Servicemaster Restore

Your home or business can suffer a significant amount of damage because of a fire. Aside from the flames, the smoke and heat can badly damage your belongings or business equipment. On top of that, the water that firefighters use to put out the fire adds to the damage to your furniture and electronics. Knowing what to expect and how to plan for fire and smoke damage mitigation can make the recovery process less stressful.

The Extent of the Smoke and Fire Damage

The damage that a fire causes will likely extend throughout your home or business property. Even rooms that the flames didn’t touch will sustain damage.

In fact, it can get so hot that the heat melts plastic, blisters paint, chars wood and softens window glass. Smoke can penetrate everything and is hard to remove. Soot and ash can stick to furniture, walls, and floors. The water from putting out the fire will further damage furniture and the structure of the property. Then, mold can grow quickly in the wet environment.

It’s important that you don’t enter your home without permission from local authorities. The reason is that the melted synthetic and plastic materials will continue to emit toxic gases. Also, the structure of your property could be weak and collapse.

Insurance and Disaster Aid

After a fire, contact your insurance company before you do anything else. In most cases, the insurer will pay for repairs and cover the cost of replacing belongings or equipment. It may cover additional living expenses during the repair process also.

To get help with living expenses that your insurer doesn’t cover, contact a local disaster relief service. For instance, the American Red Cross can help you obtain housing, medicine, food, and clothing.

Fire and Smoke Damage Mitigation Services

Since it’s dangerous to enter the property after a fire, play it safe by calling a restoration service to inspect your home or business. A team of experts will carefully inspect every item to determine what can be salvaged. They’ll remove burned goods, isolate untouched items and complete repairs.

A restoration service will also clean the soot and deodorize soft surfaces that are affected by smoke if they can be saved. Furthermore, the team can prevent mold growth and remove it from objects that were affected by water.

Are you in need of restoration services after a fire? You can read more about ServiceMaster Restoration of First Coast’s smoke and fire damage mitigation services, or call (904) 219-0635.