How to React to a Kitchen Fire - Rockville, MD

People in most households move in and out of the kitchen all day, whether they are preparing a meal or simply grabbing a snack. The kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in the house, and it is also where families meet for meals and to entertain guests. Unfortunately, this is also where the majority of house fires start. Cooking is typically one of the leading causes of house fires, and cooking fires can cause extensive damage to your kitchen. To prevent kitchen fires, you should constantly take the necessary precautions, and protecting yourself and your family should always be your top concern. After putting out a kitchen fire, use the following methods to clean up the mess. If the damage is too significant for you to clean up, contact a fire damage repair professional.

Safety Precautions

You must take every conceivable safety precaution before reentering your kitchen. Unseen damage to the electrical system or gas pipes could have disastrous repercussions. After the fire service has extinguished the fire, an inspector will assess for safety hazards and notify you when you can enter safely. When entering the kitchen, make sure to protect yourself by wearing a mask, gloves, pants, boots, and long sleeves.

Document the Damage

When it is safe to enter your kitchen, take pictures of the damage before you begin cleaning. Take as many images of the damage as you can and compile a list of the damaged things for your insurance claim. File a claim with your insurance company as soon as possible so that an agent can give an estimate. Do not begin cleaning your kitchen until the insurance adjuster arrives to assess the damage and informs you that the fire damage cleanup can begin.

Cleaning the Fire Damage

In most circumstances, hiring a professional to clean up the fire damage using powerful cleaning solutions and advanced techniques is a preferable option. You can, however, clean up some of the damage yourself while waiting for fire damage restoration pros to come. Follow these guidelines to safely and effectively clean up the aftermath of a kitchen fire:

• Wear safety equipment such as goggles, masks, boots, long pants, and long sleeves.
• Eat or drink nothing in the affected area.
• Open your windows to let the smoke and scents out.
• Remove anything useful or salvageable from your kitchen.
• Get rid of any debris or things that cannot be salvaged.
• To clean the interior of drawers and kitchen cabinets, remove them.
• Wipe stainless steel and metallic surfaces clean.
• To clean plastic and painted surfaces, use an alkaline (soap-free) detergent.
• Replace the air filter in your furnace and exhaust fan.

When to Call a Fire Damage Restoration Professional

The degree of the damage will determine whether you can clean up your kitchen properly yourself or if you should call a professional for fire damage repair. A fire can cause enormous damage and is rarely restricted to a single location. The fire may have caused hidden structural damage, and corrosive byproducts of the fire, such as smoke and soot, may have moved to other locations and caused additional damage. Smoke and soot will corrode and etch affected surfaces and materials, necessitating expert cleaning. Because soot particles are hazardous to your health, we urge that you wear a mask at all times when in the fire-damaged area.

Even if you are able to clean up part of the damage produced by a kitchen fire, you should still contact a fire damage restoration professional. These experts will determine the full amount of the damage, including structural damage and the spread of smoke and soot. Fire cleanup professionals are trained to stabilize and repair structural damage, and they utilize specialized cleaning solutions to recover smoke and soot-damaged materials. They are also capable of removing lingering cigarette odors.

You can be confident that if you hire Restoration 1 of Rockville to clean up the fire damage, we will have the necessary equipment and cleaning products to effectively clean and restore the damage to your property.