Fire Restoration: What to Do the First 30 Days

If you have just lost a home to fire, do not sign anything for the first seventy two hours. Do not accept the first insurance adjuster who calls you. Do not hire the first contractor who hands you a card at the evacuation center. The fire is still burning, your nervous system is still in survival mode, and every decision made in that window will be regretted. What you do need to do: contact your insurance carrier, document every loss with photographs, request a claim number, and begin a written log of every conversation.

If you have just lost a home to fire, do not sign anything for the first seventy two hours. Do not accept the first insurance adjuster who calls you. Do not hire the first contractor who hands you a card at the evacuation center. The fire is still burning, your nervous system is still in survival mode, and every decision made in that window will be regretted. What you do need to do: contact your insurance carrier, document every loss with photographs, request a claim number, and begin a written log of every conversation.

Most homeowners policies obligate the carrier to begin paying Additional Living Expense (ALE) benefits within ten days of your claim filing. Push for it. The ALE benefit is what pays for temporary housing, meals, and storage while your home is rebuilt. Separately, your dwelling coverage begins paying out once a scope of loss is agreed. Dwelling coverage typically funds 120 to 160 percent of your original home's square footage in California after a declared fire disaster.

This is the window to engage a designer. Do not wait for the debris to be cleared. The designer's first job is not to draw. It is to document what was there, calculate replacement cost for insurance negotiation, and set up the zoning and code analysis for the rebuild. Pick a designer with documented fire restoration experience in your jurisdiction. We have handled more than eighty of these projects and know every gotcha in Ventura County.

California offers two debris removal pathways after a declared fire: the state sponsored removal program (typically free but slower) or private removal (faster but paid out of insurance). Most homeowners in Ventura County have been better served by the state program. It does not delay the rebuild because the permit review is running in parallel.

California now requires the following on fire rebuilds in wildland urban interface zones: Class A roof assembly, ignition resistant siding, dual pane tempered glazing on all openings facing fuel, 100 foot defensible space, and ember resistant vents. These upgrades add $15 to $35 per square foot to construction cost. Your insurance carrier must cover code upgrades if your policy includes Ordinance and Law coverage, which is standard in California.

By the end of month one you should have a clear picture of three options: rebuild exactly what was lost, rebuild with a redesign, or sell the lot. The first option is cheapest and fastest. The second is what most of our clients choose. The third is a financial decision that depends on lot value, insurance proceeds, and emotional readiness. Whichever you choose, the month one window is when the decision needs to be locked in so the residential design and permit process can begin on day thirty one.