Once you experience a fire, you feel like your life will never be the same. You feel scared, unsure, and violated. You feel confused and frustrated, as though this should’ve happened to someone else – certainly not to you and your family.
The truth is fires can happen anywhere and to anyone. Sometimes they happen from mistakes, and sometimes they seemingly happen for no good reason. Whatever the origin of the fire in your home, when the time comes to hire a fire damage restoration company and try to recover, it’s important to figure out what you can keep and what should be thrown away. This can be heartbreaking, especially if certain items were heirlooms or otherwise important.
Medicines and Foods
You may think it’s wasteful to throw away these items, but for your well-being and safety, it’s crucial that you do so. For one thing, smoke, soot, and heat usually don’t mix well with medicine, especially prescribed medications. They could easily become contaminated, may not work correctly anymore, and could damage your body in some way. Call your doctor to have your prescriptions refilled, and purchase replacements for over-the-counter medicine as soon as possible. Doing this can be time consuming, but don’t dismiss this step.
Food should also be thrown away because of the damage it may have suffered as a result of the heat, smoke, and soot, as well as the water used to extinguish the fire.
Burned Clothes
We all have a favorite shirt or pair of shoes, but if they’ve been damaged by a fire, even if the fire never reached them, you need to throw them out. It may not be possible to get the smell out, and the clothing may irritate your skin when you put it on.
If you find any bodily fluids in your home while you’re cleaning up after a fire, a trauma cleanup company may be able to help.
Contact ServiceMaster Professional Cleaning and Restoration of Malvern, PA for professional fire damage restoration help. We can be reached online or call us at (610) 524-8003.