1.1 billion worth of assets to these fires. At Spectrum Cleaning & Restoration, we know that fire damage can be both costly and traumatic. Few experiences can be more overwhelming or humbling than watching your home or business burn. What happens when the flames go out and the ash settles? What do you do next? Let’s take a look at how your Southwest Florida fire mitigation professionals can help you rebuild and restore following a fire. Follow These Steps When Dealing With Fire Damage If your home or business experiences a fire, it’s important to know you’re not alone. In fact, trying to repair or remediate your own property after a fire is never a good decision. As restoration professionals, we have the training and expertise you need to restore your home or business. We start by making sure your property is stable and safe to enter. This designation should only come from a fire restoration expert or a qualified building inspector. Our professionals also can evaluate materials in the home that may have been exposed to smoke and soot. We use state-of-the-art techniques and tools to clean and, hopefully, recover these items. There’s a reason our tagline says water, mold and fire damage. That’s because unfortunately, every fire also subjects your home to water damage and possible mold. Our professional technicians also have the training to identify mold and mildew damage, which can grow quickly here in Southwest Florida, from water exposure while the fire was being extinguished. Water damage also can rust any metal components of your home, or damage small electronic devices beyond repair.  Available at Any Hour We hope you never experience a fire, but if you do, Spectrum Cleaning & Restoration can be there for you. We offer our emergency services 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, helping you begin the process of getting back to life as you know it as soon as possible. Our 24/7 emergency services mean a quick, effective response and cleanup time. When it comes to fire restoration, urgency is the single most important factor to restoring your home or business following a fire. Specifically, there’s a window of opportunity after a fire that professionals call “the Golden Hours,” during which an effective response team can stabilize the property as much as possible. When are the Golden Hours? They exist for the first 24-48 hours from the moment the final flame is extinguished. This also allows the emergency response team to recover anything salvageable from your home or business. After that, a host of factors during a fire contribute to an increased risk of structural failure. These factors include decomposition, deterioration, corrosion, and toxicity, which can be caused by smoke, acidic soot, extreme heat, water damage, or the use of flame retardant chemicals. What to Expect from Fire Damage  When the restoration process starts following a fire, unfortunately there are many items that typically are damaged beyond repair or recovery. For example, toxic smoke can permeate clothing and fabrics. Most wooden items will quickly become saturated and ruined from the water used to the fire. Wood and paper can develop mold in a matter of days here in Southwest Florida. Synthetic materials used in homes such as glue, insulation, and PVC pipes, can be combustible during extreme heat. That means bathrooms and kitchens often have no salvageable components. At Spectrum Cleaning & Restoration, we will move quickly during the Golden Hours to recover as much of your property in Southwest Florida as possible, but that doesn't mean that you are through the woods just yet. Assessing Value Following a structural fire, the hardest part for many property owners is the financial burden. Depending on the severity of the fire, you may find yourself with no income or even no place to live. For Southwest Florida homeowners and commercial property owners, the fire damage experts at Spectrum Cleaning & Restoration can help you make an accurate assessment of the damage to your property. After the first recovery hours, you'll have to make some serious decisions as far as the state of your home. Any structural fire is traumatic and you shouldn't have to make decisions about precautions and future restorations on your own. That’s why the pros at Spectrum Cleaning & Restoration can help guide you through all of those important decisions.