Are you worried about how to clean up the ruins after a small house fire?
Facing the aftermath of a house fire can be an exhausting and emotionally challenging experience. Therefore it is important to take a few fire safety measures to protect your home against fire accidents. Installing smoke alarms and equipping your home with fire extinguishers are two things that will help you find out about house fire quickly and put it out safely. As a result, the damage a house fire can cause in your home will be minimized.
However, even the occurrence of a small fire accident in your kitchen will require you to clean your home thoroughly. Continue reading this article to learn how to clean up the ruins of fire damage.
Assessment of the Fire Damage
The first and most important thing to do in the case of a house fire is to contact the fire department. Do not skip this step even if you have put out the fire with the help of a fire extinguisher. House fires can sometimes burn electrical wires inside the walls or damage the structure of a home so your home needs to be properly inspected before you consider it safe to enter.
When a representative from the fire department visits your home and does a detailed inspection of it, you will know whether it’s safe to enter the premises of your home or not. Once they tell you the place is safe to re-enter, then you can go inside to see the exact extent of the fire damage.
Wear Safety Gear Before You Enter Fire Damaged Areas
Another important thing to do before you enter the fire damaged premises is to wear safety gear. The rooms may be full of smoke and soot that are harmful for you so you need safety gear to protect yourself. For this reason, do not enter the place without close-toed shoes, safety goggles or facemasks.
Open Windows and Switch on Fans for Greater Circulation of Air
The next thing to do is to open windows and switch on fans as soon as you enter the premises to improve the circulation of air. Opening the windows will help to reduce the toxicity in the air inside the house.
Remove the Ashes and Fire Extinguisher Residue
Now you can finally begin the cleaning process. We suggest you use a wet-dry vacuum cleaner to clean up all the ashes and fire extinguisher residue from the area.
Clean Soot
The next thing to do is to spot clean all areas that have noticeable residue of soot on them with a tri-sodium phosphate cleaner. You can use this on walls and cabinets too. All you have to do is dilute the cleaner in water and use a sponge to remove stains of soot residue from places.
Clean Walls and Other Surfaces
The final step to clean up the ruins of a small house fire is to wipe the walls and surfaces of your home with a solution of bleach and water. This will help to disinfect all surfaces, remove odor and also prevent mold growth in your home.
We hope the steps above help you clean your home after a small fire accident in your kitchen. Remember these steps are only for small accidents and you can always contact a professional company for fire damage restoration services if you feel like it’s too much to handle on your own.
For more information on fire damage clean-up and restoration, please visit our website.
