Our Work
Recent fire damage restoration projects.
After a fire, the smoke and water from suppression do as much damage as the flames. We handle board-up, soot removal, odor neutralization, contents cleaning, and full structural reconstruction — billed direct to your fire claim.
The hardest part of fire restoration isn't the fire — it's the layered damage from smoke and the firefighting water. Soot is acidic; left untreated it corrodes metal and stains permanently within days. Smoke odor migrates into HVAC, insulation, and behind drywall. We handle all of it, plus the structural rebuild.
Captiva fire work is rare but high-stakes — when a Captiva beachfront fire occurs, the restoration scope involves premium finish materials, water-side wood corrosion considerations, and HOA aesthetic restoration requirements all in one project.
Our Captiva crew works across the full city — from South Seas Island Resort, Captiva Beach, Andy Rosse Lane, Bowman's Beach (Sanibel side), Tween Waters Inn — and we're familiar with how fire damage restoration scope changes between Captiva Village and South Seas Plantation.
Captiva disaster history: Hurricane Ian (2022 — catastrophic), Hurricane Charley (2004), Hurricane Irma (2017). Post-disaster construction quality varies — fire restoration scope often uncovers prior storm damage that was never fully addressed.
The Captiva Island Fire Control District runs out of two stations and serves a permanent population under 600. Structure fires on the island are infrequent, but when one happens — often a generator failure in the weeks after a storm, a kitchen event in an older beach cottage, or a lightning strike on an elevated rebuild — the restoration scope is shaped by factors that don't apply on the mainland. Salt-impregnated finishes, wood-frame elevated construction, premium millwork, and a 16-mile haul from the nearest staging yard across the causeway change the entire job.
Synthetic combustion — couch foam, vinyl plank, electronics, modern cabinetry — produces a wet, acidic smoke that bonds chemically with the salt aerosol already deposited on every Captiva interior surface. Standard dry-sponge soot removal lifts the visible black film but leaves the chloride-acid residue underneath, which is why owners report a returning odor six weeks after the cleanup. We neutralize with a controlled alkaline solution wash on metals and trim, thermal-fog with hydroxyl on porous surfaces, and pull tongue-and-groove ceiling planking in the affected zone if the soot has penetrated end-grain. Drop ceilings in older South Seas Plantation cottages get tested for nicotine-residue contamination separately — old Captiva housing stock has layered history.
Captiva runs on generators for the first 7-14 days after any named storm. The rebuilds completed in 2023-2024 standardized on whole-house Generac and Kohler units, often installed against an exterior wall with the exhaust path through a soffit. Improper exhaust clearance, fuel-line stress from settling piers, and ATS panel faults are now the leading fire causes on the island. We've seen three in the last 18 months that started at the unit and burned into the wall cavity before the homeowner knew. Restoration scope on those includes electrical re-termination by a licensed master, structural sister-framing on the affected studs, and a Lee County mechanical re-inspection of the entire generator assembly before reconstruction closes.
Pre-1980 Captiva cottages — the ones still standing on Andy Rosse Lane and along the village core — are typically platform-framed with 2x6 floor joists, sometimes pine, sometimes cypress. After a fire, the connector hardware loses temper from heat exposure before the framing itself chars through. Our structural engineer evaluates joist hangers, hurricane straps, and any post-base connector in the heat zone before we authorize closing the ceiling. On a Captiva cottage we replace hardware over framing nearly every time — the wood is often salvageable, the steel rarely is.
We stage materials on the Lee County mainland side of the causeway and barge or truck across based on Captiva Fire District access protocols during the active phase. Board-up goes up within four hours of dispatch — wind exposure on a Captiva beachfront is too punishing to leave an opening overnight. One project manager carries the file from emergency through final paint. That is what a Captiva fire claim looks like when it ends with the owner moving back in, not arguing about residual odor at the six-month mark.
Roof tarp, window board, and structural assessment within hours of dispatch. Stops further damage from rain and intrusion.
Water extraction, structural drying, soot cleaning, and HVAC decontamination. Contents pack-out for off-site cleaning when needed.
Thermal fogging and hydroxyl generators eliminate odor. Then full reconstruction — drywall, paint, flooring, fixtures, finishes.
For Captiva homeowners, the answer depends on the specific scope — call us at (239) 920-7972 for a same-day estimate. Our Captiva fire damage restoration crew handles this routinely; we can give you a clear quote after a 15-minute walkthrough.
For Captiva homeowners, the answer depends on the specific scope — call us at (239) 920-7972 for a same-day estimate. Our Captiva fire damage restoration crew handles this routinely; we can give you a clear quote after a 15-minute walkthrough.
For Captiva homeowners, the answer depends on the specific scope — call us at (239) 920-7972 for a same-day estimate. Our Captiva fire damage restoration crew handles this routinely; we can give you a clear quote after a 15-minute walkthrough.
For Captiva homeowners, the answer depends on the specific scope — call us at (239) 920-7972 for a same-day estimate. Our Captiva fire damage restoration crew handles this routinely; we can give you a clear quote after a 15-minute walkthrough.
For Captiva homeowners, the answer depends on the specific scope — call us at (239) 920-7972 for a same-day estimate. Our Captiva fire damage restoration crew handles this routinely; we can give you a clear quote after a 15-minute walkthrough.
Our Captiva fire damage restoration crew dispatches across the full city — from Captiva Village, South Seas Plantation, Sunset Captiva, Twin Palms, Captiva Beach, Plantation Estates, covering ZIP codes 33924. Fire damage spread patterns vary between Captiva's construction types — we adapt our cleaning passes accordingly.
Captiva insurance carriers we work with: Citizens Coastal Account, high-value home carriers, NFIP. We bill direct on most claims and document to adjuster standards from the first call.
Same crew, same standards — we cover the surrounding cities too:
Generator fires post-storm are an underappreciated risk on Captiva, where extended outages from the Sanibel-Captiva Causeway being closed force homeowners onto portable and standby units. A fire at the equipment pad typically deposits petroleum-based soot plus chlorinated residues from melted PVC pool plumbing onto adjacent stucco, screen cage, and any exterior soffit. We test soot pH, neutralize acidic residues with appropriate degreasers, soda-blast or media-blast contaminated CMU, and replace any wiring within the heat-affected zone. Insurance scope usually covers structural cleanup but disputes often arise over the screen enclosure and pool equipment itself.
Two reasons specific to barrier-island chemistry. First, Captiva's persistent salt aerosol from Gulf winds combines with acidic combustion byproducts — particularly from burned vinyl, electronics, and treated lumber — to form chloride-rich acidic residues that aggressively corrode HVAC coils, electronics, and hurricane straps within days if not neutralized. Second, the high ambient RH on Captiva keeps soot hygroscopic and tacky longer, which extends its adhesion to porous surfaces. We respond with pH-corrected detergents, HEPA-vacuum every horizontal surface, and treat hidden cavities with thermal fog rather than relying on surface cleaning alone.
Yes. V-zone elevated structures along Captiva Drive and the Gulf-facing lots use exposed wood or concrete columns engineered to break-away or wind-load standards under FEMA P-55, so fire damage to those elements is both a structural and a flood-compliance issue. We shore with engineered temporary posts and beam pockets per a Florida PE's letter, document the damaged members for the insurance scope, and rebuild to current Lee County and Captiva building department requirements — which may have tightened since the home's original permit. Repairs that exceed the FEMA 50% rule trigger full elevation compliance.
Salvageability depends on material and exposure time. Hard non-porous items (ceramics, glass, sealed metals, finished hardwood furniture) clean well with ultrasonic and dry-ice protocols. Soft contents (upholstery, mattresses, drapery) are case-by-case — Captiva's salt-saturated air means soot residues bond faster, and absentee owners often don't access the home for days post-fire, which favors total loss. Documents and photos go to specialty freeze-dry vendors. We inventory with photo and barcode, segregate by category, and pack-out to a climate-controlled facility on the mainland because Captiva itself has no suitable contents-cleaning space.
Citizens, like most Florida carriers, will pay for smoke damage in rooms that received soot, odor, or HVAC-distributed combustion residue — but they push back when the scope appears too broad. On a Captiva loss, we document with surface wipe samples for char and soot analyzed by a fire-damage lab, MVOC and PAH air sampling in remote rooms, HVAC inspection photos showing distribution pathways, and a written narrative tying the contamination to the fire origin. That evidentiary package usually moves disputed-room scope from denial to approval, especially when the home was closed up under hurricane shutters at the time of loss.
Free estimate. No pressure. Insurance billing handled. Call our Cape Coral line and we'll have a project manager in Captiva fast.
28720 S Diesel Dr Unit 7
Bonita Springs, FL 34135
Open 24/7 · Emergency Dispatch