Fire Damage Clean up Tips
It can be difficult to determine what steps you should take after a house fire. With all the emotions that can affect you, we’ve made a list of steps to help relieve some of the stress that comes after.
Inspect Your Home
The first thing you should do before you go into your home is have a professional do a thorough inspection. Besides the damage your home suffers during a fire, water used to extinguish the flames can also destabilize the structural integrity of the walls and ceiling.
While your home is being inspected you should file a claim with your insurance company. Not sure how to file a claim? Call Wasatch Disaster Recovery, not only will we file the insurance claim on your behalf we do full restoration and clean up.
Once your home has been inspected and a professional has said it is safe to enter, then it’s time to start by cleaning up the debris and removing any standing water. Making sure to replace anything that has significant water damage.
Salvage Your Possessions
Appliances and entertainment systems should not be used until they have been inspected for fire or water damage. Damaged appliances can cause another fire.
Any clothing or large textiles like bedding, carpet, rugs and curtains damaged by the fire should either be cleaned by a professional to thrown out. Soot and smoke can easily stain textiles. Chemicals used by fire fighters to extinguish fires can irritate the skin if they're not cleaned properly.
If any food or personal care products have been damaged by the fire they should be thrown out. Food in an open container is not safe to eat. Burned or bulging canned goods are likely not safe to eat either. Any food item contaminated by soot, smoke or fire extinguisher dust is not safe to eat and should be thrown away.
Clean Up
It is important to clean your house after a fire as you never know what all have been contaminated by the smoke or chemicals that have been released into the air.
All your clothing should be washed before you wear them again.
You should also wash all your dishes using bleach and water to disinfect them. Most dishes should be safe to use after cleaned. Any plastic dishes should probably be thrown out, soot and smoke can easily stain plastics and they are not easy to clean.
Your home may still smell like smoke even after it has been cleaned. You may want to contact a restoration company to have them clean out your HVAC system and use thermal fogging to eliminate the smell from the structure of your home.
Get Back to Normal
It can be tough to deal with a house fire and the stress that comes afterwards but the worst has past. All of us here at Wasatch Disaster Recovery are here to help you when times are tough. We can help relieve some of that stress by helping you get your home back to normal.