· 5 min read · By Napa Home Watch
Wildfire smoke can reach a house that no flame ever came near, and an evacuation order can leave a house closed in unusual conditions for days. When it is safe to come back, the first hours at a second home are easier if you know what to look for and whom to ask.
A word on scope. Napa Home Watch is a home watch practice. We are not a restoration company, an air-quality specialist, or a public-safety agency. Follow the guidance of Napa County, public health officials, your utilities, and your insurer on re-entry and on air quality. What follows is a practical owner’s list, not a technical standard.
Let someone look first
If you can, ask for a walk-through before you arrive. You receive a current account: photographs, what the rooms smell like, whether the power is on, and anything out of place. It tells you what to expect, and it lets you plan the first day rather than discover it. We report what we can see. We do not diagnose.
What to look at on arrival
- Smell and surfaces. Fine ash or residue on sills, floors, patio furniture, and counters. Note where it is heaviest.
- Windows and doors. Confirm they are closed and latched, and look at the seals for gaps.
- Heating and cooling. Filters can be heavily loaded after smoke. Ask an HVAC professional about replacing filters and checking the system before running it hard.
- Refrigerator and freezer. If the power was off, check the contents. If you are unsure, discard.
- Water and irrigation. Look for leaks, and reset irrigation timers that lost power.
- Alarms and cameras. Reset anything that lost power, and confirm it is reporting.
- The grounds. Ash and debris in gutters and drains, a gate that no longer latches, anything that has shifted.
Keep a record
Take dated photographs of what you find, room by room, and keep receipts for any cleaning or repair. Your insurer will tell you what it needs. A written record made at the time is easier to rely on than a memory later.
Cleaning and vendors
Smoke residue is a job for people who do it professionally. If you choose a cleaner, an HVAC company, or a restoration firm, we can schedule them, meet them at the house, stay through the work, and lock up afterward. That time is concierge, billed in 15-minute increments with no minimum. We will not hire anyone in your name without asking.
Plan the next season before it arrives
The quietest returns are the ones that were arranged in advance. Agree on how to reach you, who else may make a decision at the house, and what you would like photographed after an event. How we watch the house through the dry months, and what we do if an evacuation is ordered, is described on the wildfire preparedness page. This guide begins where that one ends: after the order is lifted.
If you would like to talk through your own house, the questions page answers most of what owners ask first.