After a Fire

Insurance
Electric appliances
Gas appliances
Want to know more?

City firefighters have done their job. The fire is out and they have done some of the basic clean-up work. Now you need to deal with the damaged or destroyed items.

You may find that firefighters broke your windows and cut holes in your roof. This was to ventilate the fire. This practice reduces damage in the long run. Otherwise, superheated smoke would continue to move out and obscure any victims. The procedure also reduces the risk of serious injury to firefighters and reduces the possibility of a smoke explosion.

To make sure that there is no hidden fire inside your walls and between floors, firefighters may have made inspection holes. This ensures that the fire is truly out.

Insurance

You must first protect yourself from additional losses. Some insurance policies (mostly commercial ones) demand that insured individuals prevent further damage to the property however possible. For example, they should make sure that the fire area is inspected thoroughly and should confirm any cleaning or repairs with their insurance agent. Contact your insurance agent if you lost your insurance policy in the fire.

Ottawa Fire Services does its utmost to secure your property after a fire. It removes as much water and debris as possible and tries to protect lightly damaged and undamaged property. It also uses plastic to cover broken windows and ventilation openings in the roof.

If you rent your property, contact the owners of the building. They should then notify their insurance agent. You should also contact the City office regarding possible tax reductions.

Electric appliances

Do not use wet or damaged appliances until they have been properly serviced. If the Fire Department or another agency turned off the power during the fire, call Hydro to have the services restored. Do not do it yourself.

Gas appliances

If your gas supply has been turned off, do not try to restore the service yourself. Call your local gas company and have them do it for you free of charge. They can also test your supply line and appliances.

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Food establishments

Restaurants and other food establishments must cease all operations until they have been inspected by the City Health Unit.

Want to know more?

Ottawa Fire Services-Fire Prevention Division has printed a booklet entitled "After the fire, what do I do?" This booklet includes information on:

how to clean your canned and bottled foods;
how to clean your ceilings, walls, and floors;
a checklist of documents which could be lost, and who to contact to replace them;
how to replaced damaged money;
how to clean your clothing and carpets; and
how to dry your books and other valuable documents.

Contact the Fire Prevention Bureau or request one from any of our Fire Stations.