Cleaning Up The Damage After A Fire

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Thousands of homes are affected by fires small and large every year. Fires are responsible for billions of dollars in property damage costs, and they are responsible for taking hundreds of lives and injuring hundreds more. Whether the fire was caused by a person who negligently threw their cigarette butt into some bushes, a candle that fell over and ignited a combustible material nearby, or an arsonist who delights in seeing flames in their full glory, anyone who has witnessed firsthand the damage a fire can leave behind knows how much hard work is put into restoring the property to its previous condition.

In almost all cases of fires, it is best to contact your local insurance company to notify them of the incident and then call a fire damage restoration company to begin work on restoring all of your belongings and try to salvage what they can of the property. There are some things that you might want to do yourself for some reason or another, and you will soon learn that dealing with soot will be the hardest part of the clean up process. Soot is the very fine powder that is black or brown in color and is left behind by the fire. Although it is useful for making dyes and ink, it is not useful when it is covering your belongings.

First and foremost, do not enter the premises until a firefighter or other official tells you it is okay to return to your home. Then you will need to air out your home. Start by opening up all of the windows to get the airflow circulating throughout the home. Use fans, air blowers, or an air conditioner to get the air flowing faster so it can rid the odor in your home quicker.

You need to wear gloves, a long-sleeved shirt, pants, boots, and a face mask to tackle on the clean up. You will also need a vacuum, preferable a commercial strength kind, to suck up all of the soot particles that are laying atop your belongings. With the nozzle, hold up the opening about a quarter inch from the surface and never try to use special attachments to clean it up because it might make the damage worse. When pressed into a surface, soot can smear and leave an oily stain and will be even harder to remove.

All of your clothing, curtains, and other textiles can be taken to a cleaners that specializes in fire damaged clothing. All ceramic, porcelain, and stain surfaces can be wiped down with a wet rag, but other porous surfaces will need to be wiped down with a dry rag to prevent smearing. The process of cleaning up soot yourself will be long, tiring, and extensive, so you will want to take care of only the things you feel you must and let the fire damage restoration crew handle most, if not all, of the work load.


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