The California wildfire recovery guide.

Safety first. Do not re-enter the property until fire authorities clear the area — even a structure that looks intact can hide toxic ash, gas leaks, and structural failure.

Once safety is confirmed, three things matter:

• Notify your insurer and open a claim. Ask for your policy in full and for an Advance Living Expense (ALE) check the same day if you are displaced.
• Photograph everything before touching it. Every angle, inside and out. These photos are the foundation of every later claim.
• Save receipts for every dollar spent after the fire — clothing, medications, pet care, hotel, meals. Most of it is reimbursable.

Your insurer will assign an adjuster. You are entitled to:

• A certified copy of your full policy — not the declaration page.
• Advance payments for personal property (typically 25%–75% of the personal-property limit) without a full inventory.
• Extended ALE covering additional living expenses during rebuilding.

Do not sign a proof of loss or accept a settlement in the first month. The full extent of your loss is rarely visible that quickly.

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If your insurer denies coverage, delays without reason, or lowballs the estimate, California has strong bad-faith remedies. Document every communication.

Within days to weeks of a major fire, Cal Fire and often federal investigators identify a likely cause. When that cause is utility equipment — failed conductors, unmaintained vegetation contact, aging hardware — a separate legal path opens up.

Utility-caused wildfire recoveries in California often exceed insurance settlements by significant multiples because of the inverse condemnation doctrine.

Your loss has three main components:

• Structure — full replacement cost of the home and outbuildings.
• Contents — personal property, valued at replacement cost when your policy provides it.
• Additional damages — landscaping, orchards, vehicles, business income, emotional distress.

A contents inventory is tedious but essential. Room by room, item by item. If a professional inventory service is available, use one — the cost is usually reimbursable.

If your fire was utility-caused, or if your insurer is not paying fairly, bring counsel in early. Attorneys' fees in wildfire matters are almost always contingency — you pay nothing unless we recover — and early involvement often affects the ultimate outcome.

There is no obligation in a first conversation.