The fire is out. Now what? Fire damage can be small, moderate or severe. In any case, you should understand that taking care of fire damage immediately is important. Not only can it save your home and your belongings, but it can also prevent health problems. Even if the fire damage doesn’t appear to be too bad, there are underlying effects of the fire damage that you may not be able to see. This is called secondary fire damage.
Secondary fire damage can be just as bad as any fire damage that is easily seen. Some of the things that fall into secondary fire damage are electrical faults, odor, soot and corrosion. All of the soot left from the fire isn’t always immediately noticeable. It is easily carried away from the original fire by air drafts and can settle into areas that aren’t so visible: corners, cupboards, drawers, and other small cavities. Chloride scoots can form from plastic or PVC burning. This can be dangerous, because if it combines with moisture from the air, it turns in to hydrochloric acid. Smoke damage from the fire may not be automatically visible, either.
Fire damage isn’t limited to what was actually damaged by the flames. It also includes damage done simply by the intensity of the heat and damage done by the smoke. Fire damage caused by smoke can easily become dangerous if synthetic materials were burned during the fire.
No matter how minute your fire damage may appear, you should have it examined by a fire damage specialist. Fire damage restoration usually begins with a complete survey of the property and will ensure that it’s thoroughly treated the best that it can be. Though it may seem easy to clean up after a small fire, bringing in a fire damage restoration expert is the best thing to do. You may be surprised at the fire damage that was actually lurking.
