Fire & Smoke · Queens
From a kitchen fire in a two-family house to smoke in an LIC high-rise, we handle Queens fire and smoke damage and rebuild after.
Overview
Queens spans single-family and attached homes, two- and three-family houses, apartment buildings, and the high-rises of Long Island City and Flushing, plus the restaurants along its commercial avenues. Kitchen fires, electrical faults, and furnace puff-back happen across all of them. In the borough's dense two- and three-family homes, a fire in one unit pushes smoke and soot into the others, and the water from firefighting adds its own damage. We handle the soot, the odor, and the rebuild.
Where We Work
From Astoria and Long Island City to Flushing, Jamaica, Forest Hills, Bayside, and the Rockaways, we cover all of Queens 24/7. See our full fire and smoke damage process, or call 646-543-2242 any time.
Two-Family Homes
A fire in a Queens two-family house is usually two jobs, because there are two households and two insurance policies under one roof. The owner's homeowner policy covers the building. The tenant's renters policy, if they have one, covers the tenant's belongings. Both need their own record of the damage.
Queens owns more of its homes than Brooklyn or Manhattan does. Census QuickFacts for Queens County puts the owner-occupied rate at 44.9% (2020 to 2024), against 29.5% in Brooklyn and 25.1% in Manhattan. In a lot of the Queens two-family houses we work in, the owner lives on one floor and rents the other.
A fire in either unit lands on both. Smoke climbs the shared stairway, and water from the hose line drips through to whoever lives below. So we split the job on paper the day we arrive.
Each unit gets its own photos, readings and contents list, and the owner and the tenant each get a copy that matches their policy.
Basement Units
If the fire touched a basement apartment, the rebuild has to follow the city's rules for that space, not just what was there before.
HPD's basement and cellar page says cellars in one- and two-family homes can't be rented. A basement or cellar can only be lived in if it meets minimum light, air, sanitation and egress requirements and has Department of Buildings approval.
HPD also warns that illegal basement and cellar units can present "inadequate egress in the event of a fire." HPD defines a basement as a story partly below curb level but with at least half its height above it, and a cellar as a space with more than half its height below curb level.
What that means for us: we clean and dry the space and document it as we find it. Before we rebuild walls or a bedroom down there, the owner should confirm with DOB or an architect what the space is approved for. We'll rebuild to that.
How The Job Runs
In the first hour after a fire in a two-family house:
We start where the fire was. Burned drywall, insulation and flooring come out, openings get boarded, and the water gets extracted from that unit and the one below it. Drying equipment runs in both.
Next we test the other unit. Soot on stair treads, inside closets and around outlets tells us how far the smoke went. Smoke damage in the unit that didn't burn is usually a cleaning job, not a demolition job, and it can often be done while the fire unit is still open.
Then the rebuild, unit by unit, by our own crew. If the tenant needs to get back in first, we tell the owner which unit can be finished sooner. For how the paperwork side works, see our restoration documentation page.
For fire or smoke damage in a Queens two-family house, call All Star Restoration at 646-543-2242. One crew handles both units, from board-up to rebuild.
Questions
Yes. In two- and three-family homes smoke travels between units. We clean the soot, treat the odor, and document the loss for your insurance.
Yes, from soot and odor through full reconstruction, one team the whole way.
Usually not. A homeowner policy generally covers the building and the owner's things, and the tenant's belongings fall under the tenant's own renters policy. Check your policy wording. We list each unit's contents separately so both claims are clear.
Sometimes. If the other unit only took light smoke and the fire department and your insurer are fine with it, we clean that unit first. We'll tell you if the air or the power situation makes that a bad idea.
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.