The first 24–72 hours
Do not enter until the fire department says it is safe
Safety The U.S. Fire Administration’s guidance is direct: do not enter your damaged home or apartment unless the fire department says it is safe. Check with them before going in and be very careful once inside, because floors and walls may not be as safe as they look. Photographs can wait; a collapsing floor cannot be undone.[1]
Write down the fire department’s details before they leave
Ask the officer in charge for the name of the fire department, the fire incident report number and the name of the fire marshal or fire investigator. These are the first fields on the U.S. Fire Administration’s “Important information” form, and they are the identifiers every later record hangs on. If the report number is not available yet, write down who to call for it and when.[1]
Leave the utilities as the firefighters left them
Safety The fire department checks whether water, electricity and gas are safe to use and, if they are not, has them turned off or disconnected before leaving. The U.S. Fire Administration’s instruction is not to try to turn them back on by yourself. Record which utilities were shut off, by whom and when; that is a timeline entry and a safety fact.[1]
Contact your insurance company and ask what to do first
The U.S. Fire Administration tells homeowners to contact their insurance company right away and ask what to do first. Write the date, the time and the name of the person you spoke to into your timeline, together with what they asked you to do. Their answer sets the order of the next days.[1]
Start saving every receipt from today
Begin saving receipts for any money you spend related to the fire loss, as the U.S. Fire Administration advises; the receipts may be needed later by the insurance company and to prove losses claimed on income tax. A hotel room, a meal, a padlock, a tarp and a storage unit all count. Put them in one folder from the first night.[1]
The fire record: fields to fill in on day one
The U.S. Fire Administration’s “After the Fire” booklet opens with a short form of important information to collect. Fill it in on the first day, even if some fields stay empty for a while. The fire incident report number in particular is the identifier the fire department, the investigator and your insurer will all use, and it is the one thing you cannot reconstruct from photographs.[1]
| Field | Where it comes from | Your entry |
|---|---|---|
| Date of fire | Your own record or the 911 call log | Fill in |
| Time of fire | When you noticed it, and the time of the 911 call | Fill in |
| Location of fire | The room or area where it started, as told to you | Fill in |
| Name of fire department | The officer in charge on site | Fill in |
| Fire incident report number | The fire department, on site or by phone later | Fill in |
| Fire marshal or fire investigator | The officer in charge; ask for a name and number | Fill in |
| Insurance company | Your policy documents | Fill in |
| Insurance policy number | Your policy documents | Fill in |
What to photograph and record, room by room
Fire investigators work from the scene as found, and so should your photographs. Before anything is moved, swept or thrown out, photograph the area of origin from the doorway and then closer, in the state the firefighters left it. Then walk every room, including the ones that did not burn, because the U.S. Fire Administration notes that things not damaged by the fire may still be ruined by smoke and may be soggy with water used to put out the fire. The table lists what to capture in each kind of room.[1]
| Area | What to capture | How |
|---|---|---|
| Area of origin | Everything as found: burned contents, char patterns, the appliance or outlet named to you | Wide shot from the door, then closer, before anything is moved; caption “as found” |
| Rooms with burn damage | Char, heat lines on walls, melted fixtures, collapsed ceilings | Wide, context and detail per room; a tape measure against the heat line |
| Rooms with smoke only | Soot on walls, ceilings and inside closets; the smell noted per room | One wide shot per wall, close-ups of soot lines, a written odour note |
| Rooms with firefighting water | Standing water, wet drywall, wet flooring, water running down walls | Photo of the water line or wet edge with a tape measure, per room |
| Doors, windows, roof openings | Forced entry, ventilation holes cut by firefighters, broken glass | Photo of each opening from inside and outside |
| Utilities | Electrical panel, gas meter and water main in the state the firefighters left them | Photo of each with the date, plus a note of who turned it off |
Wear gloves, sturdy shoes and a mask when you go in. The soot and dirty water left behind may contain things that could make you sick. Do not pick through debris in the area of origin until the investigator has said you may.[1]
Build the fire timeline
A fire timeline has more fixed points than most losses: the 911 call, the fire department’s arrival, the time you were told it was out, and the time you were cleared to enter. Some of those times are in the fire department’s own report, so record your version now and compare later. Keep observed, recorded and acted apart, and write “unknown” where you did not see something yourself.
| Date and time | Observed | Recorded | Acted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-02 22:40 | Smoke alarm in hallway | Nothing | Left the house with family |
| 2026-05-02 22:43 | Called 911 | Time from phone log | Nothing |
| 2026-05-02 22:55 | Fire department arrived | Department name, officer’s name | Nothing |
| 2026-05-03 00:30 | Told fire was out; utilities shut off | Which utilities, by whom, incident report number | Booked hotel, receipt filed |
| 2026-05-03 09:15 | Cleared to enter with an escort | Name of officer who cleared entry | Photographed origin area as found |
| 2026-05-03 11:00 | Called insurance company | Name, time, what they asked for | Reported the loss |
| 2026-05-03 15:00 | Board-up crew secured openings | Company name, invoice number | Paid, receipt filed |
Inventory: things that burned, and things that survived
A fire inventory has two halves. The first lists what was destroyed, room by room, including items you can no longer photograph because nothing recognisable is left. The second lists what survived and where it went. For both, write one row per item with a room identifier, a description, the purchase date and price where known, and “unknown” where they are not. Write “unknown purchase date” honestly; a row with an unknown date is a record, a guessed date is a contradiction waiting to happen.
- Work from memory room by room: stand at the door of each room, or where it was, and list the contents wall by wall before you look at the debris.
- Use older photos and videos of the house, receipts in email, bank and card statements and product registrations to fill in dates and prices.
- Photograph what remains of larger items in place: a bed frame, an appliance carcass, a television bracket, each with the room identifier in the caption.
- Try to find valuable documents and records, as the U.S. Fire Administration advises, and list what you found and what you could not: identification, passports, insurance policies, deeds and titles, birth and marriage records, tax records, bank records, medical records and warranties. The booklet includes a list of where to replace them.
Keep lodging and meal receipts in their own folder inside the receipt folder, logged with the date and the nights or meals they relate to. They belong in the Additional Documentation part of your record. Whether a cost is reimbursed is a policy question ClaimPrep does not answer; the receipt is still part of the record.[1]
Firefighting water and soot: two more kinds of damage in the same house
The U.S. Fire Administration warns that things not damaged by the fire may still be ruined by smoke and may be soggy with water used to put out the fire. Treat the water as its own event: photograph standing water, wet drywall and wet flooring with a tape measure, note the date each room started drying, and keep the drying equipment invoices. The water damage guide covers that record in detail; use it for the wet rooms and keep the room identifiers the same.[1]
Soot deserves the same discipline. Photograph the heat and soot lines on the walls where a darker band shows how high the hot smoke layer sat, with a tape measure from the floor. Photograph inside closets, cupboards and the HVAC registers. The smoke damage guide covers the rooms the fire never reached, and the odour and wipe-test records that go with them.
Fire and smoke restoration contractors generally work to the ANSI/IICRC S700 standard for professional fire and smoke damage restoration. Ask any contractor for a written, dated scope of work before they start, and log each invoice against the room it relates to.
Keeping the evidence and securing the house
A fire-damaged house is open, unlit and often empty for weeks. Securing it protects both the building and the record. Photograph each opening before and after it is boarded, keep the board-up invoice, and note in the timeline who holds keys. If you leave the house vacant, tell the local police department that it is empty and give them a way to reach you.
- Keep the fire department’s incident report, the investigator’s contact and any written findings together with your own “Important information” form.
- Store salvaged documents flat and dry in a labelled envelope and list them, so the record shows which originals survived.
- The American Red Cross publishes a home fire recovery page with practical steps for the first days; it is a good companion to the U.S. Fire Administration booklet.
What to document
| Item | Why it matters | Where it appears in your report |
|---|---|---|
| Fire department name, fire incident report number and investigator’s name and contact | The identifiers on the U.S. Fire Administration’s “Important information” form | Claim Summary |
| Time of the 911 call and time you were cleared to enter, with the officer’s name | Fixed points in the fire timeline that can be compared with the fire report | Timeline of Events |
| Area of origin photographed as found, from the door and then closer, before anything is moved | The scene changes with every visit; the as-found photos are unrepeatable | Photo Documentation |
| Room-by-room list of destroyed contents with “unknown purchase date” where honest | Records items that no longer exist to be photographed | Detailed Documentation |
| Utilities shut-off record: which service, who turned it off, when | Firefighters disconnect unsafe utilities and the date matters for the record | Documented Details |
| Heat and soot lines on walls photographed with a tape measure from the floor | Shows how high the hot smoke layer sat in each room | Affected Areas |
| Firefighting water: standing water, wet drywall and flooring photographed per room with the drying start date | The water is its own damage event with its own timeline | Mitigation Actions |
| List of valuable documents found and of those that could not be found | The U.S. Fire Administration says to try to find valuable documents and records | Documented Details |
| Board-up and securing receipts with before and after photos of each opening | Records the steps taken to protect the building | Mitigation Actions |
| Lodging and meal receipts kept in their own folder and logged by date | Money spent related to the fire loss, kept apart from repair costs | Additional Documentation |
What your documentation report will contain
A ClaimPrep documentation report organises what you recorded into these sections. It records facts; it does not value your loss or interpret your policy.
Claim Summary Property Details Damage Summary Timeline of Events Affected Areas Detailed Documentation Mitigation Actions Documented Details Additional Documentation Photo Documentation
See a sample documentation report (a fictional example) or read how ClaimPrep works.
Who to contact
- The fire department that responded
- They hold the fire incident report and decide when the house is safe to enter; ask for the report number, the investigator’s name and a copy of the report when it is ready.[1]
- Your insurance company or agent
- The U.S. Fire Administration says to contact them right away and ask what to do first; note the date, the time and the name of the person you spoke to.[1]
- Florida DFS Insurance Consumer Helpline, 1-877-MY-FL-CFO (1-877-693-5236), out of state (850) 413-3089
- State consumer help for insurance questions, available 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST, Monday through Friday; have your company name, policy number and agent name ready.[4]
- The American Red Cross
- Its home fire recovery page and local chapters help households in the first days after a fire; log any assistance you receive with the date.[3]
- The local police department, if the house will be vacant
- Tell them the house is empty and how to reach you; note the date you told them in your timeline.
Common documentation mistakes
- Going in before the fire department has cleared the building
- Wait for the all-clear and be careful inside; floors and walls may not be as safe as they look, as the U.S. Fire Administration warns.
- Sweeping up or moving debris in the area of origin before photographing it
- Photograph the origin area as found from the door and then closer, and touch nothing there until the investigator says you may.
- Turning the electricity or gas back on because the house seems fine
- Leave the utilities as the firefighters left them and record who shut them off and when; have a licensed professional restore them.
- Leaving destroyed items off the inventory because there is nothing left to photograph
- List them room by room from memory and old photos, with “unknown” for any date or price you cannot find.
- Mixing hotel and meal receipts into the repair receipts
- Keep them in their own folder, logged by date, and file them under Additional Documentation.
Questions
How do I get the fire incident report number?
Ask the officer in charge before the fire department leaves; the number is often assigned on the day. If it is not available yet, ask which office to call and when, and write that down. The fire incident report number is one of the fields on the U.S. Fire Administration’s “Important information” form, together with the department’s name and the fire marshal or investigator, and it is the identifier the fire department and your insurer will both use.[1]
What do I photograph first after a fire?
Once the fire department has said the house is safe to enter, photograph the area of origin as found, from the doorway and then closer, before anything is moved. Then walk every room, including the ones that did not burn, because the U.S. Fire Administration notes that things not damaged by the fire may still be ruined by smoke or be soggy with the water used to put the fire out. Photograph the utilities in the state the firefighters left them, and every forced or cut opening.[1]
How do I inventory things that burned completely?
Stand at the door of each room and list the contents wall by wall from memory, before you look at the debris. Fill in purchase dates and prices from old photos, email receipts, card statements and product registrations, and write “unknown” wherever you cannot find them. Photograph whatever remains of larger items in place, and keep the list separate from the list of items that survived and were moved out.
Do hotel and meal receipts belong in the report?
Yes, in their own folder. The U.S. Fire Administration says to begin saving receipts for any money spent related to the fire loss, and lodging and meals are part of that. Log each one with the date and the nights or meals it relates to and file them under Additional Documentation, apart from repair receipts and estimates. Whether a cost is reimbursed is a policy question ClaimPrep does not answer.[1]
Sources
- After the Fire (FA-46, January 2019), U.S. Fire Administration (FEMA). Accessed The “Important information” fields, entry only when the fire department says it is safe, utilities, receipts, contacting the insurer, valuable documents, smoke and water damage, soot hazards.
- Helping Community Residents After a Home Fire, U.S. Fire Administration. Accessed Links the After the Fire booklet.
- Home Fire Recovery, American Red Cross. Accessed Recovery steps for the first days after a home fire.
- Hurricane Resources, Florida Department of Financial Services, Consumer Services. Accessed Insurance Consumer Helpline number, hours and what to have ready before calling.
How this guide was produced. Written and maintained by ClaimPrep’s editorial team from the sources listed above. Drafting used AI writing assistance; a person checked every statement against the cited sources before publication and at each review date. ClaimPrep sells the documentation service linked on this page. Documentation guidance only, not legal, insurance, public-adjusting or financial advice. Found an error? Read the corrections policy.