Why electronics come first
Soot is acidic and mildly conductive; it corrodes contacts and circuit boards and, if a device is powered on, can short it. Electronics are tagged, left off, treated with corrosion inhibitors and moved out of the smoke environment on day one, then opened and inspected by technicians who clean what is recoverable and document what is not.
Appliances
Refrigerators, ranges, washers and dryers near the fire are evaluated for heat damage and soot in the controls; those away from it are cleaned inside and out. The appliance that started the fire is kept for the adjuster.
Documents, books and photographs
Loose soot is removed with dry sponges and HEPA vacuuming; pages are separated and treated; wet documents from firefighting are stabilized and, where valuable, freeze-dried. Photographs are handled individually. Prioritize originals: deeds, titles, certificates, passports, tax records and family photographs.
Data
Where a computer or phone is a loss, drive recovery is arranged on request and the cost is often part of the claim.
On the claim
Evaluation, cleaning and recovery are itemized; losses are documented with make, model and condition for the contents claim.
