Preparation, Safety, & Handling the Aftermath: The Fire Guide

11/16/2022 (Permalink)

No matter the degree of fire damage, our pros will help get your home, and your life, back on track.

Be Prepared

Don’t Fail to Prepare! 

It is vital to be sure that your smoke detectors are installed properly and are maintained. Functioning smoke alarms can help reduce fire deaths and injuries, and keep your family and property safe.

Here’s what you need to know!

• A closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire. Smoke alarms should be active in every sleeping room, and in other major areas of the home. Any door that remains closed for an extended period of time daily needs its own alarm.
• Smoke alarms should be interconnected. That way when one sounds, they all sound, alerting you in any part of your home.
• If you have a larger home, you may need to add in more smoke alarms to cover the extra space between them.
• Smoke alarms should be tested at least once a month. Every smoke alarm is equipped with a test button to check if they are working properly.
• Most smoke alarms today are more advanced, allowing them to more easily tell the difference between a real fire emergency and a common household occurrence, like blowing out a candle.
• When a smoke alarm sounds, get outside and stay outside.
• Replace all smoke alarms in your home every 10 years. If a smoke alarm begins to beep indicating a low battery, be sure to replace it right away.

Use Caution While Cooking

Cooking can be a fun and social task, but without caution or care, it can lead to disaster. In order to keep you, your family, and your home safe, it is important to understand the best safety practices when in the kitchen.  

1. Always Be Present When Food Is Cooking

Never leave cooking food unattended. Kitchen fires can grow quickly, especially when there are no eyes present to catch them when they start. The most common causes of kitchen fires are inattention and distraction. If you need to work, consider bringing a phone or laptop into the kitchen to keep an eye on what’s cooking.  

2. Keep Children Away from the Stove

Not only is this important to keep your food from ending up on the floor, it is vital to communicate with your children the dangers of a stove, even when there is nothing cooking. Kids love to play with anything they can get their hands on, especially things they see their parents “playing” with. Keep your children away from stoves entirely to avoid unhappy accidents.

3. Regular Cleaning

It is easy for small pieces of food to fall into burners or be left behind in your oven. Although these individual scraps are essentially harmless beyond the occasional smell, a buildup can lead to a fire. Thankfully, cleaning your oven or stove top is a simple task you can do in just a few minutes.  

4. Keeping Appliances in Order

Not all kitchen fires originate from stoves or ovens. With the amount of kitchen appliances used today, from toasters to rice cookers to air fryers, your outlets can fill up quickly. When this happens, DO NOT plug in an extension cord or power strip. With all the commotion that comes with cooking, water can easily cause a short circuit, especially with a power extender, which can lead to a fire.

Accidents Happen: How to Bounce Back From a Fire

After a Fire

No one should have to deal with the grief and stress following a home or business fire. Unfortunately, disasters can strike at any time, no matter how much you prepare.

Following a fire, the best course of action is to allow restoration professionals to take on the burden of cleaning and restoring your home for you. SERVPRO of Barberton/Norton has the expertise and experience to tackle any size job that comes our way. We understand how challenging a time like this can be, so we help you work with your insurance while we take care of your property and its contents. We take care of you every step of the way, from the initial board up, to the cleanup, and all the way through the reconstruction, making it “like it never even happened.”

Beyond our services, you may be able to handle a few pieces of the mitigation process on your own, like odor removal.

Getting Rid of Smokey Odors After a Fire 

If you’ve suffered fire damage and need fire damage repair in Barberton/Norton, it’s best to call the experts at SERVPRO to sort it out. But if you’ve dealt with everything yourself, you may still be haunted by the lingering smell of ash and soot. There are several things you can do to get rid of that smell.

These remedies are inexpensive and simple ways to eliminate the everlasting smell that comes with a fire.

Baking soda is a natural odor absorber, so taking several bowls of it and placing them around your house for several days can slowly absorb a lot of the smell. Activated charcoal is another alternative for this same process. Also, weather permitting, you can open your doors and windows in order to get the smell out a bit faster.  

Another step you can take is washing your clothes with white vinegar, which will help get rid of the odors. If the smell remains after the initial wash, repeat the process until the odor is fully eliminated.  

If your home or business is in need of fire damage restoration in the Barberton/Norton areas, be sure to give our pros a call: 330-825-1803