Commercial Fire Damage: When smoke, soot, and water come together

11/8/2018 (Permalink)

When shocked owners and employees survey the mess after a fire guts their workplace, it’s tempting to immediately start looking through the house for salvageable things. It’s probably not such a good idea to go trampling through a space that has fire damage: the soot, water and char that have spread throughout the fire scene and across building contents are hazardous to life. The fire has been quenched, but threats to health and safety continue long afterward the fire has been put out. Burn residue from natural materials like wood and cotton are certainly not healthy, but the plastics, nylons, polyurethanes and computer materials found in businesses today can harm human health and the environment far more seriously. When combusted, these newer materials form chemicals like hydrogen cyanide, halogens and formaldehyde that spread across the fire scene and beyond, thanks to the heat, wind and convection of the fire process; chemical risks multiply exponentially if the location contained industrial products. Water applied to fight the flames mixes all these chemicals with the smoke and soot to create a dangerous semi liquid fluid that soaks into the structure’s remaining materials and often runs into surrounding areas.

If you have suffered a commercial fire damage DO NOT take it upon yourself to do anything call in professionals and let them do all the work. Call your local SERVPRO at (662)-287-7881 with all your commercial fire needs “We Will Make it Look Like it Never Even Happened!”