After a House Fire: What to Do in the First 72 Hours

Before anything else: do not re-enter until cleared

Fire-damaged structures carry risks that are not visible: compromised framing and flooring, damaged electrical and gas service, and air contaminated with combustion byproducts. The fire department will indicate when and whether the structure can be entered.

Ask the responding department how to obtain the fire report. It is a document the insurer will want, it establishes the cause and time of the fire, and requesting it early avoids a delay later.

Notify the insurer the same day if possible

Policies impose a duty of prompt notice. Reporting the loss quickly starts the clock on the insurer's obligations, and it is generally the trigger for an advance against additional living expenses — which is the practical mechanism for paying for a hotel that night.

Ask three things on that first call: the claim number, the adjuster's name and direct contact, and whether an ALE advance can be issued immediately. Write down who you spoke to and when. A claim generates a large number of conversations, and a running log of them is genuinely useful.

Secure the property — and keep the receipts

Policies also impose a duty to protect the property from further damage. That typically means boarding openings, tarping a compromised roof, and arranging security if the structure is exposed. These costs are generally reimbursable under the policy, which makes keeping the receipts part of the task rather than an afterthought.

Do not begin cleanup, disposal, or repairs beyond emergency mitigation before the adjuster has inspected, unless health or safety requires it. Disposing of damaged contents before they are documented removes the evidence the contents claim rests on.

Document before anything is moved

If and when the structure is cleared for entry, photograph and video extensively before anything is disturbed. Wide shots of each room establishing the overall condition; closer footage of damaged contents in place; the exterior from several angles; and any visible source or origin indications.

Damaged items should be documented and, where safe to do so, retained rather than discarded until the adjuster has seen them or explicitly released them. If health considerations require immediate disposal — food, contaminated soft goods — photograph thoroughly first and note why the item was disposed of.

Smoke and soot damage deserves specific attention, because it extends well beyond the rooms that burned and is frequently underestimated in an initial walkthrough. Items in closed drawers and closets in unburned rooms are often affected.

Start the expense record immediately

Additional living expenses coverage reimburses documented costs, and the documentation habit needs to begin with the first hotel night and the first meal. Every receipt, from day one, in one place.

The same applies to immediate replacement purchases — clothing, toiletries, a phone charger. These are ordinarily claimable, and they are also the receipts most likely to be lost in the following weeks.

The contents list is the long task

At some point the insurer will require an itemized schedule of lost contents, usually as part of a proof of loss. For a total or near-total fire loss this is the most demanding document in the process, and it is built largely from memory in the weeks after the event.

Anything that reduces reliance on memory helps: a pre-loss inventory, old photographs and videos taken in the home for unrelated reasons, purchase records in email and card statements, and delivery histories from online retailers. Household members should work through it independently, because people recall different rooms and different categories.

A pre-loss inventory is the version of this that requires no reconstruction at all. It is the reason the documentation is worth creating during ordinary conditions rather than under these ones.