under the approved scope and permits.
Weeks to monthsA fire restoration crew, not a call center
Dispatch routes the closest available Washington-registered fire restoration crew. They secure the house, stop the damage from spreading and document all of it for your insurer.
- Washington-registered restoration contractor
- Board-up and tarping the same day
- Soot, smoke and odor treatment room by room
- $0 upfront on covered claims; insurer billed directly
A fire claim has three parts. All three get documented.
The building, your belongings and the cost of living somewhere else are separate coverages with separate limits, and each is paid on what is documented. The crew builds all three files from day one.
- Structure: photographs, a room-by-room scope and an Xactimate estimate in the format your carrier uses
- Contents: a photographed inventory of what is cleaned and what is a loss, which is what your personal property claim is paid on
- Additional living expenses: guidance on what to keep receipts for while you are out of the house
- Direct billing to your insurer on covered mitigation and cleanup, with you kept in the loop
- Plain-language guidance on replacement cost versus actual cash value, depreciation holdbacks and code-upgrade coverage
Seattle and the whole Puget Sound region
Crews are dispatched by proximity across King, Snohomish, Pierce and Kitsap counties. Board-up is same-night anywhere in the region; cleanup crews are scheduled the next morning.
Someone who has done this before, on your side
A dispatcher who knows the first day
What to ask the fire department, what to tell your insurer, what to retrieve first, what not to touch. On the phone, at any hour.
A registered, insured contractor
Work is performed by an independent Washington-registered fire restoration contractor with liability coverage, named to you before anyone arrives.
Three claim files, not one
Structure, contents and living expenses documented separately and completely, which is how fire claims get paid in full instead of argued about.
One contractor from board-up to paint
Mitigation and rebuild coordinated under one roof, with permits handled, so the house is not stuck between trades for months.
Request a callback
Tell us what happened and where. A dispatcher calls you back, usually within minutes.
Call Me Right NowQuestions families ask after a fire
Is it really $0 upfront?
On covered claims, yes. Fire is a covered peril on nearly every homeowners policy, and the restoration contractor bills your insurer directly for mitigation and cleanup without a deposit from you. Your deductible applies to the claim exactly as your policy says, and Washington law forbids any contractor from waiving or absorbing it. Reconstruction is scoped and approved with your adjuster before it begins.
Can we stay in the house?
Often not for the first days, and sometimes not for weeks, depending on smoke penetration, structural damage and whether utilities are safe. Your policy's additional living expenses coverage pays for a hotel or rental and the extra costs of living away from home; keep every receipt. The crew tells you honestly when the house is habitable again.
What can be saved?
More than people expect when work starts quickly: hard furniture, dishes, many textiles, framed art, electronics that were not heated, and most of the structure outside the burn area. Less than people hope when soot sits for weeks: it etches glass and chrome, yellows paint and plastics and sets permanently into porous materials. Speed matters.
Who actually shows up?
An independent, Washington-registered fire restoration contractor serving your area. Seattle Fire Restoration Pros is a service of Help Me Now Inc; we answer the phone, dispatch and coordinate. You receive the contractor's name and L&I registration number before they arrive, and you can verify it on the Department of Labor & Industries website.
Do you work with my insurance company?
The contractor documents the loss in the format adjusters use, sends the estimate and inventories directly, meets the adjuster on site and bills the insurer directly on covered work. The claim itself is yours: you report it, you sign the paperwork, and coverage decisions are between you and your carrier. Nobody can promise an outcome, and anyone who does is someone to be careful of.
The fire was small. Do we really need professionals?
A kitchen fire that was out in two minutes can leave protein residue through the whole house that you cannot see and cannot stop smelling. Small fires are the most common call and the most often cleaned badly. A technician can assess it in an hour and tell you honestly whether it is a professional job or a weekend with the right products.
After the fire, one call.
Lines are open 24 hours a day. One call reaches a Washington-registered fire restoration contractor serving Seattle and the Puget Sound region. $0 upfront on covered claims.