Fire Damage Costs Rise in Vacant Colorado Homes Left Unattended

Local restoration professionals explain why a fire damage cleanup in a second home can turn into a far costlier loss the longer it’s delayed.

SILVERTHORNE, CO, UNITED STATES, October 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — An estimated six in ten homes in Summit County are second homes or short-term rentals, which may sit empty for weeks or months between visits. Summit County’s 2023 Housing Needs Assessment found that an estimated 33% of housing units are used as short-term rentals and another 26% as vacation homes. According to a 2018 U.S. Fire Administration report, fires in vacant buildings typically take longer to detect because no one is present to notice them or respond to an alarm.

In Summit County communities such as Breckenridge, Keystone, Frisco, and Silverthorne, where properties may sit unoccupied between guest and owner visits, the amount of time a fire goes undiscovered can matter more than the fire itself. Smoke damage settles deeper into porous materials like drywall, insulation, upholstery, and wood the longer it’s left. In cold months, a home that loses heat after a fire is at risk of frozen pipes, and damaged openings let in snow and bad weather.

“The fire is usually the small part,” said Brent Toups, Director of Business Development at Kinder Restoration Services. “What decides the final bill is the clock that starts after the trucks leave. Soot mixes with moisture and turns acidic, so it starts eating metal and etching surfaces within days. The water used to put the fire out keeps soaking into walls and subfloors, mold can start in wet materials within 48 to 72 hours, and in winter a home with no heat freezes on top of all of it. When we get in within the first day, we are mostly cleaning. When a vacant home sits for weeks, we are rebuilding. Same fire, very different job.”

According to FEMA, smoke and soot residue can corrode metal and permanently etch metal surfaces if not removed promptly, and can leave porous materials such as upholstery nearly impossible to clean. For an owner, a late start can turn a soot and odor cleanup into a project that adds structural cleaning, material replacement, and the loss of contents that could have been cleaned. For a property manager, it can mean a larger claim, a longer time out of service, and damage that spreads from multi-family homes into neighboring units.

Much of the lost time happens before a fire damage restoration crew is ever called. A fire in an empty home might be found by a neighbor, a cleaner, a guest, or a manager, who then has to reach the owner, who has to loop in the insurer, who may then call a restoration professional for fire damage repairs. Each handoff can add hours or days.

Owners, short-term rental hosts, property managers, and HOAs can close that gap with a few practical steps: smoke and temperature monitors that alert a designated person directly; a local emergency contact on file who can reach the property quickly; a property manager authorized to call a restoration company without waiting on an owner who may be traveling or in another time zone; and a fast emergency board-up to secure the property against weather, animals, and unauthorized entry.

“Vacant homes leave little margin for delay,” Toups added. “The faster someone finds the problem and calls for help, the more of the home we can save.”
Homeowners’ fire claims averaged $173,111 in 2024, according to the Insurance Information Institute. For Summit County’s second-home owners, the hours between a fire and the start of restoration can decide whether a claim remains a smoke damage cleanup or escalates into major structural repairs.

Media Contact:

Jeff Carrier | Restoration Digital Marketing
media@restorationdigitalmarketing.com
www.restorationdigitalmarketing.com

Sources

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2025, April). Marshall Fire: Building performance, observations, recommendations, and technical guidance (FEMA P-2320) [Report].

Insurance Information Institute. (n.d.). Facts + statistics: Homeowners and renters insurance [Web page].

Root Policy Research. (2023, September). Summit County 2023 housing needs assessment [Report]. Summit Combined Housing Authority.

U.S. Fire Administration. (2018, January). Vacant residential building fires (2013-2015) (Topical Fire Report Series, Vol. 18, Issue 9) [Report].

About Kinder Restoration Services

Kinder Restoration Services is a locally owned water damage, fire damage, and mold remediation company serving Silverthorne, CO, and the greater Summit County area since 1992. The company provides 24/7 emergency response with IICRC-certified technicians, along with carpet, upholstery, and hard surface cleaning for residential and commercial properties. Learn more at kinderrestorationservices.com.

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Jeff Carrier
Restoration Digital Marketing

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