Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration in Metro Atlanta
★ 4.8 on Google · A person answers 24/7 · We help you file your insurance claim
After the Fire Department Leaves, the Damage Keeps Going. We Stop It.
Emergency board-up, soot and smoke cleanup, firefighting water removal, contents restoration after a fire — 24 hours a day — with reconstruction through our partner
The fire took hours. The recovery shouldn’t take a year. Call or text and we’ll secure the property today.
★ 4.8 on Google · A person answers 24/7 · Insurance-ready documentation from the first visit · Locally owned in Norcross
What to Do in the First Hours After a Fire
Safety first. Don’t re-enter until the fire department says it’s safe, and don’t turn gas or electricity back on until they’ve been inspected. Once inside, don’t wipe soot off anything — it smears and sets — and don’t run the HVAC, which pushes soot through every duct in the building.
- Call your insurance company and start the claim; ask about additional living expenses if you can’t stay
- Get the fire report from the department — your adjuster will want it
- Photograph everything before anything is moved, cleaned or discarded
- Keep receipts for lodging, meals and anything you buy because of the fire
- Throw out food, medicine and cosmetics exposed to heat, smoke or firefighting water
- Call (404) 983-0966 — we’ll secure the property today and walk you through what comes next
Helpful resource: Ready.gov: after a home fire
Verus Restoration provides fire and smoke damage restoration for homes and businesses throughout Metro Atlanta and Northeast Georgia. From the first hours — securing the property, board-up and tarping, removing the water left behind by firefighting — through soot and smoke cleanup, odor removal, and contents restoration, our team carries your property through the emergency, then hands the rebuild to our reconstruction partner without a gap.
- Availability
- Open 24 hours, 7 days a week
- Service
- Board-up, cleanup, odor removal, contents
- Properties
- Homes, condos, businesses, multifamily
- Area
- Norcross, GA · Metro Atlanta
A fire does three kinds of damage at once: what burned, what the smoke and soot reached — which is usually every room — and what the water used to put it out soaked. Soot is acidic. Within hours it discolors finishes; within days it etches metal, glass and stone and sets permanent stains. The sooner cleanup begins, the more of your home survives. Call or text (404) 983-0966 as soon as the fire department releases the property.
What Fire Damage Actually Involves
The burned room is the obvious part. Most of the restoration work — and most of what’s salvageable — is everywhere else.
- Structural damage — charred framing, roof members, walls and floors that must be evaluated, removed or rebuilt
- Soot and smoke residue on every surface, including rooms the flames never reached
- Smoke odor absorbed into drywall, insulation, carpet, fabrics and the HVAC system
- Water damage from firefighting — standing water, saturated drywall and flooring, and the mold risk that follows
- Heat damage — warped doors and trim, blistered paint, cracked glass, melted fixtures
- Electrical, plumbing and HVAC contamination that has to be inspected before anything is turned back on
- Contents — furniture, clothing, documents, electronics and keepsakes needing cleaning or documentation
- Different residues from different fires — a grease fire, a plastics fire and a wood fire each leave soot that has to be cleaned differently
Our Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Process
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Secure the property
Emergency board-up of openings, roof tarping, and stabilizing anything unsafe — so weather, animals and people stay out while the work begins.
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Assess & remove water
Room-by-room assessment of fire, smoke and water damage, documented for your claim; firefighting water extracted and drying started before mold has a chance.
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Soot & smoke cleanup
Debris and unsalvageable materials removed, then every affected surface cleaned with methods matched to the residue. Contents are packed out for cleaning and storage.
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Odor removal
Smoke odor is treated at the source — in materials, cavities and the air — not masked, so it doesn’t come back on the first humid day.
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Rebuild via our partner
Framing, roofing, drywall, electrical, flooring and finishes rebuilt by our reconstruction partner, then contents returned.
Working With Your Insurance Company
A fire and smoke loss is almost always an insurance claim. We help you file it and document the job the way adjusters expect, so you are not stuck in the middle.
Your insurer may suggest a preferred vendor. The choice of who restores your property is still yours, and you can call us first.
Photos, moisture readings and a written scope of the damage, so your claim starts with evidence, not guesswork.
We walk you through what to report and what your adjuster will ask for, and we answer their questions about the work.
Take photos, stop the source if it is safe, and keep damaged items until they are documented. Then call us and your insurer.
Fire Restoration Pulls in Nearly Every Service We Offer
Smoke, water, contents and structure — a fire loss needs all of them, and they need to happen in the right order. One coordinated schedule.
- Fire Smoke Damage Restoration Deep cleaning and odor removal for smoke-affected homes and businesses, including those where nothing actually burned. Smoke & odor cleanup
- Recovery Contents Cleaning & Storage Pack-out, cleaning, deodorizing and secure storage of belongings — the most common full pack-out we do follows a fire. Contents restoration
- Water Water Damage Repair The water that put the fire out is a water loss of its own. We handle it in the same visit. Water damage repair
- Water Drying & Dehumidification Structural drying after firefighting, monitored to dry standard so mold doesn’t follow the fire. Structural drying
- Rebuild Reconstruction From partial repairs to full rebuilds of burned rooms and roofs, through our reconstruction partner with a seamless hand-off from our cleanup crew. Rebuild via our partner
- Commercial Commercial Damage Restoration Restaurant, retail, office and multifamily fire losses, phased to reopen as much as possible, as soon as possible. Commercial restoration
Why Metro Atlanta Families Call Verus After a Fire
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Secured within hours
Board-up and tarping the same day, 24 hours a day, so the fire doesn’t become a weather loss or a break-in on top of everything else.
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Whole-property approach
Smoke doesn’t stay in one room, so neither do we. Every space is assessed, cleaned and deodorized, not just the one that burned.
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Structure and contents, one schedule
The crew cleaning your belongings and our partner’s crew rebuilding your kitchen work on the same timeline.
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Kind, clear, and honest
A fire is one of the worst days a family has. We explain what we found and what happens next in plain language, and we don’t promise what we can’t deliver.
Fire & Smoke Damage Restoration Across Metro Atlanta
Based in Norcross, we respond to fire losses across Gwinnett, DeKalb, Fulton and Cobb counties, with coverage into Northeast Georgia.
Fire & Smoke Damage FAQs
What is the first thing to do after a house fire?
Once everyone is safe and the fire department has released the property: call your insurance company to open the claim, get the fire report, photograph everything before it’s touched, and call a restoration company to secure the property. Don’t clean anything yourself — wiping soot sets it — and don’t turn utilities back on until they’ve been inspected.
Can I stay in my house after a fire?
Often not right away, even after a small fire. Smoke residue and odor can affect air quality throughout the house, the electrical system may need inspection, and firefighting water leaves the structure wet. Your fire department, your adjuster and our assessment will tell you whether it’s safe; if you need to move out temporarily, your policy’s additional living expenses coverage usually helps.
Can smoke smell be removed completely?
In most cases, yes — when the source is removed rather than masked. That means cleaning or removing the materials holding the odor, treating wall cavities and the HVAC system, and deodorizing contents, not spraying a fragrance over it. Heavily charred materials that can’t be cleaned are removed and replaced.
How long does fire damage restoration take?
It depends on the extent of the fire and how much has to be rebuilt. Securing the property and starting cleanup happens within hours; a contained kitchen fire with smoke damage is usually a matter of weeks including repairs; a fire that damaged structure or the roof takes longer. We give you a timeline after the assessment and keep it updated.
Does homeowners insurance cover fire damage?
Fire is covered by nearly all standard homeowners and commercial property policies, including smoke damage, the water used to extinguish it, and in most cases contents and additional living expenses. Your deductible and limits apply. We document the loss to the standard adjusters expect and coordinate with them directly.
Can a fire-damaged home be repaired?
In most cases, yes. Unless the structure is unsafe or most of it burned, a fire-damaged home is restored: the structure is evaluated, soot and smoke are cleaned, the odor is removed and burned materials are replaced. A structural assessment decides what can stay. We handle the emergency work and cleanup, and our reconstruction partner handles the rebuild.
Who cleans up after a house fire?
A fire damage restoration company, not the fire department. Your insurer pays for the cleanup under the dwelling and contents parts of your policy, but you choose who does the work. The restoration crew boards up and tarps, removes the water left by firefighting, cleans soot, removes odor and packs out your belongings. Verus answers 24/7 at (404) 983-0966.
The fire took hours. The recovery shouldn’t take a year. Call or text and we’ll secure the property today.
Prefer email? [email protected] · Open 24 hours · Norcross, GA · Serving Metro Atlanta & Northeast Georgia