If you experience a fire in your home or business, it can be devastating. Even if the building isn’t a total loss, even a minor fire has the potential to cause significant damage between the flames, ash, and smoke. Here’s how you can begin to recover and get back to normal as quickly as possible after a fire.
How to Clean Up Smoke Damage After a Fire
- Wait for the all clear. If the fire was significant enough that the fire department was called, you should not re-enter your home or business until they have given you the go-ahead that it’s safe. That’s because there could be hot spots or structural damage that may not be apparent to you. It’s better to let the experts make the call.
- Call your insurance company. If you experienced a fire in your home, call your homeowner’s insurance company. If it was at your business, you should place a call to your commercial property insurance carrier. Your insurer can get the claims process started.
If the fire was in your home, your policy may have what’s known as “loss of use” coverage, which can help pay for you to replace essentials such as:
- Food
- Clothes
- Toiletries
Loss of use can typically also pay for you to stay in a hotel until your home is habitable again.
- Inspect your property. Take your time and do a thorough walk-through of each room to see what items you can salvage. Begin compiling a list of what was damaged in the fire, so you can provide a copy to your insurance company.
- Call a cleaning and restoration company. In order to minimize the damage to your property, it’s important to call a fire and smoke damage restoration professional right away. Even after the fire is out, the damage can continue. Soot, ash, and smoke can discolor surfaces inside the building within hours if not treated, and there will be an unpleasant smell that will linger if not properly mitigated. There could also be water damage that needs to be cleaned up.
Octagon Cleaning & Restoration is staffed by fire and smoke mitigation experts who can help by:
- Cleaning fire-damaged areas of the building.
- Deodorizing and neutralizing odors caused by smoke.
- Cleaning up any water damage.
- Acting as the point of contact for the insurance adjuster assigned to your claim.
Should I Contact Home Fire Restoration Experts?
Octagon Cleaning & Restoration employees receive training and certification from the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) and follow IICRC guidelines for fire and smoke damage repair. This includes following emergency clean-up procedures and making necessary arrangements for other services that may be required, such as board up, duct cleaning, dry cleaning or pack out. If you’ve recently experienced a fire at your home or business, give our team of smoke and fire restoration professionals a call at (207) 893-0002 in Maine and (603) 239-2100 in New Hampshire and Eastern Massachusetts.