Services
Document a loss
Support a claim
For carriers and employers
Service areas
Middle Tennessee
- Nashville
- Clarksville
- Murfreesboro
- Franklin
- Hendersonville
- Smyrna
- Spring Hill
- Gallatin
- Lebanon
- Columbia
- Brentwood
- Mount Juliet
- La Vergne
- Cookeville
East Tennessee
West Tennessee
Fire Damage Documentation for Tennessee Property Claims
Delator Claims Division records fire-damaged buildings and contents once the scene has been released and can be approached safely. The service is for carriers, adjusters, attorneys, landlords, owners and tenants who need the condition preserved before cleanout.
- Coverage
- 95 of 95 counties
- Dispatch
- 24 / 7 / 365
- Metro response
- Under 60 min avg.
- Statewide
- 4-hour guarantee
What this service covers
A fire produces several distinct kinds of damage in one building. There is the burned area itself, with charred framing and consumed finishes. There is heat damage beyond it, such as melted fixtures and blistered paint. Smoke and soot travel farther still, into rooms and units the flames never reached. Then there is suppression: water through ceilings and floors, plus doors, windows and roof sections opened by firefighters.
Delator's investigators record each of those zones without disturbing them. They do not dig through debris, move contents or collect samples, and they do not investigate where or how the fire started. Origin and cause work belongs to the fire department and to investigators retained for that purpose. Our record is a neutral account of visible condition, room by room, made for whoever needs to rely on it later.
Common reasons a fire loss is documented
- A tenant's unit has smoke and water damage from a fire that began in a different apartment.
- A cleanout crew is scheduled and the owner wants burned contents photographed in place before anything is discarded.
- A carrier wants the building's visible condition recorded while it arranges a separate origin and cause examination.
- A landlord, tenant and neighboring owner each have a claim arising from one fire and need shared reference material.
- An appliance or piece of equipment is in the burned area and counsel wants its position recorded before it is removed.
What is recorded at a fire loss
- Burn and char extent
- Charred and consumed framing, finishes and openings photographed from stable positions, with the boundary between burned and unburned surfaces shown in each affected room.
- Smoke and soot travel
- Soot deposits on walls, ceilings, vents and inside cabinets and closets, recorded in rooms away from the fire to show how far smoke reached.
- Heat effects beyond the flames
- Melted light fixtures, warped blinds, blistered paint, cracked glass and deformed plastics, each photographed with its height above the floor noted.
- Suppression and entry damage
- Forced doors, ventilation holes cut in the roof, broken windows and water-soaked ceilings and floors below the fire, recorded separately from the burned area.
- Contents in place
- Furniture, appliances, electronics and stored items photographed where they sit, including data plates and labels that remain legible, without moving or opening them.
- Exterior and adjacent exposure
- Each elevation, the roof line from the ground, and heat or smoke effects on neighboring buildings, fences and vehicles visible from the subject property.
From request to delivered record
- RequestCall dispatch or submit the request form with the location, loss type and urgency.
- DeployDispatch assigns the nearest available licensed field investigator through the statewide network.
- DocumentPhotographs, video, measurements and factual notes are captured once the scene is safe to work.
- PreserveFiles are timestamped, organized and kept in their original form with a record of who captured them.
- ReportThe package is delivered securely to the requesting party, typically the same day.
Board-up, cleanout and demolition follow within days
A burned building is secured quickly. Openings are boarded, a fence may go up, and utilities are cut. Restoration crews then remove wet and burned contents, tear out charred drywall and insulation, and begin deodorizing. Where the structure is unsafe, a local authority may order it taken down. Each of those steps is necessary, and each removes part of what an adjuster, attorney or expert may later want to see.
There is also weather. A roof opened by fire or by ventilation admits rain, and soot patterns streak and wash. Contents left in a wet building deteriorate. The practical window for recording a fire loss in its post-fire state is therefore short. If someone is expected to examine the scene for origin and cause, tell us, so the visit can be coordinated and nothing is disturbed beforehand.
Limits of the record and how others use it
Fire scenes carry real hazards: weakened floors and roof members, hanging debris, sharp material and poor air. Investigators do not enter a structure that has not been released by the fire department, that is posted as unsafe, or that appears unstable on arrival. Where the interior cannot be entered, the record is made from doorways, windows and the exterior, and the notes say so.
Fire claims are contested on several fronts. Parties may disagree about how far smoke damage extends, which contents were present, whether framing can be cleaned or has to be replaced, and whether a neighboring unit was affected. Subrogation counsel may want to know what equipment was in the room. Delator provides images and notes relevant to those questions and offers no opinion on cause, responsibility, scope or value.
On this assignment Delator field personnel record what is physically present: photographs, video, measurements and factual notes. They do not adjust, appraise or value the loss, do not determine coverage, cause or fault, and do not represent any party to the claim.
Delator Claims Division is not a law firm, an insurer or an engineering firm, and nothing on this page is legal advice.
Common questions about this service
Do you determine where or how the fire started?
No. Delator does not perform origin and cause investigation and its field notes do not offer a theory of the fire. The investigator records visible conditions only. If an origin and cause examination is planned, the documentation visit can be timed so that the scene is left undisturbed.
How soon after the fire can you come?
As soon as the fire department has released the property and it can be approached safely. Emergency deployment places an investigator on site in 30 minutes to 4 hours, with Rush and Routine tiers for scenes that are already secured. Dispatch is available at any hour.
Will you go inside the building?
Only if the structure has been released and appears safe to enter. Rooms with compromised floors, ceilings or roof framing are recorded from thresholds and exterior openings. The notes identify each area that was not entered, so readers know the limits of the record.
I am a tenant. Can I request documentation of my own unit?
Yes, provided you have lawful access to the unit. Delator will record the unit and your belongings as found. For tenants and owners the work is neutral documentation only. It does not include advice about your claim, your lease or any deadline, and Delator is not a law firm.
Available statewide, including
Every Tennessee county is covered. See the deployment map for typical response tiers by county.
Request documentation anywhere in Tennessee
Dispatch is staffed around the clock. For time-sensitive scenes, calling is fastest; the request form works for routine and scheduled assignments.