How to Clean Up After A Fire

4/16/2017 (Permalink)

House Fire in Indianapolis

Unlike a broken pipe or a flooded basement, a fire in a home presents a unique and challenging situation when faced with restoring a home to its preloss condition. When a fire happens in a home, not only do you have the fire causing damage but there's also smoke and often times water damage from the fire department. At SERVPRO of Indianapolis West, we have a proven fire damage restoration process that we follow to ensure every fire no matter its size, is handled quickly and professionally in order to return things at home back to normal as fast as possible.

Time is of the Utmost Importance

Once the fire has been put out, it’s important to call us, SERVPRO of Indianapolis West as soon as possible. Even if it’s in the middle of the night, we're available 24/7 to help. We are ready to take your call and take action no matter the time of day or night. Sometimes the fire department needs to break windows and cut holes in the roof to vent the house so that they can fight the fire properly. If that happens to you we can properly secure the structure even in the middle of the night. Call us at 317-243-3149 and we'll help you and your family get back the life you had before the flames took over.

A Close Examination of the Fire

Examining the damage a fire has caused to a home requires experience and discipline. With a fire, you have smoke and soot that can easily move from the source of the fire to the rest of the home. It can travel through doorways, stairwells, and the duct work. It can also get into every little crack and crevice in your home from outlets, sockets, lights, and behind, under and on top of every piece of furniture and appliance.

When our fire restoration experts first arrive at your home, they will start from the source of the fire and examine every inch of your home as they fan out away from the source. If the air conditioner or heater were running during the fire, this can quickly cause the smoke and soot to be carried throughout the home. Our experts will know what to look for from years of experience in order to layout a plan of action to ensure every piece of evidence that a fire has occurred is completely gone.

Protect Against the Elements

In many home fire situations, there may be damage to the exterior of the home that would cause the outside elements, like rain, to get inside. If windows have been broken, doors kicked in, roofs damaged or exterior walls damaged from the fire, we will first board up any windows or doors and cover any roof or wall damage with tarps to keep the elements from causing further damage to your home.

The Water Has Got to Go

If the fire department was called to the fire and they had to use their trucks or hydrants to put out the fire, then you will be dealing with a lot of water damage. To keep the water from stagnating and causing mold in your home, our experts will extract the water from your home, treat any damp areas to prevent mold from growing, and employ industrial drying fans and dehumidifiers to remove all the moisture from inside your home. This step is crucial as black mold can quickly grow in situations like this causing even further damage to your home as well as being a health hazard.

Getting the Smoke and Soot Out

The next step that is taken is to clean up all the surface areas of the home that have smoke and soot damage. At SERVPRO Indianapolis West, we use special equipment and solutions to remove even the most stubborn of smoke and soot. We are highly trained to recognize smoke migration patterns and identifying the proper cleaning process to best fit each and every individual case. The smoke and soot damage can easily spread along the ceiling and through the duct work. You don’t realize how much surface area there is in your home until you have to clean every inch of it due to smoke and soot damage.

Cleaning Up the Small Stuff

Take a look around the room you are in now. Every single item that you see would most likely have to been professionally cleaned and sanitized to remove any signs that a fire happened nearby. With upholstery and fabrics, the smoke odor can sometimes be removed with special equipment that creates a gas that is able to break down the smoke molecules and remove the odors. This usually requires us taking the furniture to our facility where we can safely do this. For other items like wood furniture and other solid surfaces, we can usually scrub these down and sanitize them. For electronics, due to the many circuit boards and wires inside them, they are very sensitive to high heat and soot residue and can sometimes be difficult to fully restore.

Finishing Touches

If the fire caused any damage to floors, ceilings or walls that we couldn’t clean up or restore then our experts will replace them. This can be anything from drywall to carpets to cabinets to new flooring or ceilings. Our mission is to restore your home as if nothing ever even happened. A home fire is something we hope no one ever has to experience but if they do, then we will make it "Like it never even happened."

If you should suffer a house fire, call the fire cleanup experts at SERVPRO of Indianapolis West at 317-243-3149 for 24-hour emergency service. At SERVPRO of Indianapolis West, we have specialized equipment, professional training, and certifications that allow us to restore your home to its preloss condition.