Fire & Smoke · Brooklyn
Kitchen fires, furnace puff-back, smoke, and soot, we handle Brooklyn fire and smoke damage in every kind of home, and rebuild after.
Overview
Brooklyn's homes run from attached brownstones and row houses to apartment buildings, single-family and multi-family homes, and the commercial strips packed with kitchens. Fire starts the same way here as anywhere, kitchen fires, electrical faults, furnace and boiler puff-back, careless candles, but Brooklyn's attached housing changes how it spreads. In a row house or a multi-family, smoke and soot push through shared walls and up the structure into units that never saw a flame, and the water used to put the fire out starts its own damage. We handle the whole recovery, from soot and odor to the rebuild.
First Hours
Once the fire is out, the next few hours decide how much more damage the smoke and water do.
The water from the hoses soaks into the floors and the cellar below, and it keeps working long after the smoke clears. Our page on drying out a home after the fire hoses explains why that part can't wait.
For the full first week in order, see what happens after the firefighters leave.
When the City Steps In
If a fire leaves an apartment or house unsafe to live in, the Department of Buildings can post a vacate order, and nobody goes back in without DOB approval. That is the city's call, not ours, and we plan the work around it.
If you are displaced, the DOB's vacate order page lists several resources, including these three:
If you rent, the building owner usually handles the structure and your renters policy, if you have one, usually covers your belongings up to its limits. We bring the landlord or management in early and keep photos and notes both sides can use. For the paperwork, see how we handle fire insurance claims.
Timeline
Fire damage restoration in a Brooklyn home usually takes a few days for a small kitchen fire with light smoke, and several weeks to a few months when the fire burned through a room or smoke spread through the house, longer if permits or insurance approvals hold things up. The rebuild is the longest part of the job.
On landmarked blocks in historic districts such as Park Slope and Fort Greene, outside repairs like windows and cornices need a Landmarks Preservation Commission permit, which can add weeks.
Insurance approvals and work on the neighbor's side of a party wall can add time, so we tell you what we are waiting on as we go. Our own crew handles the reconstruction after the cleanup, so there is no handoff to a new contractor halfway through.
All Star Restoration handles fire and smoke damage restoration across Brooklyn, from board-up to rebuild, at 646-543-2242.
Where We Work
From Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst to Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy, Flatbush, Park Slope, and the Red Hook waterfront, we cover all of Brooklyn 24/7. See our full fire and smoke damage process, or call 646-543-2242 any time.
Questions
Yes. Smoke odor sinks into porous materials, so we clean the source, treat the air, and remove the odor rather than masking it.
Yes. We take it from soot and odor through the full reconstruction, so you deal with one team from the first call to the final coat of paint.
We would hold off. Wiping soot with a wet rag or household cleaner usually smears it deeper into paint, plaster, and fabric. If smoke reached more than one room, call us first so the cleanup does not make it worse.
Sometimes. A kitchen fire that stayed in one room often lets you stay while we seal that room off with plastic and run air scrubbers. If there is a vacate order, smoke in the bedrooms, or no heat or power, plan to stay somewhere else until the worst of it is done.
We do, on the first visit. Windows and doors get plywood, and roof openings get tarped so rain and break-ins don't add to the damage. We photograph every opening before and after for your claim.
Mostly how far the smoke traveled and what kind of soot it left. Dry soot cleans faster than oily soot from a puff-back or a kitchen fire. The rest depends on what gets cleaned versus removed, the belongings, and the size of the rebuild. We walk the house and give you a free estimate before work starts.
Water, fire, mold, or sewage, one call starts the recovery. We show up fast and we do not leave until it is done right.
Call 646-543-2242 Request ServiceRequest Service
We'll call you right back, and give you a free estimate. For an active emergency, the fastest way to reach us is by phone, day or night.