Restoring indoor air quality (IAQ) after a fire affects your residence is crucial for the health, well-being, and comfort of you and your loved ones. Of course, you need various emergency cleanup interventions when a fire occurs in your property. However, wildfires raging in many areas of the country also send noxious smoke and residues inside homes, sometimes miles from the site of the disaster.  

Health Risks of Airborne Ash and Soot 

When materials burn, inside or outside a home, the heat and flames consuming the available fuels create a vast host of particulate matter that initially floats in the air and eventually settles on surfaces and crevices. Any disruption to the settled particles sends them airborne again, joining with lingering gases, volatile organic compounds (VOC), and vaporized heavy metals. Your home's occupants then breathe the contaminated mixture. Listed below are common toxic substances posing significant irritation and health risks: 

  • Fine particles of soot, mostly made of carbon compounds, small enough to be inhaled, injure the lungs and worsen preexisting conditions such as asthma and bronchitis. 
  • Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide poison the air, impeding the human body from receiving appropriate oxygen levels and causing illness and even death. 
  • Dozens of other VOCs also expose those breathing the contaminated air to an alphabet of hazardous chemicals from ammonia and benzene to dioxins and formaldehyde, hydrogen cyanide, mercury, phenol, phosgene (used in chemical warfare), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's), toluene, and many more. Some cause chronic lower-level disease and symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, and irritated skin and mucous membranes, but some can have life-threatening effects.

How Professional Fire Damage Restoration Improves IAQ 

All indoor air quality improvement strategies start with contaminant source removal and disposal. Because the residues, gases, and VOCs can be dangerous to clean up without fire damage industry training, certification, and specialized equipment, hiring professionals certified by the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) is vital. Lightspeed Restoration's technicians earn the requisite certifications and follow fire damage industry best practices taught by the IICRC in our quest to restore your indoor air quality after a fire. We lead the way by providing: 

Cutting Edge Air Scrubbing and Filtration Strategies  

  • After following heavy-duty plastic wrap-and-seal techniques, our team uses industrial-grade air scrubbers (negative air pressure powered) equipped with HEPA filters to remove airborne contaminants. These devices capture soot particles, VOCs, and other pollutants, a solid start for source removal, resulting in cleaner air.  
  • At the same time, our team is deep-cleaning fire damage residues from surfaces, ensuring that our efforts to break the bonds between building materials and soot residues do not result in a heavier load of airborne contaminants. Toxic substances removed do not have the chance to drift and re-contaminate the air with the containment and exhaust protections in place. 

Odor Neutralization  

  • The soot residues give smoke its color, consisting of incompletely combusted materials changed chemically by heat and fire, including horrible smells caused by the transformation. Tiny bits of odor-bearing soot cling to surfaces and fabrics, infiltrating cracks and crevices and digging into porous materials like drywall because they are sharp and jagged.  
  • Lightspeed crews employ specialized treatments such as thermal fogging, hydroxyl generators, and ozone machines to modify the chemical composition of the soot particles, pairing or neutralizing odors at their source for fresher air.  

Thorough Cleaning of HVAC Systems 

Malodorous and hazardous contaminants also circulate endlessly in your home’s HVAC system after vents pull soot and VOCs inside. Lightspeed Restoration inspects ductwork with associated heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment using borescopes (remote control cameras) to locate fire damage source contamination. We then conduct a full-system cleaning, loosening debris with various tools and suctioning out the contaminants with a closed negative air pressure extraction approach that prevents re-contamination. Then we provide a thorough cleaning and sanitizing air ducts, vents, and replacing filters to prevent further spread of pollutants. 

smoke in a garage

Count on the certified, skilled, and experienced team from Lightspeed Restoration when you need help restoring air quality after a fire, whether from a blaze that damaged the structure of your house or wildfires in your region. We provide high-quality professional smoke and soot remediation services throughout your home and air duct systems, resulting in the source removal necessary to return air quality to a clean and healthy condition.

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