What do you do after the smoke clears?

4/13/2020 (Permalink)

Our GFR crews doing what they do best.

Having a fire in your home can be devastating.  Besides the whirlwind of the fire department, fire inspectors, and any other emergency responders, not knowing the initial extent of damage to your home and personal belongings in the days to come can be overwhelming.  Heck, just figuring out where you are going to sleep that night can be overwhelming!

First of all, firefighters are going to be the first people you come into contact with.  They will battle the fire, which depending on the cause and severity of the fire, can also cause lots of secondary damage to your home and belongings.  It is important that you do not try to go back into your home, and that you stay well out of the way of emergency responders for your safety and theirs. Once the fire department has finished putting out the fire, the fire inspector will show up to assess damages, cause, and structural and electrical issues.  Once they have completed your inspection, you may or may not be able to gain access to your home depending on their findings.  At this time, the fire department will help you contact and advocate or the red cross to help you with lodging and essentials for a few days.

With everything going on, what should you be doing?  The sooner you can contact your insurance the better.  Getting a claim started and finding out your coverage is essential in getting the ball rolling.  What is also important to know is if that you are the customer and in charge of your claim.  Many insurance companies may have preferred vendors for many aspects of your claim.  YOU are in charge and you should be very wary of any restoration company that is not recognizable as well as not even from your general area.  One call to SERVPRO of Gainesville West/Alachua County West can not only take care of every part of your claim from the water mitigation, fire restoration, and re-construction, we also will communicate directly with your insurance company to get your claim handled in the most timely manner possible.  As a part of your community, our goal is to not only assist our customers with their restoration needs, but also to treat our customers with the respect and empathy they deserve as one of our neighbors.