Why Fire Cleanup in Fort Lauderdale is Not Just About What You Can See

7/7/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO primed the cleaned framing and trusses with an odor-killing paint to seal the smell fire odors. Our Fort Lauderdale customers were pleased.

Odors Are Eliminated After a Fire by the Skill of SERVPRO

When we think of fire damage repair, we immediately imagine soot-blackened walls and charred furnishings. We might visualize smoke patterns on the ceiling and broken window frames left exposed to the elements. These things are a standard part of fire damage restoration, and, at SERVPRO, we handle them all the time.

However, there's another big part of the process that often gets overlooked – the removal of noxious odors. After a fire, there are all kinds of unpleasant smells left around. This is why a reliable fire cleanup in Fort Lauderdale always involves state-of-the-art deodorization techniques.

The Significance of Smell

Odor can be a surprisingly tricky element to eliminate, particularly after fire damage, because the burning of manufactured and synthetic items releases chemicals into the air. These partially combusted products mix with acrid, toxic smoke and form a miasma of nasty smells. At SERVPRO, we use industrial deodorization equipment to draw these odors out and make the property safe again. We can also utilize mechanical means of smoke odor mitigation using hydroxyl generators, or under more difficult circumstances, ozone machines to capture the malodorous smoke particles.

Not many people know that the most potent way to deodorize a fire damaged property is by replicating the smoke's behavior. In other words, because smoke surrounds objects in suspended fashion and then clings to them, technicians use deodorizing 'bombs' or 'fogs' that mimic these characteristics.

The odor-killing chemicals are efficiently dispersed, and then the property is thoroughly treated and cleaned to remove all remaining odor-producing residues. In cases of severe fire damage, parts of the property may have to be sealed off or demolished and replaced. For example, fire damaged walls are usually painted rather than fully deodorized because the area is too broad and non-porous for a 'fog' to work.

Odors That Exist in the Mind

Another fascinating aspect of fire cleanup is the management of psychological odors. These occur because the singular nature of the event or crisis creates powerful associations in the property owner's mind. They know that there has been a fire, so they expect to smell burning, and, more often than not, they do – even if no such odor is present. This is known as Phantosmia.

It is tricky for fire cleanup teams to tackle, but it is a part of our everyday operations. We put home and business owners at ease by walking them through the deodorization process to feel confident about the results. Then, we discuss some of the responses people commonly have after experiencing a fire and how this can affect their perceptions.

At SERVPRO of Ft. Lauderdale South, we pride ourselves on always doing what is best for our customers. Dealing with the effects of fire is never easy, but with our help, you can get repairs started and finished quickly. We are based in your local area so that we can arrive on-site fast. Call us 24/7 at (954) 776-2000.