Your belongings matter as much as the structure
Have you ever noticed how the house itself gets all the attention after a disaster? Most homeowners tell us that losing personal items hurts far more than the drywall damage.
Proper fire content restoration protects the things you love most. At Boulder Fire Restoration Pros, our team has spent over two decades helping Colorado Front Range families recover from unexpected fires.
You can save a surprising amount of your belongings if you handle them correctly in the first few days. A 2026 Angi report shows the average residential fire claim now exceeds $27,000, making accurate content processing crucial for your wallet.
I am going to walk you through the exact steps we use.
What gets saved and what doesn’t
The honest answer is that a professional team can usually save most of your items. Decades of doing this work have given us a highly reliable triage process. A fast response is critical because untreated firefighting water begins growing mold within 48 to 72 hours.
We evaluate your property using a clear set of guidelines.
- Almost always recoverable: Glass, ceramics, metal, and hardwood furniture survive well. We also successfully restore kitchenware, jewelry, electronics, and books using specialty deodorization.
- Case-by-case items: Upholstered furniture, mattresses, plush toys, leather goods, and area rugs require careful inspection. Depth of smoke exposure and material composition determine whether a cleaning succeeds.
- Usually replaced: Food, opened cosmetics, and medications go straight into the documented loss category. Anything porous and inexpensive that costs more to clean than to replace will also be discarded.
Our technicians make these critical calls with you onsite. Every single discarded item receives a photographic record for the insurance company. This mandatory step ensures your adjuster has proof of the loss.
Why digital inventory matters
The fastest way to slow down a fire insurance claim is to hand the adjuster a shoebox of receipts and a handwritten list. Adjusters need a line-item inventory with photos, condition notes, and specific categories. They specifically require this data in a format that maps directly to industry-standard estimating software like Xactimate.
We solve this problem by generating a comprehensive digital inventory. Field teams log every item using specific XactContents codes, such as CPS BXMSE for evaluating and boxing goods. This specific formatting ensures the insurance company pays out the correct $14 to $16 per box rate rather than a lower general labor fee.
| Feature | Handwritten List | Digital Xactimate Inventory |
|---|---|---|
| Processing Time | Weeks of back-and-forth delays | Instant portal access for fast approvals |
| Accuracy Level | High risk of forgetting items | Photographic proof of every single item |
| Claim Payout | Often reduced due to weak evidence | Maximized through exact line-item coding |
Every item is photographed, tagged with a unique ID, categorized, and entered into a secure database. Both you and your adjuster can access this portal at any time. Items sitting in storage are re-photographed during cleaning and then once again upon return.
Your claim moves faster when the paperwork is flawless. The final payout reflects the true scope of your loss. Best of all, you do not have to stress over recalling every single dish in the cabinet to prove it existed.
Cleaning by material type
Different materials demand very different cleaning methods. Mixing them up either fails to remove the acidic soot or permanently damages the item. We separate your belongings based on their specific physical properties.
Textiles and Soft Goods
Textiles and clothing are sorted by fiber type and cleaned in dedicated runs. This careful separation prevents the cross-contamination of strong smoke odors. Items that survive the wash are immediately bagged in odor-sealed packaging until their return.
Our facility often uses specialized hydraulic wash systems for heavy fabrics. These machines force cleaning agents deep into the fibers to extract trapped carbon and protein soot.
Hard Goods and Electronics
Hard goods receive thorough hand cleaning with material-appropriate chemistry. We sometimes follow this up with dedicated deodorization inside a sealed ozone chamber.
Electronics get decontaminated externally and receive internal corrosion treatments. Many devices easily survive smoke exposure but absolutely must be cleaned before you power them on again. Acidic soot inside the computer or television case will short out delicate components immediately.
Delicate Items and Heirlooms
Delicate and intricate items like jewelry, figurines, and ornaments go through a specialized ultrasonic cleaning bath. The machine produces high-frequency 40 kHz sound waves that create microscopic cavitation bubbles in the water. These tiny bubbles gently blast away up to 95% of hidden soot from tiny crevices that a manual brush could never reach.
Documents and photos that got wet from firefighting water face a strict timeline. We must freeze-dry them quickly in a vacuum chamber to stabilize the paper and prevent rapid mold growth. After the drying phase, heirloom items get careful conservation handling and deodorization.
Coordinating contents with the rebuild
Fire content restoration requires careful timing to match your home repairs. Your belongings stay safe in climate-controlled storage while our crew is actively doing smoke damage cleanup, odor elimination, and reconstruction at the property.
Once the home is completely ready, your items come back and get placed exactly where they belong. We handle the entire recovery under one roof to give you total peace of mind.
Pro Tip: Never throw away ruined items before the insurance adjuster sees them. Keep everything onsite until it is fully documented, or your provider may deny that specific claim.
Timelines can vary greatly depending on the severity of the incident. A small, contained kitchen fire might take two to four weeks to resolve completely.
Severe structural damage routinely requires two to six months of extensive rebuilding. You receive one dedicated project manager and one solid warranty across the whole recovery.
No communication gaps exist between different contractors. Let us handle the heavy lifting so you can focus on getting your family back home safely.
