Keller fire & water damage restoration — board-up, soot, drying, rebuild

Fire damage restoration in Keller

A house fire in Keller does not end when the fire is out. The crews leave, the house is dark and smells of smoke, and the next decisions arrive that same night: is it safe to go back in, is the house open to the weather, and what should stay untouched until it has been photographed. The Public Restoration Company handles the building side of that: board-up, smoke and soot cleanup, drying the water that put the fire out, and the rebuild that follows, as part of our wider fire damage restoration work. If the house is open or unsecured, call us.

What happens after a house fire in Keller

In an emergency, dial 9-1-1. Keller Fire-Rescue is the city's fire and rescue department. Wait for the fire crew to clear the scene before you go back inside. Heat can weaken framing, floors and roof deck without leaving an obvious burn mark, so "cleared" does not mean every floor is safe to walk.

Once the scene is cleared, the order we follow is the same on every job: secure the openings, document the house, clean the soot path, dry what the fire hoses soaked, then rebuild what the open structure shows. Nothing is cleaned up or thrown out before it is photographed.

Board-up comes first

Broken windows, burned eaves and roof openings let in rain and strangers the same night. We board and tarp the openings first so weather and theft do not add a second loss to the fire. More on emergency board-up.

Smoke and soot travel past the burn room

Many Keller houses are slab-on-grade with finished living space, and a kitchen grease fire in a renovated house can load the whole structure if the air handler kept running. Smoke moves through returns, supplies, the attic and wall cavities into rooms that never saw flame. We map the soot path instead of cleaning only the room that burned, and we decide piece by piece what cleans and what gets replaced. Odor that comes back after a quick spray is usually unfinished path work, not bad luck. Read more about smoke and soot restoration. A kitchen fire in a finished house looks like our contents-in-place fire project.

Firefighting water is still a water loss

Hose water soaks flooring, pad, insulation, drywall and framing, and finished flooring and cabinets can hold water you cannot see. We extract, map moisture and dry to readings with daily checks, not to "it looks dry." Details on structural drying.

What to document before anyone cleans

• Wide photos of every affected room, then close-ups of char, soot lines and failed finishes.
• The wet materials from firefighting water, before they come out.
• Contents you plan to discard, before they leave the house.
• Exterior openings that need board-up.
• A written list of what you spend on the house and who you speak with.

Do not wipe soot, run the HVAC system, or send drywall to a dumpster until the photos exist. The first-night guide after a house fire walks through the same order.

Who handles what in Keller

• Keller Fire-Rescue: emergency response. The city lists the department as open 24/7.
• Keller Fire Marshal's Office: fire prevention, review of fire-related construction and occupancy issues, and community education. The city lists its office hours as Monday through Thursday, closed Friday.
• City of Keller Building Services: permit questions for repair work.
• Your insurer: coverage, temporary housing and contents coverage. Ask in writing. We do not decide coverage.
• PRC: board-up, documenting the building, soot cleanup, drying, and the rebuild scope and work.

From cleanup to rebuild

Cleanup is not the end of the job. Once soot is cleaned and wet materials are dry, demolition shows what the fire did inside walls and ceilings, and the rebuild scope is written from that. See reconstruction. Keller's published permit FAQ says a permit is required to alter or repair a building or its electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing systems, lists painting, tiling, carpeting, cabinets and similar finish work as exempt, and sends homeowners to Building Services to confirm a specific project.