Key Steps To Take After a Fire in Your Building

9/21/2020 (Permalink)

Being in the middle of a disaster can be a helpless feeling. Your first priority is to get out safely and make sure everyone in your building is all right. Once everyone is out of harm’s way, though, you need to act quickly to start the cleanup and rebuilding effort. This can be a complex process. Fortunately, you can rely on the expertise of fire restoration specialists to get things back to normal.

Call Your Insurance Company

Once crews have put out the fire, you need to call your insurance agent right away and report the incident. The fire insurance company will work closely with the restoration team, but it’s important to have some information for the agent:

Describe the extent of any smoke damage or other issues.
Describe what was damaged.
Report if there were any injuries or fatalities.
Give the insurance company the name of the restoration team you are working with.

Stay Out

It may be tempting to enter your St. Charles, IL, building to inspect the damage or salvage personal items. Leave this to the firefighters, cleanup and rebuild crews, and other professionals. The fire damage will create an unsafe environment. To avoid additional damage to your building, materials and to yourself, do not enter your building until you are told to do so.

Board-Up Work

The board-up effort is one of the first things that will happen in the fire restoration process. Before crews start smoke cleaning or addressing water damage, they’ll usually place plywood or tarps over the roof and over any exposed areas of the building. This will keep out the elements as well as vandals. This is an effective way to secure your facility to allow for a safe and thorough cleanup.
Fire restoration can handle even the biggest fire mitigation projects. If you take the proper steps after a fire, you should be able to resume your regular work more quickly.