What to Save During a Fire: A Complete Guide
Before a professional fire damage restoration team can clean up after a house fire, you have to decide what to save. This is often the most difficult part. If the fire was put out with water, you’ll also need to contend with
water damage. Fortunately, you can save most of your belongings. Just make sure to follow the safety rules before you throw anything away.
Food items
Its important to be cautious while dealing with the food situation. First, throw away any burned food. Food exposed to heat can become a nesting ground for bacteria, so throw away anything exposed to the heat, smoke, or ash. Trash dented, rusted, or bulging canned foods. Its better to be safe then risk getting food poisoning.
Refrigerated Food
A properly sealed refrigerator will keep cold for about four hours without power, so you might be able to save the food in it. If your refrigerator was not damaged in the fire, check its contents. Confirm that the food is still cold and that no soot got in. Otherwise, a good rule of thumb is simply, “if in doubt, throw it out.”
Frozen Food
Any food in the freezer can be used if it still has ice crystals on it and if it still feels cold and hard. If not, discard it. Again, whenever in doubt, discard it.
Medicines and Cosmetics
It’s tempting to try and save medicines because they’re so expensive, but you have to be careful. You don’t want to put anything harmful in your body. Inspect medications and cosmetics carefully. Save them only if they’re clean of soot, dust, and any chemicals used to extinguish the fire.
Clothes and Textiles
You can easily save clothes and textiles. Discard these materials only if burnt, otherwise simply clean and disinfect them. Be extra cautious with clothing for babies and children.
Other Contents
You can save most other contents of your home. Clean and disinfect them to make sure they’re soot and dust free.
Let Us Help
Alpine Cleaning and Restoration are experts in fire damage restoration and are there to help you if you need it. Don’t hesitate to
get in touch with us if you need any help. Our staff is on call 24/7 to help you.
Important Documents to Save During a Fire
One of the most important things to know about what to save during a fire is that documents and valuables should be your first priority after your family is safe. Important documents include insurance policies, identification cards, passports, and property deeds. Keep these in a fireproof safe or store digital copies in a secure cloud account so they can be accessed after a fire.
Tips for Fire Recovery
Knowing what to save during a fire can make the recovery process much smoother. After the fire is out and the scene is declared safe, work with your insurance company to document all losses. Take photos of damaged property before cleaning up anything. This photographic evidence will be crucial for your insurance claim. Next, contact a professional fire damage restoration team like Alpine Cleaning and Restoration to assess the damage and begin the cleanup process. We serve Utah communities including Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden, and surrounding areas. Our certified technicians use professional equipment to remove smoke, soot, and water damage so your home can be restored as quickly as possible.
