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2/29/2016 (Permalink)

Fire in a Florida home that "SERVPRO" made "Like it never even happened"

A fire occurs in the U.S.

When a fire occurs, your main concern is safety.  Once everyone has evacuated and the fire has been put out, you are left with ash and soot.  Where do you go from here?  Call in the professionals.  Not just the brand you can trust, but the family you can trust, "SERVPRO" of Alachua County West.

The first thing "SERVPRO" does when arriving on site is assess the situation.  We will go through your home taking a look at all affected areas.  Then we will pretest the restorability of items within your home.  By pretesting, we determine what can be restored vs replaced.  We believe that every home contains valuable items that a customer does not view as "replaceable."  That is why we try our very best to restore versus replace.

One component that makes fire damage that much more difficult to clean up is smoke.  There are multiple types of smoke, therefore there are multiple cleaning methods used for fire damage.  Examples of smoke include but are not limited to:  wet smoke (plastics & rubbers-low heat, smoldering, pungent odor, sticky, smeary), dry smoke(paper &wood- fast burning, high temperatures), protein fire residue (evaporation of material) and fuel oil soot (furnace puff backs).  Each type of smoke requires a different cleaning method and is therefor a cleaning job best left to the professionals.  

Just in case a fire occurs in your home or business, here's some tips to keep in mind...

DO:

• Limit the movement indoors to prevent soot particles from being embedded into upholstery and carpets
• Keep hands clean.  Soot on hands can further soil upholstery, walls &woodwork
• Place dry, colorfast towels on rugs, upholstery &carpet traffic areas
• If electricity is off, empty freezer &refrigerator completely and prop doors open
• Clean soot from chrome on kitchen &bathroom faucets, trim &appliances and protect with a light coating of petroleum jelly or oil
• Pour RV antifreeze into sinks, toilet bowls &tubs if heat is off during freezing season
• Wash both sides of leaves on house plants
• Change HVAC filter
• Tape double layers of cheesecloth over air registers to stop particles of soot from getting in or out of the HVAC system

DON'T:

• Attempt to wash any walls or painted surfaces without 1st contacting SERVPRO
• Attempt to shampoo carpet or upholstered furniture without 1st consulting with SERVPRO
• Attempt to clean any electrical appliances that may have been close to the fire, heat or water
• Consume any canned or packaged food or beverages that may have been stored close to fire, heat or water
• Turn on ceiling fixtures if ceiling is wet
• Send garments to dry cleaner.  Improper cleaning may set smoke odor

If you have a fire in your home or business, call "SERVPRO" at (352)374-6589.  We will be more than happy to visit the site, assess the situation and provide you with an accurate estimate for fire damage restoration.  Then, we can make it "Like it never even happened" for you.