How To Cleanup After A House Fire
By: 911 Water Damage Experts
A house that has endured a fire is sometimes a pretty destroyed one afterward.
Experiencing a fire can be a traumatic experience for everyone involved in the process.
Belongings get destroyed and lives get shattered.
The women and men from the fire department can sometimes be in danger too while in the line of duty.
Think of it this way.
Even a very small fire, say, a kitchen fire, can leave a lot of mess behind to clean up.
This type of cleaning up requires going around the house looking for damage, which includes everything and not just the affected area.
So today we are going to talk about what you need to do AFTER you’ve put the fire in your home.
Let’s get right into it!
I Put Out The House Fire…What Do I Do Next?
The first thing that you want to do is inspect if the entire house is safe for people to enter it again.
This means cleaning, electrical wiring, foundations, wall supports, and everything that needs restoration for optimal shape.
The best person to do this kind of inspection is either a fire marshal or a representative from an insurance company – either way, the presence of a professional is requested.
The home has been inspected thoroughly and now it is safe to go in – what next?
You still need to be mindful of where you step, that is, to wear long sleeves and pants, preferably a face mask, and not touch anything that may be a potential hazard to your health.
Also, children are not to be let inside the home at this stage.
The third most important part is documentation.
So when you are entering the home for the first time after the incident (preferably with a person accompanying you) it is imperative to document everything.
Take your phone or a camera with you and take as many pictures of the damage as you can.
Go Over Exterior After House Fire
Before you get down to the cleaning bit after a fire, make sure that a professional has inspected the outside of the house too.
The key elements to look at here are the support structures on the roof, the foundation of the house, the entrances, and the decks are all in good shape and have not been damaged.
Also, if there is some damage to the roof, minimize the extent of it by cleaning out your gutters.
The next thing to focus on is removing the “leftovers” from your walls.
It is important to clean them as soon as you can to avoid any potential long-term damage to the exterior.
Use a power washer if you have one to remove all of the soot, chemical fire retardants, and ash, or just use a thick brush and a water and borax solution to remove the residue ash.
It is much easier if you clean from the top of your house and gradually go down.
This is good because all of the gunk will drip down and will not interact with an already cleaned area.
If you have a driveway, leave that for last.
You can power wash all the debris and the gunk away (after removing the solid debris of course).
Move Fire Damage Inspection Inside
Once you have been allowed to enter the house, and all precautions have been taken care of, it is time to begin cleaning up the place.
If the damage is extensive, then we strongly suggest hiring a professional fire and water damage company who would be able to clean the entire house and focus on the affected areas.
However, if the damage is localized to one area only, and is not that great, then it might be okay for you to start cleaning up yourself.
The first thing you are going to do is open up all the windows and doors for the air to start circulating all around the house.
This way you will get rid of a part of the bad burning smell.
If the weather is not good, then turn on the AC or a dehumidifier can help you too!
Make sure you remove the carpets and remove all excess water so you will prevent any further damage.
Move all of the damaged and wet furniture to a clean storage area for them to dry out.
Afterward, you should inspect them and see whether something is worth salvaging.
Ceilings and floors are the first things you need to inspect for soot.
Thoroughly inspect every inch of your walls and the entire inside of your home before moving on to the next step, which is cleaning and painting.
Wear rubber gloves and use a special solution that includes chlorine bleach to clean all the walls.
Rinse and pat the wall dry.
The bleach will act as a protector that will prevent any mold from further forming in the home.
Before going to repaint, wait at least two days for the walls, ceiling, and floors to become completely dry.
After you have done cleaning the house, you might still get a whiff of the burning odour.
If this is happening to you, then we suggest you call a local fire damage company near you.
They’ll be able to do a procedure called, “thermal fogging.”
This is a certain type of chemical fog that penetrates the wall and neutralizes the odor.
How To Restore Furniture And Items After House Fire
When you are trying to salvage some furniture or some items that can’t be thrown in the washer, try calling a professional cleaner to help you out with that.
Ask if they can remove the smoke odour too, you may be surprised by the services they offer.
All of the fabrics that are washable but have soot stains can be washed with a heavy detergent and some oxygen-based bleach.
For those fabrics that just smell kind of funny and smoky, a cup of baking soda in the final washing cycle does the trick.
If the smell is persistent, leave them to soak overnight in a water-soda mixture, then wash them as usual.
Everything leather needs to be patted down until it is completely dry.
You want to do this so you can prevent any mould or mildew from forming.
You can use a leather conditioner to bring back the shine to anything leather after the object has completely dried out.
Any books that you want to preserve have to go in a big box, sealed, with a powdered odor eliminator.
If they still smell smoky once you take them out, put them back in until the odour disappears.
Throw Away These Items After House Fire
We get it.
You probably want to save as much as possible, but, here is a small list of items that you need to dispose of immediately after the fire.
Food: Any food that has been inside the home, whether it is canned or in the fridge, or wrapped up and kept in a cupboard needs to be disposed of.
Medicine and cosmetics: Both can easily get ruined by the chemicals from the smoke and fire, so it is not worth risking your health over them.
Electrical equipment: Yes, believe it or not, any small appliances that you may have, and have been destroyed or affected by the fire should be immediately disposed of. This is because of the possible damage to the wires that can be a cause of another fire.
If you have any questions about fire damage restoration or fire damage services feel free to call us at 1-833-WE-DRY-IT or drop a message on our Facebook fan page any time 24/7/365 all the time, we’re there when you need us!
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