The Nature of Smoke and Soot Dictate Clean Up Practices After Fire Damage Fire Damage

7/8/2021 (Permalink)

If you ever suffer from a structural blaze inside your Orlando home, it is always smart to contact a professional restoration company such as SERVPRO immediately. Our fire damage restoration crews know the best techniques to refinish and restore burnt and soiled items to prevent replacement. When dealing with burnt materials, smoke, which consists of partially combusted particles, can add to the extent of your problems.

When mitigating any fire damage in Orlando, our SERVPRO technicians know to use different chemicals and techniques when removing residues left behind by various smoke types. There're four categories of classification of smoke and smoke residue. Knowing the smoke class present will determine the best method to remove soot residues from your building's materials and contents.

1. Dry Smoke

Most fires go through stages of creating both wet and dry smoke. Usually, fires will have more of one type than the other. Dry smoke gets created by fast-burning, oxygen-rich burns. Also, it's made when organic materials like wood, paper, or natural fabrics burn.

2. Wet Smoke

Whether a fire produces wet or, dry smoke depends on the amount of oxygen present, combustion rate, and substance burning type. When the fire lacks oxygen and burns at a lower temperature, it produces wet smoke. Also, wet smoke is created when synthetic materials such as rubber or plastic burns. Wet smoke usually adheres stronger to most surfaces and is difficult to remove and clean.

3. Protein Residues

Protein residues can be found when products such as meat, poultry, or fish burn. When a fire starts inside your kitchen, there's a good chance that protein residues can exist. These residues leave behind a yellow or amber discoloration, but it can sometimes be clear and hard to see on a surface. Protein residues leave behind strong odors making deodorization the most prominent issue when dealing with them.

4. Fuel Oil Soots

Furnace puff-backs can create fuel oil residues that consist of dust particles from the ventilation system and fuel oils that did not burn all the way. This type of soot usually has a gray or black color and can consist of large or small particles. Often, the electrically charged ions form spiderweb-like formations in corners that can smear readily if not vacuumed and sponged off correctly.

If a fire ever ignites inside your Pine Castle, Belle Isle, or Barber Park house, contact SERVPRO of South Orlando at (407) 985-3200.