The First Steps to Handle Fire and Smoke Damage at Your Kingston Home or Business

11/18/2020 (Permalink)

Time is of the essence when dealing with a property fire. Call your insurance company, then call SERVPRO of Kingston/New Paltz!

What to do, who to call and how to deal with any kind of fire damage brings on a whole set of emotions, choices and decisions that you most likely haven’t had to deal with before and can leave you feeling overwhelmed.

SERVPRO of Kingston/New Paltz is here to help you every step of the way in terms of what to do and not to do in case of a fire. Once the firemen have deemed it safe to go in (in some cases they won’t) and you’ve called your insurance company to file a claim, here are some important things to consider in this situation:

-DO NOT attempt to consume and food or beverages that have been stored close to fire, heat or water damage that might’ve stemmed from the fire suppression. They could be contaminated. Even if the fire was on the other side of the house, smoke and soot will ALWAYS travel and end up inside cabinets, in drawers, even inside closed closets. Soot is made up of tiny carbon particles created by incomplete combustion of fossil fuels (wood, oil, coal, and more). It contains lots of acids, as well as chemicals, metals, soils, and dust. None of this should be ingested and therefore…..

-DO NOT wander around inside the property. Keep your movements limited to help prevent soot particles from getting embedded into upholstery and carpet. Keep your hands clean to avoid further soiling. It’s understandable you’ll want to remove valuables, important papers and the like but this should be done as quickly as possible and with the smallest amount of traveling in and out of the house as possible.

-DO NOT turn on ceiling fixtures, they could’ve gotten wet or damaged and could cause electrical shock. In most cases, the electric has been turned off anyway as to not be a danger for the firefighters. Even if you still have electric, that ceiling fan will only make the soot and smoke fly around more.

-DO NOT attempt to clean carpets, garments, electrical appliances, walls or painted surfaces BEFORE contacting your insurance company AND SERVPRO of Kingston/New Paltz professionals. It’s likely that your insurance company will instruct you not to touch or clean anything, they have an investigation of their own to do.

Once permitted to do so, our trained and certified fire damage restoration techs utilize the most innovative equipment and most effective methods of cleaning smoke and soot from everything in your home, including electronics, paperwork, photos and artwork. Our goal is to restore versus replace. Let our teams take care of the hard part, it’s one less thing for you to have to consider in a time like this.

We will work directly with your insurance company to help get your home and life back to preloss condition as effectively and efficiently as possible. You’ll be amazed at how clean, fresh and back to normal your home or business can be using the experts from SERVPRO of Kingston/New Paltz.

Call us 24/7, we’re always here to help.