Post-Fire Recovery: Your Next Steps

In 2018, there were an estimated half a million fires in residential buildings (homes and apartments) and commercial buildings (restaurants, nightclubs, etc) in the United States alone.

In September 2020, a massive spread of fires destroyed large amounts of the United States’ west coast, with damage and smoke so catastrophic that it could be seen from space and caused air quality to take a drastic downturn. One town in Washington, Malden, is reported as being almost completely destroyed as over 300,000 acres of Washington state were left burnt.

Every year, the West Coast’s fire season causes millions of dollars in damages to homes and commercial property alike. Fires are not limited to a single coast and right now, there are dozens of major fires burning across the country.

If you’re dealing with the aftermath of a fire, here are some of the most common ways that your fire experience probably could have begun:

• Lightning strikes
• Discarded cigarette butts
• Unattended campfires
• Kitchen fires (commercial and in households)
• Fireworks
• Electrical fires
• Arson

The majority of property damage for fires revolves around smaller fires Every year, almost 200,000 fires across the United States are actually caused by homeowners. That is upwards of 50% of fires that occur each year.  

We’re talking about people who accidentally set a fire in their kitchen because of oil on the stove, who have left a candle burning in their condominium, or who thought they could handle an electrical rewiring project on their own.

These fires range from small fires to larger blazes that can leave widespread smoke and fire damage across a home.

Fire damage can strike anywhere and at any time. It’s almost impossible to completely prevent a fire in your home or business and once a fire has sparked, it can be difficult to put it out without the help of your local fire department.

So, what should you do right after a fire? We have several tips that can help you keep a cool head no matter the size of the fire or extent of the damage. 

• Get permission from the fire department before you re-enter your home after the fire so that you can avoid injuring yourself in an unsafe structure
• Let your loved ones know what’s happening if they aren’t at home for the incident.
• If the fire was large enough to seriously damage your home, call your electricity, gas, or water companies and ask them to suspend service and let them know about the fire.
• Make sure you get a copy of the fire report from the firemen as soon as possible
• If it’s a fire that has left some of the valuables in your home undamaged but the rest of the structure unlivable, secure those valuables BEFORE you leave to go somewhere safe
• In need of immediate financial assistance? Reach out to your local charitable organizations.
• And of course, prepare to file an insurance claim…

Filing an insurance claim can be stressful even in cases when the source of the damage isn’t something as devastating as a fire. Insurance companies don’t want to help homeowners rebuild and will actually do their best to deny claims that come in. When you file a claim for any kind of disaster and your insurance company sends you “your” adjuster, what they’re actually sending you is someone that primarily works with the insurance company’s best interests in mind – 

Not yours. 

So, how do you ensure that you get the largest possible settlement from your insurance company without having to deal with weeks of frustration following a fire? You reach out to disaster experts like Bulldog Adjusters.

Our licensed public adjusters are active in several states and they bring years of disaster management expertise to every claim they handle. When you schedule an appointment with our adjusters following a fire, our experienced adjuster will go over every inch of the damage and take photographs, videos, and measurements that showcase the full extent of the damage so that your insurance company can’t deny your claim easily. 

Once our internal claims processing team files your fire damage claim, they’ll also handle the frustration of dealing with your insurance company over the negotiation process until you get the settlement you deserve. 

And when you work with a public adjuster, one of the biggest benefits to our endless focus on your claim is that we can help you recover around 570% more money than you would’ve gotten when filing your claim on your own. Another big benefit?  

As a policyholder, the only thing you can do when dealing with fires in your area or your home is preparing for the aftermath and looking forward to the future. And that means making sure that your insurance claim is handled by people who are looking out for you and don’t work for your insurance company.

Bulldog Adjusters is the disaster insurance claim expert and we know exactly how to handle a fire insurance claim. After a fire, our adjusters are ready and willing to help property owners navigate the complex maze of the insurance claim process. We have experience with a wide range of property damage claims including small and large fires across different commercial and residential properties. As a result of our experience, we’ve developed new ways to prioritize our clienfirets’ needs and help them get their lives back to pre-fire conditions faster.

Unsure what comes next after a fire blazes through your home? Call Bulldog Adjusters’ today at 800-806-3044 to find out how we help homeowners after fire! We’ll make sure you know everything you’ll need to know about fire damage, recovering from a fire, and how public adjusters like our team can help you get everything back on track!