Fire/Water Damage Restoration

The process of fire/water damage restoration should begin as soon as the fire is extinguished.

In fact, the severity of fire/water damage to the contents of a house can be greatly reduced if preventive actions are quickly implemented.

As an example, let us use the scenario of a fire in an upstairs bedroom of a two-story house.

For purposes of this example, we will say that the fire was contained to the bedroom. However, all of the contents of the room were either totally destroyed or were damaged beyond repair.

In essence, the bedroom is a total loss.

So, what can be done to begin the fire/water damage restoration?

Quick Actions

First of all, we want to make sure that water damage is kept to a minimum.

We know that water runs downhill and in this case it would actually be that water runs to the floor below. The two most likely routes that the water will take are either down the stairs or by seeping through the upstairs floor.

In order to get a jump on the fire/water damage restoration, fire crews must protect furniture and other valuables from becoming soaked by the excess water.

The use of tarps and plastic covers are a quick and relatively inexpensive means of protecting large areas of a room. Two firefighters working together should be able to quickly spread the tarps over the items that need protecting.

Note: By moving furniture and belongings to the center of the room, the task of spreading the tarps becomes a lot easier. Also, "centralizing" the contents reduces the number of tarps that are required.

Once the lower level has been protected from the draining water, the focus should be on removing any water that is still remaining.

Remove Excess Water

At this point, fire crews will be faced with water on both the upstairs and the downstairs floors.

To help speed up the fire/water damage restoration, the contents of the upstairs bedroom should be removed. Everything that was damaged by the fire and smoke should be taken out of the house.

Note: When removing the contents, be sure to place any papers, photos or other valuables in a cardboard box or similar container. It is important to remember that although some of the items are nothing more than charred embers, to the homeowner they may still have some sentimental value.

Once the contents of the bedroom have been emptied, then the carpet should be taken out.

Keep in mind, that due to the fire/water damage, the carpet can not be salvaged. By leaving it in place, it will only serve to allow water to continually seep through the floor.

After the damaged carpet has been removed, the excess water can be cleaned up. Tools such as mops, squeegees and Shop Vacs come in handy for water removal. Just make sure that any water that is removed is channeled out of the house to prevent any further damage.

Extra Precautions

One small action that can go a long way in the fire/water restoration process is to put down "runners" through out the house. These runners are made of a thick plastic that is several feet wide and usually comes on a roll that is 50 to 100 feet long.

The main pathways in and out of the house should be protected by these runners. It does not take long for a fire fighter's boots to track ashes, mud and soot all over the floors.

Note:It is a lot easier to explain why it was necessary to chop a whole in the roof as opposed to why Bubba's size 12 boot prints are all over the living room carpet.

Fire crews can have a great contribution in speeding up the process of fire/water damage restoration. Through the use of tarps and plastic coverings, the damage from excess water can be significantly reduced.

Combined with the correct handling of the water runoff, these actions will make the process of fire/water restoration a lot easier.