When the Gray and Oregon Road wildfires tore across eastern Washington last August, they left more than charred timber in their wake. They set off an exhausting game of paperwork that scores of families felt ill-prepared to play. Many are now finding relief through an unexpected ally: the independent fire claims adjuster.
State insurance‐department logs show that 53 property owners in Spokane and Stevens Counties hired a licensed fire damage claims adjuster in the months after the blazes. On average, those owners recovered nearly twice the amount first offered by their carriers. The spike stands out in an industry that usually sees public adjusters on fewer than one claim in ten.
Eli Martinez, principal at Spokane-based Northwest Recovery Solutions, says the reason is simple math. “A staff adjuster may look at forty houses in a week,” he noted while walking through a partially framed rebuild on Euclid Avenue. “We spend a full day at one site, measure every joist, pull local pricing, and match it to the policy word for word. That detail shifts negotiations in a hurry.”
Martinez’s team—made up of former carrier employees, accountants, and code consultants—uses drones and 3-D scans to build a digital twin of each property before demolition begins. The scan becomes the backbone of the proof-of-loss package a fire damage adjuster presents to the insurer. Under Washington rules, a fire damage insurance claims public adjuster is paid a set percentage of any increase secured for the customer, so documentation must survive intense scrutiny.
Karen Holcomb, a retired third-grade teacher in Medical Lake, credits that approach for saving her rebuild. The first estimate she received came in at $298,000. “It looked generous until we priced floor trusses,” she said, shaking her head. After her adjuster documented code upgrades required by the new energy standard, plus 13 months of rental invoices, the carrier agreed to $927,000. Construction crews broke ground on her replacement home in April. “They didn’t add benefits; they proved the benefits were already there,” Holcomb said.
Deputy Insurance Commissioner Renée Delgado believes the trend helps restore balance in a year of unusually heavy wildfire losses. “A public adjuster acts as the policyholder’s interpreter,” Delgado explained. “That expertise frees our office to focus on bad-faith complaints rather than simple math errors.”
Industry trade groups caution that higher payouts can ripple into premium calculations, but orchard owner Joe Watkins, whose Deer Park farmhouse was reduced to ash, calls the warning misplaced. “Premiums go up after every disaster anyway,” he said. “What matters is whether families have enough to rebuild before winter.”
With fire season looming again, Northwest Recovery Solutions has expanded Saturday intake hours and posted an online checklist at washingtonfiredamageclaimsadjuster.com that walks homeowners through emergency steps—boarding openings, cataloging contents, and requesting a full copy of the policy—before the first company adjuster arrives.
“Wildfire isn’t slowing down,” Martinez added, eyeing a stack of smoke-stained beams waiting for removal. “Documentation and patience win these claims. A seasoned fire insurance adjuster just makes sure neither runs out first.”
Media ContactCompany Name: Washington Fire Damage Claims AdjusterEmail: Send EmailAddress:One Microsoft Way City: RedmondState: WA 98052Country: United StatesWebsite: washingtonfiredamageclaimsadjuster.com
