Fire Damage Restoration in Salt Lake City, UT

Fire damage restoration in Salt Lake City

A house fire is usually three losses at once: what burned, what the smoke reached, and what the fire department's water soaked. Fixr puts most fire damage restoration at $3,000 to $40,000, with an $11,900 average for a multi-room job, before rebuilding the burned rooms.

Updated October 29, 2026

The order of a fire job

Secure the house. Board-up of broken windows and doors, and a tarp on any opening in the roof. In a Salt Lake winter, an open roof turns the fire loss into a water loss with the next snow.
Get the water out. Hose water from the firefight soaks floors and runs into the basement below. It gets the same extraction and drying as any other water job, and it starts the same 24 to 48 hour clock the EPA gives for preventing mold.
Remove what burned. Fixr lists burnt material removal at $300 to $1,600 flat, or about $60 a pound.
Clean what can be saved. Soot and smoke residue on walls and ceilings, cabinets and contents. Fixr lists smoke cleanup at $200 to $1,200 and soot cleanup at $400 to $1,700.
Deodorize. Thermal fogging ($200 to $550 per floor) or ozone ($300 to $600 per floor), plus cleaning the ductwork, which carried smoke into every room on the system.
Rebuild. Fixr puts rebuilding after a fire at about $50 per square foot. In Utah that work needs a licensed contractor once it reaches $7,000, and the electrical work needs a licensed electrician at any size.

The burned-out frame of a two-story house after a fire — A total loss is rare. Most house fires leave rooms that can be cleaned and rebuilt, and smoke everywhere else. Photo: Roger Starnes Sr / Unsplash

What it costs

Item	Published range	Source
Fire damage restoration, typical job	$3,000 to $40,000, $11,900 average	Fixr, Jan 2025
Per square foot	$4 to $6.50 per square foot	Fixr
1,750 square foot house	$7,000 to $11,375	Fixr
2,500 square foot house	$10,000 to $16,250	Fixr
Smoke damage cleanup	$200 to $1,200	Fixr
Soot cleanup	$400 to $1,700	Fixr
Emergency or same-day surcharge	$200 to $500	Fixr

National published figures, not Salt Lake City quotes. Full cost guide.

Contents: pack-out or clean in place

For a smoky house, the company may offer to pack out belongings, clean them off site and store them during the rebuild. That can be the right call, and it is also the line item to read closely: ask for an itemized inventory with photos when things leave, what the storage costs per month, and whether your policy's contents coverage pays for it. Clothing and fabrics often clean well. Food and medicine exposed to heat or smoke generally don't, and electronics often don't either.

Before you sign

Is this a work authorization only, or does it assign your insurance benefits to the company?
Is the price a written scope, or billed by the hour?
Who does the rebuild, and what is the Utah contractor license number?
Is the ductwork in the scope?

The US Fire Administration's After a Fire guide covers the first 24 hours and the insurance call, along with replacing documents. Our guide to the first days after a fire.

Questions Salt Lake homeowners ask

How much does fire damage restoration cost?

Fixr puts most fire damage restoration jobs at $3,000 to $40,000, with an $11,900 average for a multi-room job, or $4 to $6.50 per square foot. Smoke cleanup alone runs $200 to $1,200 and soot cleanup $400 to $1,700. Rebuilding burned rooms is extra, about $50 per square foot by Fixr's figure.

Can I stay in the house after a small kitchen fire?

Sometimes, if the fire department says it is safe and smoke stayed in one room. Smoke residue is irritating and acidic, so many families stay elsewhere during the cleaning.

Does homeowners insurance cover fire damage?

Fire is a covered peril on standard homeowners policies, including smoke damage and the water used to put the fire out. Limits and deductibles vary, and so does coverage for living elsewhere; call your agent the day of the fire.