Act Fast to Minimize Fire Damage to Your Property
The sudden nature of fire incidents can throw you off balance, leaving you unsure of how to make important decisions about saving your home and the valuables inside. Despite the loss or regrets about the outcome, gathering courage and taking emergency steps can positively influence what happens next. Your focus should be limiting further damage and slowing the deterioration caused by intense heat and smoke. That's why taking emergency steps is critical as soon as the fire is put out.
Critical Issues After a Fire
While every fire incident is different, some problems are common across most cases, including moisture buildup from firefighting efforts, damage to utilities like electrical wiring, and the risk of structural collapse. Emergency steps address these issues early before they have a chance to escalate and complicate the restoration process.
Quick Actions That Make a Big Difference
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Extracting excess water
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Setting up temporary power for lighting and heat
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Securing the structure
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Performing initial cleaning on vulnerable materials
How Lightspeed Restoration Tackles Fire Damage Head-On
Depending on the fire's intensity, putting it out may require large volumes of water, which can soak your property. Intense fires may also destroy roof trusses, causing parts of the roof to cave in. Both situations call for immediate action—excess water can lead to serious mold growth, while a damaged roof exposes your property to rain and weather. Our Lightspeed Restoration team responds quickly by installing tarps over damaged roofs and deploying water extraction equipment or dehumidifiers in wet areas.
These steps help stabilize the situation without getting in the way of other restoration tasks. For example, while a dehumidifier removes moisture from the air, it doesn't interfere with work like clearing out burned furniture or cleaning smoke-stained walls and ceilings.
Smoke byproducts, such as soot, can have a detrimental effect on your items, just like moisture. Clothing and other soft fabrics often require specific treatments to salvage them. Soot has corrosive properties, so it degrades materials or causes deep staining. Pre-cleaning susceptible materials ensures you do not have permanent problems from the soot temporarily accumulating on surfaces. Our Lightspeed Restoration team establishes what may be vulnerable to soot, like those shiny cabinet nobs, granite countertops, and carpets - then we clean them by wiping or vacuuming to rid them of acidic soot.
No Power? No Problem During Fire Restoration
Fires often disrupt a building's power supply. Whether it's shut off at the main panel as a safety measure or damaged by high heat, you'll need a backup source of electricity to light work areas and provide heat. Our Lightspeed Restoration team brings in portable generators to power your home until it's safe to reconnect the electrical system. These generators are also handy for running temporary lighting like string or wobble lights and powering space heaters, especially in unoccupied areas during restoration.
Each of these emergency steps may not seem like a big deal. But together, they can significantly reduce your overall costs and the inconvenience you face after a fire.
Don't wait for damage to get worse—call in the pros. Lightspeed Restoration of Orange County has the tools, the team, and the know-how to ensure fast and effective fire damage restoration. Call us now at (845) 682-3828, and let's get your property back on track.