Key Steps in SERVPRO's Fire Contents Cleaning Process

3/5/2025 (Permalink)

• Assessment and Inventory The first step in the contents cleaning process is to conduct a detailed assessment of the fire-damaged items. SERVPRO’s team inventories all personal property, documents, and furniture to determine the extent of the damage and identify what can be salvaged. This inventory is crucial for insurance purposes as well.

• Careful Handling and Removal After the initial assessment, SERVPRO's team carefully removes the contents from the affected areas. Items that can be cleaned and restored are taken to a secure facility for further processing, while items that cannot be salvaged are properly documented and disposed of in accordance with regulations.

• Smoke and Soot Removal One of the most challenging aspects of fire contents cleaning is removing the smoke and soot residue that can cover a wide variety of surfaces. SERVPRO uses specialized cleaning agents and techniques for different types of soot, such as:

  SERVPRO uses state-of-the-art equipment like industrial vacuums, air scrubbers, and professional cleaning agents to eliminate smoke and soot from various surfaces, including furniture, upholstery, and electronics.

• Dry smoke residue: Lighter and easier to clean but still requires careful handling.

• Wet smoke residue: Typically sticky and pungent, making it harder to remove, especially from porous materials.
• Protein residue: Invisible but often leaves a strong odor and can discolor surfaces.
  
  
• Fuel oil residue: Found in industrial settings, leaving greasy residues on surfaces.

• Specialized Cleaning Techniques Each type of material requires a specific cleaning method:

• Fabric and Upholstery: SERVPRO uses advanced cleaning methods such as dry cleaning and wet cleaning to restore fabrics. For delicate fabrics, they may use specialized techniques like ultrasonic cleaning, which uses sound waves to gently remove soot from sensitive surfaces.

• Electronics: Smoke and soot can damage electronics, but SERVPRO has specialized techniques to clean items like computers, televisions, and kitchen appliances. These items are carefully cleaned, dried, and tested to ensure they are working properly.

• Hard Goods (Furniture, Antiques, etc.): SERVPRO uses a range of techniques for cleaning hard goods, such as furniture and antiques. These items might be cleaned using dry sponges or deep cleaning methods, depending on the material.

• Deodorization and Odor Removal Fire-related odors can linger long after the visible damage is cleaned. SERVPRO uses advanced deodorization techniques to neutralize odors from smoke, soot, and fire. This may include the use of:

• Ozone generators: These devices produce ozone molecules that break down odor-causing particles at their molecular level.

• Thermal fogging: This method uses heat to create a fog that neutralizes smoke odors by mimicking the behavior of smoke itself and reaching areas where the smoke initially settled.

• Air scrubbers: Air filtration units equipped with HEPA filters help remove contaminants from the air and further eliminate smoke odors.

• Restoring Documents and Important Items Fire can also damage important documents, photographs, books, and artwork. SERVPRO offers document restoration services using methods like freeze-drying to salvage wet or charred documents. This specialized technique prevents further deterioration and helps preserve your important paperwork.

• Return and Reassembly After all cleaning and restoration work is complete, SERVPRO ensures that all restored contents are returned to the property. The team carefully places items back in their original positions or reassembles furniture, ensuring everything is returned to its preloss condition as much as possible.