Case Study · Hospitality · Phoenix, AZ
Luxury Hotel High-Rise Fire.
35-Day Full-Scope Restoration.
Multi-floor fire event in a Phoenix luxury hotel with simultaneous suppression-water damage, mixed soot residue types, and an already-published reopening date that wasn’t going to move. DRR ran 35 days of stabilization, contents pack-out, IICRC S700-aligned cleaning, deodorization, and reconstruction under a single project manager — and the property reopened on schedule.
The challenge
Hospitality fire losses combine the technical complexity of commercial restoration with the schedule pressure of an occupied-revenue property. This event hit five constraints at once:
- Multi-floor smoke and soot migration through stairwells, elevator shafts, and HVAC return paths.
- Mixed soot residue types — kitchen-derived protein and synthetic wet smoke from interior finishes — requiring different chemistry by area.
- Suppression water on upper floors creating secondary water loss with 24-hour escalation risk to Cat 2.
- Guest-services pressure: reopening date already published; relocations in flight.
- Carrier-grade documentation requirements with hospitality-specific contents pack-out across hundreds of guest rooms.
The response — phase by phase
Six phases, all under one DRR project manager. Each phase mapped to specific Xactimate line-item categories and IICRC standard sections.
Hour 0–24 — Stabilization
DRR mobilized within the 60-minute target. Power lockout/tagout coordinated with the fire department. Affected floors barricaded. Suppression water extracted concurrently — preventing the Cat 1 → Cat 2 escalation that would have doubled the demolition scope.
Day 1 — Soot classification + logging
IICRC FSRT-certified lead technician classified soot type by area. Protein residue in kitchen-adjacent zones, wet smoke through public corridors and guest rooms with synthetic textiles. Determination logged as the first entry in the field record — driving every chemistry and sequence decision that followed.
Day 1–7 — Contents pack-out + drying
Guest-room contents inventoried and packed out for off-site cleaning. Bar-coded chain-of-custody on every container. Concurrently, structural drying ran on suppression-water-affected floors per IICRC S500. Daily psychrometric logs delivered to the carrier.
Day 5–18 — Structural cleaning
Sequence-strict S700 cleaning by area: dry-soot vacuum first, chemistry by classification (alkaline degreaser for protein, solvent + degreaser for wet smoke), HEPA-filtered air movement throughout. Negative pressure containment on each floor under treatment.
Day 12–25 — Deodorization
Layered HEPA + thermal fogging + ozone deodorization, room by room. Each cycle's runtime documented per the carrier's claim file. Reoccupancy delayed for documented ozone-decay periods to the manufacturer-spec threshold.
Day 18–35 — Reconstruction + reopening
Drywall, paint, finish carpentry, and like-kind-and-quality material match across affected guest rooms and public spaces. Same DRR project manager from first arrival to final walkthrough — no contractor handoff. Property reopened on the published date.
Technical highlights
- IICRC S700 protocol-driven cleaning sequence — soot classification logged on day one and used to chemistry every area
- IICRC S500 concurrent drying of suppression-water-affected floors — Cat 1 maintained, no escalation
- Bar-coded contents pack-out across hundreds of guest-room inventories with full chain-of-custody
- HEPA + thermal fogging + ozone deodorization, runtime-logged per cycle for carrier file
- Single-source contracting — same DRR project manager through mitigation, remediation, and reconstruction
- AZ ROC #349012 KB-1 Dual license authorized self-perform reconstruction — no subcontractor handoff
- Carrier documentation packet delivered as a single deliverable: scope + sketch + photo timeline + drying log + deodorization cycles + close-out letter
Outcome
Duration
35 days
Scope
Multi-floor full-scope restoration
Reopen
On the published reopening date
Carrier
Documentation cleared first-pass review
Project references available upon request. Specific carrier and property identification withheld per hospitality-industry confidentiality norms; DRR can confirm with a signed NDA.
Technical References
The standards that drove this project
Hospitality property facing a fire or smoke event?
IICRC FSRT-certified crews dispatch 24/7 across Phoenix Metro with a 60-minute on-site target. Single-source contracting from first arrival through reconstruction. Carrier-grade documentation on every project.

