Statewide Emergency Fire Damage Removal in Indiana, IN
The fire is out, the trucks have left, and now you are standing in the driveway wondering what happens next. One free call to Unify Fire Solutions connects you with a licensed and insured independent restoration contractor who works in your part of Indiana, IN. Someone picks up at any hour, and dispatch begins before you hang up.
- Free referral line answered 24/7, every day of the year
- Independent local crews serving every corner of Indiana, IN
- Written, line-item estimates before any work begins
- Help lining up paperwork your insurance adjuster will ask for
One phone number for fire calls across Indiana, IN
Unify Fire Solutions does not do restoration work. We run the dispatch desk that gets a qualified independent contractor headed your way.
Most people only deal with fire damage once in their lives, so nobody knows the order of operations. Who do you call first, the insurance company or a contractor? Can you go back inside? Who turns the power back on? Our dispatchers field these questions every day, from every part of Indiana, IN, and we can usually point you in the right direction in a few minutes.
When you call +1-833-336-1630, a live dispatcher asks a short set of questions: the property type, whether the fire department has released the scene, whether there is standing water from the hoses, and whether the roof or windows are open to the weather. Your answers tell us which independent crew in our network fits the job and how quickly the first visit needs to happen.
The contractors we connect you with are licensed and insured independent businesses based in or near your community. They own their equipment, employ their own crews, write their own estimates and answer for their own work. We handle the connection, so at 2 a.m. you are talking with a qualified local pro instead of scrolling through search results on your phone in the dark.
The line is free to call, and it stays open 24/7, weekends and holidays included. Whether the property is a single-family home, a rented duplex, a condo unit or a storefront, the routing process is the same anywhere in Indiana, IN.
It helps to have a few details ready: the property address, your insurer's name, a claim number if you have one, and the fire department's incident number. If you don't have any of that yet, that's fine. Plenty of people call from a neighbor's porch with nothing but a phone, and the dispatcher will help you figure out what to gather next.
What independent Fire Damage Removal crews in Indiana, IN do
A fire leaves three separate problems behind: charred materials, smoke residue that spreads through the whole building, and the water used to knock the fire down. Below is how the independent contractors in our network handle each piece.
Emergency response and mitigation
Mitigation is the work of keeping the damage from spreading, and with fire it is a race against time. Soot is acidic. In a matter of hours it yellows plastics and vinyl, and after a day or two it can etch glass, pit chrome and permanently stain grout. Wet drywall and insulation from the hose lines can begin growing mold in 24 to 48 hours.
The independent crew we dispatch will usually start with a safety walk, then secure the building. That often means boarding broken windows and doors with plywood, tarping holes in the roof, and setting temporary fencing if the property sits close to a sidewalk. Next comes water: truck-mounted or portable extraction units pull standing water out of carpet and subfloors, and wet pad is usually cut out and bagged.
With the building stable, crews run HEPA air scrubbers to pull fine soot out of the air, sometimes under negative pressure so particles stay out of unaffected rooms. Dehumidifiers and air movers go in where moisture meters show wet framing or drywall.
- Boarding of windows, doors and openings in walls
- Tarps on the roof to keep weather off open framing
- Extraction of firefighting water and removal of wet materials
- HEPA air scrubbing plus moisture readings
Homes, condos and townhouses
Even when the flames stayed in one room, the damage almost never does. Smoke follows air pressure and temperature, which is why you find black rings around outlets in a bedroom at the far end of the hall, or soot lines on the carpet along the baseboards. A residential crew starts by mapping how far the residue traveled, room by room, before anything gets wiped.
Dry soot from a fast, hot fire is powdery, so crews lift it with dry chemical sponges and HEPA vacuums. Wet, smeary smoke from a slow, smoldering fire is oily and needs alkaline cleaners and a lot more labor. Kitchen fires leave protein residue, a nearly invisible film that smells terrible and turns surfaces sticky. Each type takes a different chemistry, and using the wrong one can drive the stain deeper into paint or wood.
Charred materials get removed down to sound framing. Framing that is only blackened, not structurally weakened, is often cleaned with soda or dry ice blasting and then sealed with a shellac-based or pigmented sealing primer to lock in odor before new drywall goes up. Ask the contractor to show you which studs they plan to keep and which they plan to replace, and to note it on the estimate.
- Residue mapping and spot tests before any cleaning
- Targeted tear-out of burned drywall, insulation and trim
- Framing cleaned by blasting, then sealed
Businesses, rentals and multi-unit buildings
When the property is a business or a rental, the questions multiply. A restaurant owner needs to know when the hood system can be inspected and the health inspector called back. A landlord needs to know which units are habitable and which tenants need temporary housing. A property manager with a fire in one unit of a fourplex has to stop smoke from moving through the shared attic and ducts.
Contractors who handle commercial work often phase the job so part of the space can keep operating. They build temporary poly containment walls with zip-door access, run negative air machines, and schedule the loudest demolition for nights or weekends. In a retail shop, the sales floor might reopen while the back room is still sealed off.
Inventory is its own problem. Smoke-exposed food, medication, cosmetics and anything in permeable packaging usually has to be discarded and documented for the claim. Ask the crew to photograph and list disposed inventory with quantities so your business interruption and property claims line up.
- Phased schedules so a portion of the business can reopen
- Containment walls between damaged and occupied units
- Inventory disposal lists for the claim file
Apartment and condo buildings bring building code into play. Fire-rated assemblies, such as the drywall between units or around a stairwell, have to be rebuilt to the same rating, and damaged fire alarm or sprinkler components need a licensed trade to restore them. Ask the crew if those items are part of their estimate or will go to a separate trade.
For landlords and property managers: request a brief written status for each unit, livable or not, that you can forward to tenants and your carrier that day.
Contents, odor, HVAC and firefighting water
The smell is what most people remember afterward. It gets into clothes, mattresses, the couch, the kids' stuffed animals, and the inside of every closed drawer. Contents crews pack out what can be saved, inventory each box, and clean it off site, using ultrasonic tanks for hard items and specialty laundering for fabric. Electronics often go to a separate vendor who can clean the circuit boards before soot corrodes them.
Odor control happens after cleaning, never instead of it. Crews may use thermal fogging, which mimics the heat of the fire to carry deodorizer into the same pores the smoke reached, or hydroxyl generators that can run while people are present. Ozone treatment is effective but requires an empty building, no people, pets or plants, so ask before it is used.
An HVAC system that was running during the fire pushed smoke into every room on that system. A duct cleaning crew will inspect the air handler, coil and duct runs, clean or replace flex duct, and swap filters. Ask whether the contractor follows IICRC guidance, such as the S700 standard for fire and smoke and the S500 standard for the water side of the job.
- Contents pack-out with an itemized inventory
- Odor treatment by thermal fog, hydroxyl or ozone
- Air handler, coil and duct inspection and cleaning
Firefighting water is the part people underestimate. A single engine can pour hundreds of gallons into a house in minutes, and that water finds its way into wall cavities, under cabinets and down through ceilings. Because it carries soot and ash, it is contaminated, which is why soaked carpet, pad and insulation usually come out instead of being dried in place. Crews remove baseboards or drill small holes to ventilate wall cavities, then track readings until the framing returns to a normal dry level.
- Drying of wall cavities soaked by hose water
- Electronics cleaned by a specialty vendor
Standing in front of a burned house right now?
Call the free line, and a dispatcher will talk you through the next hour while lining up an independent crew close by.
Call +1-833-336-1630What a referral through Unify Fire Solutions looks like
Nobody can promise the cost of a fire job or the length of a rebuild. These are the things we can say plainly.
Written estimates up front
The independent contractor provides a written, line-item estimate before work starts, and you should always ask for one. Most crews in Indiana, IN write estimates in the same software insurance adjusters use, which makes comparing the two much easier.
Dispatch at any hour
Someone answers 24/7, and dispatch begins as soon as you call. Arrival time depends on which crews are free and how far away they are, and it is often the same day.
Independent crews working statewide
The network reaches cities, suburbs and rural communities throughout Indiana, IN. You are matched with a crew that works near you and knows how the local building office and utilities run.
Licensed, insured independent pros
Every referral goes to a licensed and insured independent contractor. Even so, check the license and request a certificate of insurance before you sign, and ask if the crew works to IICRC S700 guidance.
A second option if you need one
If the first contractor isn't the right fit, for any reason, call back and we'll connect you with another one. Sometimes the schedule doesn't work, sometimes you want a second estimate for the adjuster, and sometimes it is simply a personality mismatch. That's fine.
Getting two estimates is common on larger fire jobs, and many adjusters welcome it. Make sure both estimates cover the same scope, line for line, so the comparison is fair.
Your statewide fire recovery decision guide
Every fire is different, but the order of decisions is surprisingly consistent anywhere in Indiana, IN. Use this as a checklist while you wait for a crew.
- 1
Safety first, then the call
Don't go back in until the fire department says you can. Then call +1-833-336-1630, answer a few questions about the scene, the water and any openings, and a dispatcher will start finding a crew.
- 2
Arrival and site security
The contractor walks the property with you, documents it in photos, and boards or tarps openings. Where water is pooled, extraction frequently begins on the very first visit.
- 3
Written scope and estimate
You receive a written estimate, line by line, with mitigation split out from rebuild work. It goes to your adjuster, and only emergency stabilization should proceed before you sign.
- 4
Cleaning, drying and deodorizing
Crews remove charred materials, dry the structure, clean soot from every affected surface, and treat odor. Moisture readings and photos are logged daily so the adjuster can see the progress.
- 5
Rebuild and final walkthrough
Permitted repair work comes next: framing, electrical, drywall, paint and floors. Before the final invoice, walk the property with the contractor and make a punch list of anything left undone.
In the first hour, before a crew gets there: make sure every person and pet is out and accounted for. Do not re-enter until the fire department releases the scene, and never switch breakers on or off yourself after a fire. Ask the firefighters for the incident number and write it down, because your insurer will need it. If you can safely do so from outside, take wide photos and video of every side of the building.
When the fire department releases the scene
Until the fire department formally hands the property back, it's their scene. If investigators are still working out the cause, you may be kept out for hours or, occasionally, a couple of days.
After release, a local building official may post a placard on the door. A green tag generally means the building can be occupied, a yellow tag means limited entry, and a red tag means nobody goes in until the structure is evaluated. The placard system differs from one jurisdiction to the next in Indiana, IN, so read the notice and call the number on it.
A red tag doesn't stop mitigation from the outside. Crews can still board, tarp and fence, and many work with a structural engineer to get the red tag lifted.
Utility shutoffs after a fire
Firefighters often cut power at the meter and close the gas valve during the fight. After a fire shutoff, the utility typically won't turn service back on until an inspection, and in some cases a licensed electrician or plumber has to sign off first.
For that reason, restoration crews usually arrive with generators to power the scrubbers and dehumidifiers. Call your electric, gas and water providers yourself to report the fire and ask what they need to restore service.
If water service is still live and a line ruptured in the heat, close the main shutoff. You'll usually find it near the meter or where the supply enters the building.
Working with your insurance adjuster
Report the loss to your insurer the same day and get a claim number. Nearly every policy expects you to prevent additional damage, and that is the purpose of emergency mitigation. You do not need to wait for the adjuster before boarding, tarping and drying, but keep every receipt.
Contractors throughout Indiana, IN normally bill in two parts: a mitigation invoice for board-up, water removal, drying and cleanup, and a restoration invoice for the rebuild. Adjusters review each differently, so keeping them apart avoids delays. Ask the crew for time-stamped photos, daily drying logs and a contents list, and get a copy of whatever goes to the insurer.
When the home can't be lived in, many policies cover additional living expenses, also called loss of use, for things like a hotel and meals. Limits vary from policy to policy, so ask your agent what applies and keep all receipts.
Building permits for fire repairs
Cleaning and mitigation usually don't need a permit. Structural repairs, rewiring, new framing, a new roof and HVAC replacement nearly always require one. In Indiana, IN, local city and county building departments issue permits, which means forms, fees and inspection timing differ by location.
A local contractor who knows the nearby office will usually pull the permit under their own license. Make sure the permit is posted on site and that inspections are signed off before walls are closed up. Your insurer may ask for the final inspection record before releasing the last payment.
Opening the walls of an older home can bring up new issues. If the building is old enough to contain asbestos in drywall texture, flooring or duct wrap, or lead in the paint, testing may be required before demolition. The repairs might also need to meet today's code instead of the original one, and some policies cover that under ordinance or law coverage, so ask your agent.
Rentals: who handles what
With a rental property, the structure and the renter's belongings typically fall under different policies. Usually the owner's policy covers the building and fixtures, and the renter's policy covers the tenant's furniture, clothes and temporary housing.
Owners should put access, timelines and habitability decisions in writing for tenants. Tenants should photograph their own belongings before the pack-out and get a copy of the contractor's contents inventory. Rules for both sides come from Indiana, IN law and the lease, so review the lease and contact a local housing office or attorney with questions.
The landlord or the tenant can call us. We usually suggest the property owner authorize the structural work and the tenant handle their own contents claim, with the same crew doing both if everyone agrees.
Getting a small business back open
For a business, every closed day costs money, so speed of mitigation matters even more. Ask your commercial carrier about business interruption coverage and track lost income starting on day one.
Food service, salons, clinics and grocers usually need a health or fire inspection before they can reopen. Ask the contractor for a phased schedule and a written list of what must be finished before each inspection.
Back up the point-of-sale system, payroll records and customer files before anyone moves the computers. If you lease the space, notify the landlord right away, since the lease normally says who pays for which repairs.
Why the first 24 to 72 hours matter: soot keeps etching surfaces, wet materials start to grow mold, and odor soaks deeper into porous materials every day it sits. Getting mitigation going early is often the biggest factor in how much can be cleaned instead of thrown out.
Notes from people who called the line
Shared with permission, with last names shortened.
Our dryer vent caught fire late at night, and when the firefighters finally cleared us I couldn't think at all. The dispatcher asked me five or six simple questions and told me to get the incident number before the engine left. The contractor was there the next morning, boarded the laundry room, and had extraction going before my adjuster even called back.
I own two rental duplexes and one tenant had a kitchen fire. The best part was that the contractor split the mitigation bill from the rebuild estimate. My adjuster approved the first one within a week, and the tenant next door never had to move out because the crew sealed the shared wall and attic.
We rented our place and the fire started in the unit below us. I had no idea my renter's insurance covered a hotel until the dispatcher told me to ask my agent about it. The crew boxed up our clothes and the kids' toys and handed me a typed inventory, which made the claim much simpler.
A grease fire shut down my restaurant on a Friday. The contractor set up plastic walls so we could get the dining room cleaned and inspected while they kept working on the kitchen. They gave me a written list of what had to be done before the health inspection, and we passed the first time.
The first contractor I talked to couldn't begin for close to a week. I called back, said that wouldn't work, and the dispatcher connected me with a different crew who started the next day. No pushback and no runaround, which was exactly what I needed.
Common questions from callers in Indiana, IN
How fast can a Fire Damage Removal technician arrive in Indiana, IN?
Dispatch starts the moment you call, and the phone is answered 24/7. How soon a crew arrives depends on which independent contractors are available and how far they are from your property. In most of Indiana, IN it is often the same day, and the dispatcher will tell you what to expect before you hang up.
Do you provide upfront pricing?
We don't set prices, since Unify Fire Solutions is a referral line and not the contractor. The independent crew writes a line-item estimate before work begins, and you should have it in hand before you sign. Emergency board-up or water extraction may begin right away to prevent more damage, but ask the crew to explain those charges in writing too.
What emergency services are available?
Contractors in our network typically handle board-up, roof tarping, water extraction, structural drying, soot cleanup, HEPA air filtration and odor treatment. A lot of them also handle contents pack-out and storage, duct cleaning, and the rebuild after mitigation. Tell the dispatcher what you're seeing and we'll match you with a crew that does that work.
Do contractors in IN work directly with my insurance company?
Most independent contractors in IN are used to working alongside insurance adjusters. They document the damage with photos, moisture readings and a line-item estimate, and they can send that file to your adjuster with your permission. Keep in mind the policy is between you and your insurer, so you make the final decisions and should keep copies of everything.
Do I need a permit for fire damage repairs in Indiana, IN?
Cleanup and drying generally don't need one, while structural, electrical, roof and HVAC work nearly always does. Your city or county building department issues permits in Indiana, IN, and the rules differ from place to place. In most cases the local contractor pulls the permit and books the inspections.
Can I stay in my house after a fire?
That depends on what the fire department and the local building official say, and whether power, water and heat can be safely restored. Even after a minor fire, soot and odor can make the home unhealthy to sleep in, particularly for children, older adults and people with asthma. Ask your insurer whether your policy includes additional living expenses for temporary housing.
Should I call my insurance company or a contractor first?
Call both on the same day, in whatever order works. Nearly every policy expects you to stop additional damage, so boarding and water removal shouldn't wait on the adjuster. Get a claim number, keep every receipt, and let the contractor know your claim number so their paperwork matches.
What should I throw away after a fire?
Throw out food, medicine and cosmetics that were exposed to heat, smoke or firefighting water. Photograph and list everything else before discarding it, and let the crew help sort what can be saved. Many items that look ruined, like clothes, dishes and hard furniture, can often be cleaned.
Is it safe to clean up soot myself?
Wiping soot with a wet rag usually smears it deeper into paint and fabric, and some residue contains acids and fine particles you don't want to breathe. If you go inside to grab essentials, wear an N95 mask and gloves and don't run fans or the HVAC. Leave the cleaning to the crew, who will test the residue and choose the right chemistry.
Does Unify Fire Solutions serve every part of Indiana, IN?
Our network reaches cities, suburbs and rural communities throughout Indiana, IN. Out in remote areas the closest crew may have a longer drive, and the dispatcher will tell you that up front. Call +1-833-336-1630 with your address and we'll tell you who can get there.
Statewide Fire Damage Removal coverage in Indiana, IN
One phone number reaches independent crews anywhere in Indiana, IN, from dense metro neighborhoods to farmhouses at the end of a gravel road.
In metro areas, there are usually several contractors within reach, so the dispatcher can match on specialty, like commercial kitchens or high-rise condos. In suburbs, crews tend to handle a lot of attached garage fires, dryer vent fires and kitchen fires in single-family homes. In rural parts of Indiana, IN, the nearest crew may travel farther, and they often arrive with generators and trailers because utility restoration can take longer.
- Single-family homes
- Condos and townhouses
- Apartment buildings
- Rental duplexes
- Mobile and manufactured homes
- Restaurants
- Retail stores
- Offices
- Warehouses
- Churches and schools
- Detached garages
- Barns and outbuildings
Common causes we hear about include kitchen fires, dryer vents, space heaters, electrical faults, candles, lightning strikes, grills, garage fires, furnace puff-backs and fire spreading from a neighbor's property. Whatever the cause, the first call is the same.
You can call even if you live elsewhere and the fire is at a rental you own or a relative's house. The dispatcher can coordinate with a neighbor, a tenant or a property manager on site, and the contractor can send photos and the written estimate to you by email before anything beyond emergency stabilization begins.
