Cleaning up after a fire—hire experts or do it yourself?

1/30/2019 (Permalink)

Fire Damage Pismo Beach

It’s one thing to clean and repaint part of a wall after a small kitchen fire that was put out quickly with no major damage. It’s entirely another thing to attempt to salvage personal belongings and cleanup after a major fire. SERVPRO, the experts in restoring belongings and properties after fire damage in Pismo Beach, have some experienced advice about restoring and repairing property after a fire.

• Safety first—always
• Surveying the damage
• Removing and saving personal items
• Cleaning up, repairing and rebuilding

Safety first—always

Get out away from a fire immediately. Get everyone, including your pets, away and to safety and call 911. If your attempts to put out a small fire are not working and the fire grows, get everyone to safety.

Every local fire and public safety department has fire safety tips available either online or by stopping by the nearest fire station. Get a copy of the tips and make sure everyone in your family or office knows and practices the procedures.

Do not attempt to enter the property until the fire marshal has said it is safe to do so.

Surveying the damage

Surveying the damage s is a traumatic experience. The urge to get inside to see what can be saved is a strong urge and this is where the experts come in. It is not a good idea to enter fire damaged structures alone, even after the fire department says the fire is out.

First of all, there can be structural damage that can put you in danger. Secondly, hard hats and other safety gear is is an absolute must, including masks to filter soot, smoke, and other airborne contaminants.

The experts from SERVPRO are trained to assess the damage and work with home and business owners, fire departments and insurance companies to accurately assess the damage, determine what can be saved, the best restoration methods, and to cleanup water and fire damage in Pismo Beach or anywhere on the Central Coast. 

Removing and saving personal items

A thorough survey of the damage with a SERVPRO expert is going to help you determine which items can be saved and restored, and how to safely remove them, or at least protect them until they can be removed.

There is a strong possibility that the urge to start cleaning can damage something that could have been professionally cleaned and restored. Items that to the inexperienced eye seem beyond saving, might be seen differently by an experienced SERVPRO professional and that family heirloom can be saved after all.

Cleaning up, repairing and rebuilding

Cleaning up the damage can involve everything from removing smoke damage, cleaning walls, carpets, drapes, removing and cleaning personal items, removing water and mold, to demolishing the structure or parts of the structure.

SERVPRO professionals can identify what can be saved, cleaned, and restored and what needs to be rebuilt.

SERVPRO focuses on restoring over replacing. Restoring is less costly that replacement, and certainly less costly than demolishing and rebuilding. The SERVPRO “restore first” standard also gets homes and businesses back to pre-fire conditions faster and with less disruption.

SERVPRO is with you every step of the way

“Like it never happened.” is more that the SERVPRO motto; it is the company’s top goal. Every SERVPRO professional is dedicated to restoring both property and the lives of customers like the fire never happened.

Contact SERVPRO for Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, or anywhere on the Central Coast for help restoring your life, home and possessions after a fire.