Homeowner and renter guides
Fire damage restoration guides for the weeks after a fire
Start with the question in front of you. Each guide explains what is happening, what you can safely do yourself, what a restoration contractor does and where to find official guidance.
Every guide lists its sources. Nothing here replaces an on-site assessment or your insurance policy.
All guides
GuideIs it safe to stay after a fire?
How to judge whether you can sleep in a home after a fire: structure, utilities, smoke residue, water and who is most at risk.
Read the guide
GuideSmoke odor that won't go away
Why a fire smell keeps coming back after cleaning, where it is hiding in a Chicago home, and what actually removes it.
Read the guide
GuideSoot on walls and ceilings
What black or gray film on walls and ceilings means, why wiping it with water makes it worse, and the right order to clean it.
Read the guide
GuideWhat to do after a house fire
The first hours, the first day and the first week after a fire in Chicago, in the order that protects your family, your home and your claim.
Read the guide
GuideWorking with your insurance adjuster
How a fire claim works in Illinois, what the adjuster needs from you, how contractors fit in, and where to turn if the claim stalls.
Read the guide
How to use these guides
How these fire recovery guides are written
The guides follow the order most families face. What to do after a house fire covers the first hours, day and week. Is it safe to stay helps you decide whether to sleep at home during cleanup. Working with your insurance adjuster explains how a fire claim works in Illinois.
Two guides deal with what you see and smell afterward: soot on walls and ceilings and smoke odor that won't go away.
Facts come from public sources such as Ready.gov, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Illinois Department of Insurance, the City of Chicago and the IICRC restoration standards, listed at the bottom of each guide. Read more about how pages are researched in our editorial policy.
If you are reading this in the first hours after a fire, start with safety: stay out until the Chicago Fire Department releases the building, do not turn utilities back on yourself, and leave and call 911 and Peoples Gas from outside if you smell gas. The guides will still be here once everyone is safe and you have somewhere to stay.
Rather talk it through?
Skip the reading and call
Describe what happened, and your call connects you with an independent fire restoration contractor in Chicago.