A house fire does not end when the flames are out. Soot keeps etching surfaces, smoke odor works its way into framing and ductwork, and the water used to fight the fire starts its own damage clock. Drake's Construction & Restoration responds same-day to fire and smoke losses across Parkersburg and the Mid-Ohio Valley, and we stay on the job from the first board-up through the final rebuild - one contractor, one point of accountability. Call 304-485-4357 for rapid emergency response.
Immediate Steps to Take After a Fire
What happens in the first hours shapes both how much of your home can be saved and how well your insurance claim holds up. Work through these steps in order.
- Confirm the home is safe to approach - Wait for the fire department's all-clear before going near the structure.
- Notify your insurance carrier - Report the fire promptly and confirm your coverage before work begins.
- Request emergency board-up and tarping - Call Drake's to secure openings and cover the roof so weather and intruders can't cause further loss.
- Keep soot, water, and utilities untouched - Leave residue in place and keep power and HVAC off to prevent spreading contamination.
- Schedule a restoration assessment - A Drake's technician inspects soot, smoke, and structural damage and maps the restoration plan.
Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Services
Fire recovery is several different trades running in sequence, and doing them out of order costs you material that could have been saved. Our crews handle the full scope:
- Emergency board-up and roof tarping - securing openings and covering the roof so weather, animals, and intruders cannot add to the loss while the claim gets started.
- Soot and smoke residue removal - HEPA vacuuming and chemical sponging matched to the residue type, because soot is acidic and keeps corroding metal, glass, and electronics for as long as it sits.
- Odor deodorization - treating the source rather than masking it, including the framing cavities and duct runs where smoke compounds migrate and surface cleaning cannot reach.
- Content cleaning and pack-out - inventorying, removing, and cleaning salvageable belongings off site, then returning them once the structure is finished.
- Water extraction and structural drying - firefighting soaks a structure, and that moisture needs the same treatment as a flood. Our water damage restoration crews run extraction, dehumidification, and mold prevention as part of fire recovery.
- Structural repairs and reconstruction - replacing what cannot be restored, from framing and drywall through roofing and finishes.
Every fire is a different mix of these, which is why the assessment comes before the estimate. We inspect what burned, what the smoke reached, and what the water touched, then build the restoration plan from that instead of a template.
From Cleanup to Full Rebuild - One Contractor
Most restoration companies stop at mitigation. They dry the structure, clean the soot, and hand you back a stabilized shell - and then you are the one hiring a builder, coordinating schedules, and standing between two companies that each blame the other when something falls through. Drake's has been a builder since 2000, so mitigation and reconstruction are the same company on the same job.
That means the crew tearing out fire-damaged framing already knows what is going back in. It means complete reconstruction is scoped while the mitigation is still running, not bid out weeks later. And it means one foreman owns your project start to finish. If the fire also took the roof, the same team handles that too, the way we handle storm damage repair - no handoff, no gap where the house sits open waiting on a second contractor.
Navigating Your Fire Insurance Claim
A fire claim is won or lost on documentation. We photograph and inventory the damage before anything is moved, prepare detailed line-item estimates, and work directly with your adjuster so the scope everyone is arguing from is the real one. Smoke and odor damage is claimable even where nothing burned, and it is the category most often left off an initial estimate - we make sure it is on yours.
One thing worth knowing early: you can choose your own contractor. Your insurer may suggest a preferred vendor, but the decision is yours, and a contractor working for you documents the full loss rather than the convenient one. For deductibles and any out-of-pocket scope, we offer GreenSky financing so the rebuild is not waiting on the claim to settle. Contact us and we will walk you through what your policy is likely to cover.
Why Parkersburg Homeowners Choose Drake's
- Local since 2000 - a Parkersburg company with crews based here, not a franchise dispatching from out of the region.
- Licensed West Virginia contractor - license #WV037234, fully insured and bonded.
- 5-Year No-Leak Certification - backing the roofing and structural work that finishes the rebuild.
- One foreman per project - the same person accountable for your job from board-up through move-back-in.
- First-responder and military discounts - for the people who show up on the worst day.
