Hour one belongs to safety and clearance. Do not go back inside until the fire department releases the home, and take their guidance on what is off limits. Fires rekindle, structures weakened by heat and water fail without warning, and smoke residue is not safe to breathe for long. If anyone feels unwell, that is a medical issue first and a property issue second.
In West Bloomfield, the first day is a logistics day at scale. Once the department releases the home, the scope that matters is whole house: board up against lake wind, suppression water extraction started on the fire floor and the basement in the same mobilization, the HVAC system shut down so it stops distributing soot, and nothing cleaned before the room by room photographs. At this size, the pack out and inventory plan also begins on day one, because the contents file built from fresh evidence is the one the claim will respect in month three.
The first calls, in order, are your insurer to open the claim, and a restoration contractor for board up if windows, doors, or the roof are open. Photograph everything you safely can before anything moves. Do not wipe soot, do not wash walls, do not run the furnace or air conditioning, and do not throw away damaged belongings before they are documented, even the ones that are obviously ruined.
By the end of the first day you should have three things: a claim number, a secured house, and a scheduled assessment. The assessment produces the written scope that everything else, the insurer's estimate, the cleaning plan, the rebuild timeline, is measured against. Keep every receipt from the first night onward; loss of use coverage reimburses from documentation, not memory.
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