What To Do If You Had Fire Damage

9/10/2020 (Permalink)

What To Do If You Had Fire Damage

Having a fire is one of the worst things that can happen to a family. A small fire can be harmful enough; a big fire can be deadly to everyone in the household and devastating to your property.

If you had a fire in your home or office, the first thing to do is to call 911. Let the firefighters handle the damage and don’t try to enter the property until the authorities declare it’s safe to do so. If there are any hurt people, you can provide first aid while the ambulance arrives.

The priority is to ensure the well being of the people in the household, both physically and emotionally. Make sure that anyone who was hurt receives adequate medical treatment. Pay attention to how you and your loved ones are coping with the situation and try to promote emotional recovery.

If you have pets, you need to look after them as well. If your pet or pets are hurt, look for veterinarian attention. Comfort them if they are stressed and keep them somewhere safe until the authorities declare it is safe to re-enter the house.

These are some actions you can take after a fire in your home:

• Contact your local disaster relief, as they can help you find food, clothes, medicine, and other things you may need.
• If you have insurance, contact them. Ask them for instructions on what to do and find out their coverage. If you don’t have insurance, contact community groups and ask for assistance.
• Check with the fire department when it’s safe to enter the home.
• Contact your landlord or mortgage and report the fire.
• Contact a cleanup and restoration company as soon as possible to repair most of the damage.
• Try to find valuable documents and records. Replace those that were damaged.
• If you leave your home, notify the police that the site will be vacant.
• Save all the receipts for all the expenses related to the fire, as you could need them with your insurance company and to prove any losses on your income tax.
• Check with an accountant or with the IRS about special benefits for people recovering from fire damage.

If you would like more resources on fire recovery, check out this hub compiled by the American Red Cross.

At SERVPRO of Martin County, we hope you and your family are able to get through the painful experience of a home fire both physically and emotionally. We would also love to help you out with our fire damage restoration services.

SERVPRO of Martin County is faster to any size disaster and is available to assist you with your emergency with its highly trained restoration technicians and equipment, covering 24 hours of emergency services.

Each fire emergency is different, so the process we would need to follow differs according to the extent of the damage and the materials involved. Our technicians will assess the situation and come up with a specific plan for your restoration process. The “typical” fire damage restoration follows this course:

1. Emergency contact
2. Inspection and fire damage assessment
3. Immediate board-up and roof tarp service (if needed)
4. Water removal and drying (if water damage is present)
5. Removal of smoke and soot from all surfaces
6. Cleaning and repair
7. Restoration

See our fire damage restoration process for more details.

If you had a fire, call (772) 334-8762 today, and we’ll help you restore the damage like it didn’t even happen. If you don’t, save our number for later emergencies!