Residential Fire Cleanup, Restoration, Mitigation, and Prevention

6/15/2020 (Permalink)

Fire damage in an Acworth kitchen

Whether your home has been affected by wildfire or a cooking fire, mitigation is often one of the steps taken by fire restoration specialists. With the right steps, you and damage cleaning professionals may reduce the risk of and level of fire damage in the future. There are four steps you and/or the professionals should take:

1. Cleanup
   
2. Restoration
   
3. Mitigation
   
4. Prevention
   
   

What Does Cleanup Involve?

When fire and smoke damage cleanup professionals clean your damaged home, they haul out debris and items that can't be repaired. They scrub down walls and other surfaces and provide disinfection as necessary.

What Is Restoration?
After the home has been cleaned, professionals handle the replacement and repairs necessary to return your home to its pre-fire condition. Contact your insurance company to determine which fire restoration steps are covered.

What Is Mitigation?
Mitigation includes those efforts that seek to minimize damages while preventative steps seek to stop something from happening. As a homeowner, you can't prevent all wildfires, but you can take steps to mitigate the damages to your Acworth, GA, home:

Clear dry brush and trees from around the perimeter of your home.
Create a fire-free area with rocks, stones, and other non-flammable materials in the five feet around your home. Consider xeriscaping for further fire resistance.
Don't park on dry vegetation and make sure off-road vehicles have working spark arresters.
Upgrade your home building materials (such as roofing tiles) with fire-resistant products.

What Preventative Steps Can I Take?

Don't use the stove, candles, cigarettes, or other potential fire sources when you're sleepy or have consumed alcohol.
Store flammable items away from heat sources, such as kitchen towels or wooden utensils in the kitchen and flammable chemicals in the garage and workshop.
Don't leave a flame unattended. If you're cooking, remain in the kitchen. If you have a lit candle, don't leave the room.
Keep up with home maintenance. Dryers, heating systems, and furnaces are all potential sources of home fires without appropriate inspections and upkeep.

As you and fire restoration professionals work through cleanup, restoration, mitigation, and prevention steps, your home should be safer from outside and inside fires in the future. Don't wait for a home fire, though; take mitigation and prevention steps today.