Attention Property Managers. ask about our new client portal

10 Essential Fire Damage Restoration Tips

As a homeowner, it can devastate you and your family when you have a house fire. If you find yourself dealing with fire damage, it’s essential to think about what you should do following the event. The most important thing to know is that a professional should restore fire damage.

However, there are some tips you can consider following, as well as things you shouldn’t do after a fire.

10 Fire Damage Restoration Tips

As you continue reading, we’ll discuss the 10 Best fire damage restoration tips to take after a fire has occurred.

1. Call Your Insurance Company

One of the first things you’ll want to do after a fire is call your insurance company. Your insurance company will be able to help you begin the recovery process, help you file a claim, and to replace any valuable possessions or assets.

One of the most crucial steps when doing the claims process is ensuring you have the proper documentation of the damage so you can replace your items. Keep precise records of the conversations with your insurance company and the fire restoration company you use if you need more information.

When keeping track of information during the recovery process, you’ll be keeping track of your assets and what was in your home during the fire. When putting together a list of the items you lost, it’s crucial to write down as much as possible.

2. Ask For a Copy of the Fire Report

You may have been wondering, “What does a fire report entail?” A fire report has critical information surrounding the incident and what may have contributed. The fire report also includes the date and time, location, source of the fire (if known), and damage. Fire reports are easy to obtain since they are public documents.

3. Shut off Your Heating/Air Conditioning

If your heating or air conditioning is running during a fire, you should turn them off immediately. Keeping your heating/air conditioning unit running will cause the soot from the fire to spread to other areas of your home and could cause more damage.

After the fire, you should also change your filters if you have an HVAC system.

4. Ventilate Your Home

Once you have access back to your home, you should open the windows, doors, patio doors, and whatever openings you can think of. You’ll want to ventilate your home as much as possible to remove as much smoke as possible. Ventilating your home can assist in removing potentially harmful debris particles.

5. Protect Your Undamaged Possessions

Once you have ventilated your home, you can take the time to cover any undamaged possessions. Covering your undamaged possessions can help prevent any debris or particles from damaging during the fire cleanup process. You should also consider moving your possessions away from any damaged areas.

6. Call a Fire Damage Restoration Professional

Immediately following the authorization from your insurance company, you should contact a fire damage restoration professional. Exit Mold services residential and commercial properties and is New York’s most-trusted fire damage restoration company.

We specialize in various services you may need during a fire, such as mold remediation and water damage restoration. Our team responds swiftly to your distress call and works continuously to clean, repair, and restore your home to its pre-damaged condition.

7. Keep Away From Electrical Outlets

When your home is being cleaned and restored, you’ll want to avoid plugging in any electronics for now. If you’ve had a fire, there’s always a chance your electrical wires may be damaged. If you suspect you are having electrical problems, you should let a professional handle them.

8. Don’t Try to Clean on Your Own

It’s essential to know that an environment can be toxic after a fire, specifically from the smoke and soot embedded into carpets and furniture. Toxic environments can pose serious health risks and are known carcinogens. Keeping this in mind, you should leave all the cleanings to a fire restoration expert with the proper tools and products to handle potentially harmful substances.

9. Throw Out Contaminated Items

When going through your home after a fire, it may be challenging to decide what to keep and what to throw out. However, to keep your home safe after a fire, discard any burned clothing, perishable items, and non-perishable food. You’ll want to avoid saving the items that have the potential to expose you to soot or toxins.

10. Find a Safe Place to Stay For a Few Days

No matter how much damage has occurred to your home, you may need to find a temporary place to stay or work. According to federal regulations, the fire department must inspect your home, even if it’s a small fire. You must also have your home thoroughly cleaned and restored by a restoration company.

Damages such as water-damaged interiors, mold growth, and soot can pose serious health risks to you and your family. Before reentering your home, you must have potentially dangerous materials or chemicals. Therefore, find a temporary place to stay while a fire and water damage restoration expert works.

How You Can Prevent a Fire at Home

Trying to recover from a fire can be stressful and exhausting and not something you’d want to experience again. Preventing fires can be as easy as ensuring you have functioning smoke detectors, turning off unused electronics, and having fire extinguishers available.

You should consult a professional if you need advice on preparing your home for a fire.

Why You Should Contact Exit Mold for Fire Damage Restoration

At Exit Mold, our fire restoration experts are adequately trained to take extra care of your possessions and to salvage anything we possibly can. Our team uses the most advanced tools, equipment, and cleaning products to apply the best practices when removing water, smoke, and other debris. Whether you need fire damage restoration, mold remediation, or water removal, our team can help.

Our team serves New York’s Five Boroughs and surrounding areas and has the necessary skills to tackle any fire restoration damage. Our professionals provide the following services: