The Do's and Don'ts of Fire and Smoke Damage

10/17/2024 (Permalink)

Smoke and fire damaged kitchen

Do:

• Limit Movement within the area to prevent soot particles from being embedded into upholstery and carpets
• Keep hands clean as dirty hands can further soil items when touched
• Place dry, colorfast towels on rugs, upholstery, and carpet traffic areas.
• Empty fridge/freezer completely and prop the door open if the electric is off
• Clean any soot from chrome on kitchen/bathroom faucets, trim, and appliances and protect with a light coating of petroleum jelly or oil if possible
• Pour RV antifreeze into sinks, toilet bowls, and tubs if heat is off and weather is of freezing conditions
• Wash house plant leaves on both sides
• Change HVAC filters
• Tape a double layer of cheesecloth over air registers to help keep soot from getting into or out of the HVAC system

Don't

• Attempt to wash walls or painted surfaces without contacting your local SERVPRO Franchise Professional first
• Attempt to shampoo carpets or upholstered furniture without consulting with your local SERVPRO Franchise Professional
• Attempt to clean any electrical appliances without consulting an authorized repair service. 
• Consume any food or beverage in or near the area as it may be contaminated
• Turn on ceiling fixtures
• Send garments to dry cleaning services as improper cleaning may set in the smoke odor.  

What to do in the Event of a Grease Fire in Your Kitchen

9/10/2024 (Permalink)

A graphic that explains the steps to put out a grease fire in a pan in your kitchen,

To help prevent a dangerous house fire in your kitchen, be sure to suffocate the fire by placing a lid over the pan that is aflame. Turn off the burner immediately and do not try to put the fire out with water. Water will not put a grease fire out, the flame must be suffocated of oxygen instead. Lastly, remove the lid when the pan has cooled. The sooner you act in a situation like this, the less damage will occur. If damage does occur be sure to call us, after you call the fire company, of course. We have what you need to remediate the fire damage, remove odors, and clean up the mess.

Smoke, Soot, and Fire Damage in a Garage

4/10/2024 (Permalink)

In this photo you can see a motorcycle on fire and firemen on scene. | SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry

You don't necessarily need your structure to burn in order to need our services at | SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County. In this particular instance, this customer had their motorcycle catch fire in their garage. None of the structure of the building caught fire, thankfully. However, damage was still done with smoke and soot.

I SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County ((717)-300-3347) helped by cleaning and neutralizing the space to make it "like it never even happened"!

What To Do AFTER The Fire

9/14/2023 (Permalink)

| SERVPRO® of Shippensburg/Perry County (717)-300-3347

A fire will change your life in many ways that you cannot imagine. Knowing where to begin and who can help you is important.

Put Safety First

The safety of you and your family must be the first priority.Follow the advice and directions issued by local authorities. If the authorities ask you to evacuate, do not return until they report that it is safe and secured.

Contact Your Insurance Company

The typical homeowners policy will provide reimbursement for Additional Living Expenses (ALE) such as the cost of hotels and food when a covered loss to your home makes the residence uninhabitable.

If you do not have insurance, your family and community might help you get back on your feet. Organizations that might help include:

• American Red Cross (717) 234-3101;

• Salvation Army (717) 233-6755 ;

• religious organizations;

• public agencies, such as the public health department;

• community groups;

• State or municipal emergency services office; and

• nonprofit crisis-counseling centers.

What To Expect

A fire in a home, whether you live in an apartment, a single family, or multifamily home, can cause serious damage. The building and many of the things in your home may have been badly damaged by flames, heat, smoke, and water. You will find that things the fire did not burn up are now ruined by smoke and soggy with water used to put out the flames. Anything you want to save or re-use will need to be carefully cleaned. The firefighters may have cut holes in the walls of the building to look for any hidden flames. They may even have cut holes in the roof to let out the heat and smoke. Cleanup will take time and patience.

Restoration Services

You do not need to make a quick decision on who will perform the restoration services.  You will, however  need to have someone perform board-up services to secure the property. Many restoration companies - including SERVPRO of Hershey / Swatara perform board-up services.  You are not required to use the same company to provide mitigation and restoration services.  Take you time to decide after consulting with your insurance adjustor and do some of your own research before you decide.

Restoration and Mitigation Services Include:

Restoration companies like SERVPRO of Hershey/Swatara provide services that include the following:

• Documenting all items affected and items to be removed for cleaning / restoration
• Removing unsalvageable items and material
• Storing and cleaning contents and personal items
• Restoring furniture and other personal property
• Cleaning clothes, linens, etc
• Drying the structure and contents
• Deodorizing the structure and content
• Preparing the structure for rebuild

Once the structure has been miigated for the fire damage - the home owner can negotiate with contractors to rebuild. SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County can help the homeowner with the rebuild process as well.

Fire Extinguisher Training Is Crucial for Your Shippensburg Workplace | SERVPRO® of Lebanon County

4/5/2023 (Permalink)

Fire extinguishers and their importance for employee safety SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County 717-300-3347

A workplace crisis can be stressful, and if your team is unprepared, it will only exacerbate the situation. If a fire emergency were to erupt on your commercial property, you’ll need to trust your team to respond appropriately.

Creating a fire-safe commercial environment through fire extinguisher training can help you ready your team against the unexpected. While it may appear to be a simple task, many of your employees may be completely unaware of the proper usage of this vital tool!

Fortunately, training your team is simple, and before you know it, your entire workplace will know how to fight back against flames

Start With the Fundamentals

OSHA mandates that any workplace that includes fire extinguishers must supply the baseline training needed to operate them. This includes demonstrating to your team how and when to use them, as well as the various types of extinguishers available.

Begin with the basics of how to hold and aim the extinguisher. Once employees have mastered this step, show them how to pull the pin, press the handle and sweep over a fire. During your training, explain the importance of keeping a six to eight feet distance from the fire.

To assist them in remembering your training, introduce the helpful PASS method. Running through these fundamentals at least once a year is another way to keep this essential topic fresh in the mind.

Because newer employees may lack experience with this critical tool, assigning roles can help you ensure it never falls into the wrong hands. Select a couple of employees who are well-trained to be in charge of the fire extinguishers you have stored in your Shippensburg building.

There’s a Time and a Place

Highlighting any commercial hazards that require the operation of a fire extinguisher will help your employees understand when they need to be utilized. Go over any unique risks or scenarios present in your Shippensburg workplace as well as the kind of extinguisher that needs to be used for a specific fire.

A break room kitchen fire, for example, will necessitate its own type of fire extinguisher.

Emphasize the importance of realizing when it’s time to put the extinguisher down and walk away. This is critical because fires can quickly escalate, and the safety of your team is far more important than fighting back.

When flames spread beyond a fire extinguisher’s control, your employees need to know to back away, get to a safe place and alert local authorities.

Fire extinguisher training is the best place to start as you introduce your Shippensburg workplace to a complete fire safety plan. Once you are all done with your hands-on training, you can begin your next big steps to ensure your team is fully equipped to respond to any size fire emergency.

Dealing with the aftermath of a commercial fire? Our SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County specialists can restore your losses and return your workplace to its pre-fire condition.

If you have a fire at your workplace or home SERVPRO of Lebanon County is your best choice! 

717-300-3347

A Fire in your Home?

9/7/2022 (Permalink)

If you experience any property damage due to a fire, we are here to help. Contact SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County to learn more.

At SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County we know that going through a house fire is something that nobody ever wants to think about, but considering how you can prevent one can go a long way in protecting your home. Fires can spread in 30 seconds or less, jumping from a small flame to a major disaster situation quickly.

Thankfully, there are many steps you can take to ensure your home is as safe as possible from fires. While you will never be able to entirely prevent them from occurring, you will be able to significantly improve your chances of never having to experience a fire in your own home.

Reduce Your Chances of Experiencing a Fire in Your Home

Check your smoke detectors. Having smoke alarms is the foundation of fire safety, so it is important to make sure you have enough of them throughout your home. They should be on every floor and outside of every sleeping area, and it is recommended to test them monthly to ensure they have not malfunctioned.

Create a fire escape plan. Making sure your family does know how to get out of the house if a fire starts is so important. You will typically only have about two minutes to exit the house in a fire, so having a plan and practicing it often goes a long way in your overall safety efforts.

Limit your fire risks. There are many ways you can limit your fire risks simply through practicing good habits in your everyday life. Small things, like not leaving flammable objects near your stove, staying in the room if there is an open flame and storing chemicals safely, can all lower your risk of a fire breaking out to begin with.

Keep a fire extinguisher handy. While fire extinguishers should only be used if it is absolutely safe to do so, they can prevent a small mistake from turning into a household disaster. Any time there is an open flame present, it is good to have an operational fire extinguisher nearby and be sure you know how to use it just in case things get out of hand.

If your home is damaged by a house fire, we are here to help. Our expert fire restoration technicians are here 24⁄7 to spring into action as soon as you call. Contact us at any hour to report your damage and receive a quick response. SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County can be reached at 717-300-3347

Backyard Fire Hazard Awareness SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County

6/20/2022 (Permalink)

Fire can be a beautiful thing! Be careful that it stays where it should.

Spring practically begs us to head outdoors. There’s so much to enjoy, from the mild, breezy weather to the incredible display of nature’s beauty. And there’s a renewed sense of life that it all brings that energizes us and calls us to get out of the house and enjoy the world around us, or at the very least to head out in the yard and play catch.

One of the things many people love to do most outdoors in this season is barbecue, and just about any excuse to fire up the grill will do. But the increase in grilling and backyard activity also unfortunately means a rise in spring and summer fires.

In fact, spring sees more daily fires on average than any other time of year. But keeping fires at bay is pretty simple, and you can stay ahead of the curve by observing a few simple guidelines:

The grill. The grill is the first thing to check to avoid fires caused in springtime. This is only natural because grills are basically billboards for fire danger. Make sure your grill is sturdy and on solid ground, away from anything flammable. Don’t use liquid accelerants to make your fire burn quicker or hotter (the same goes for fire pits), always stay with the grill while it’s cooking and make sure to clean it between uses. Almost 20% of grill fires are due to poor cleaning.

The fire pit. Visions of marshmallows roast in your head at this time of year, and you should by all means make them a reality. But be safe with your fire pit! Avoid flying embers by using a grate cover, keeping leaves and pine needles out of the fire and extinguishing your fire slowly instead of dumping water on it suddenly. Don’t ever leave it unattended, and don’t allow pets or kids near unsupervised.

Chimneys and dryer vents. While you’re thinking about fire safety, go ahead and clean that chimney out, removing dangerous soot and ash from inside, so you don’t end up with a hazard in the fall when you need your fireplace again. Take off your dryer’s vent pipe, removing any dangerous lint from the inside—and do this again in six months.

Your local SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County technicians are on hand 24⁄7 for emergencies. If you encounter fire damage at your home or business, no matter the cause, we will be there faster and have it cleaned up sooner. Call us today and experience the SERVPRO difference.

A Clean Home Can Aid in Fire Prevention | SERVPRO® of Shippensburg/Perry County

6/6/2022 (Permalink)

If your home is damaged in a house fire, SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County is here to help. Contact us for any fire restoration need.

House fires are the most common disaster in the country. It is more important than ever to keep your Shippensburg/Perry County home fire hazard-free.

The American Red Cross has already reported more than 20,000 house fires in 2022, and this figure is only a small percentage of the fires that have occurred in the United States this year.

Taking precautions to avoid house fires begins in your own home. Simply keeping your home and yard clean is one approach to lessen the risk of fires:

Grill Safely All Summer Long | SERVPRO® of Shippensburg/Perry County

5/11/2022 (Permalink)

Grill Safely All Summer Long | SERVPRO® of Shippensburg/Perry County (717) 300-3347

Summertime is a great season to take advantage of extra daylight and cook your dinners outside over the grill. While we love a good cookout as much as anyone, with the rise of grill fires in the summer, we also want to caution everyone to remember fire safety basics every time they go to start their own backyard barbecue.

Grill fires happen the most in the summer months, and it is estimated that over 5,500 occur every year, according to reports from the U.S. Fire Administration. Safety and prevention can go a long way in stopping fires, so let these tips be your guide all summer long.

Remember Fire Safety Basics Every Time You Grill

Create a safe zone around your grill. While convenience is likely top of mind when you are placing your grill in the yard, do not forget to consider how safety factors in, too. A three-foot barrier of empty space around your grill is recommended—this means there should be nothing flammable near your grill just in case a flare-up occurs.

Clean your grill grates often. As pieces of food are allowed to accumulate on the grates of the grill, they can cake on over time and become quite dangerous—especially if they are particularly greasy. By scraping down your grill grates after each use, you can prevent caked-on food from becoming a fire hazard and keep your cooking temps consistent, too!

Never leave the grill unattended. If a fire were to start and you (and your fire extinguisher) are nearby, you can put it out before it causes damage in many cases. However, if the grill is unattended, a disaster can quickly occur. Even if you are just taking a short break, be sure there is someone around to keep an eye on the grill at all times when it is lit.

Inspect the grill regularly. Check your grill before every use just in case there is the potential for a gas leak. Over time, propane tanks, valves and hoses can all wear down, and if there is gas leaking into the air when an open flame is introduced, there can be a serious problem. A simple visual check can go a long way in preventing this unpleasant surprise.

If you have a grill fire that does damage to your home, we are here to help. You can call us any time, day or night, to have a quick response from our restoration experts.

Fires Start and Stop Based on the Same Root Causes | SERVPRO® of Shippensburg/Perry County

1/24/2022 (Permalink)

If your home or business has any damage, SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County is ready around the clock to help you recover.

You may not remember exactly what a tetrahedron is, so let’s review, because hey, that’s the kind of thorough treatment you’ve surely come to expect from SERVPRO. A tetrahedron is like a pyramid, but with a triangular base—and thus one fewer side. It consists of four triangular sides, all equal.

The fire tetrahedron is so named because it represents the four equal elements that must be present for fire to ignite and grow.

Without all these elements working together, a fire will stop—which clues us in about some important fire safety truths.

The 4 Things a Fire Needs to Live

Fuel. Fire has a ravenous appetite. Put simply, there’s got to be something to burn. Be it wood or other organic material, or manmade substances—if there’s going to be a fire, there must be something for it to consume.

Heat. Having consumable materials isn’t enough for fire to start—those materials have to be heated to a level at which ignition becomes inevitable.

Oxygen. Fires don’t exactly breathe, but they consume oxygen the same as you, only at an incredibly rapid rate, leaving behind only carbon monoxide for nearby people to take in. This oxygen is a vital need for any fire.

Chemical Chain Reaction. This part of the tetrahedron is the least simple to explain, but a chain reaction has to happen, which essentially is the uninterrupted continuation of the previous elements interacting with each other.

The 4 Ways to Stop a Fire

Cool it. An effective way to stop fire quickly is to cool its fuel source with water. Restoring the thermal balance of the material makes the rate of heat unable to compete at which the rate the material cools. You have to use a lot of water to restore that balance, though, because some of it sublimates as it hits the hot surface.

Smother it. You know that thing the cool kids do where they lick their fingers and smush them together on a wick to put out a candle? That’s a combination of cooling and smothering. Any way you can cut off the oxygen supply to a hungry fire, you can use to smother it. Even when you stop, drop and roll, that’s how you’re stopping a fire on your clothing.

Starve it. This one might seem overly simple, but it’s effective all the same. If either a fire runs out of material it can consume, or consumable materials are removed from the fire’s path, there remains nothing for it to burn, and it will have no choice but to diminish.

Interrupt the chain reaction. Fires can be stopped from the inside, with the application of the proper chemicals. Gases like halon (which is no longer produced because of its adverse impact on the environment) are able to trip up the repetitive reaction the fire requires, thus putting a stop to it without water or smothering it.

If the fire tetrahedron makes a wreck of your home or business, we’re ready around the clock to help you recover. Contact SERVPRO anytime for fast, thorough cleanup and recovery after a fire.

Make Fire Safety a Priority This Fall | SERVPRO® of Shippensburg/Perry County

9/17/2021 (Permalink)

Be mindful about fall fire safety. Always remember that SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County is the trusted leader in the restoration industry.

The Eagles are back on the field, the morning and evening air is nice and crisp and suddenly everything is pumpkin-scented. That can only mean one thing—fall is back.

The season of roaring campfires, Halloween parties and beautiful leaf-peeping is here to relieve you from summer and give you a reason to break out your favorite hoodie.

But of course each season requires special care with regard to fire safety, and fall is no different. Keep your fall fire-safe with these quick reminders.

Campfire Safety

Cool fall nights are perfect for camping, and we say make the most of it. But when you’re setting up your fire, make sure to take proper precautions.

Build your fire in a pre-dug pit surrounded by stones if there is one provided by the campsite. If not, keep it at least 25 feet away from any tents or structures. Only light your fire with trusted methods like matches or lighters, never using kerosene or lighter fluid to light or accelerate the flames.

When it’s time to go, don’t leave anything hot or glowing. Any live embers you leave behind are potential wildfire threats. Don’t walk away from your campfire until all remaining wood and ash are cool to the touch.

Open Burning

Most of Shippensburg/Perry County restricts the burning of leaves, but much of the county approves open recreational burning (fire pits or bonfires) or even burning of some household paper items. Check with your local municipality to find out what’s allowed in your area.

If your township allows open burning, it’s likely you are required to use a burn barrel with a screen on top. Keep your fires at least 30 feet (50 is recommended) from any structures, and never leave a fire to burn unattended.

Space Heaters

Portable space heaters are frequent culprits of cold-weather home fires. If you’re breaking yours out of storage this fall, make sure you keep it at least three feet from anything at all that could catch fire—this includes curtains, furniture and clothing.

Keep your heater on a level surface, update to a newer model with automatic shutoff and tip-over functions if necessary, and only plug it directly into an outlet (as its electrical draw can overwhelm some extension cords).

Halloween

We’ll dig further into this later, but for now be mindful of your decorating, especially if you like to use candles or string lights, which can both present fire hazards.

If a fire hazard should turn from potential to reality in your home, remember the trusted leader in the recovery industry and contact SERVPRO to get your property fully restored right down to the smell of smoke.

Playing Defense Against Wildfire | SERVPRO® of Shippensburg/Perry County

8/4/2021 (Permalink)

If your home is damaged by fire or any other reason, SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County is ready and able to repair any damage.

Of the many potential dangers homeowners face, there may be none more frightening or disheartening than the thought of seeing one’s home destroyed by fire. While most home fires in our region are caused by other things, wildfires are more of a reality than you might expect.

And they are so hot and move so fast that it’s surprising that fire crews are ever able to contain them at all.

But there are ways to safeguard your home from wildfires, aside from the obvious but still overlooked method of simply being careful, which is by far the best method of prevention.

Let’s look at one of those ways: “defensible space.”

What Is Defensible Space?

It’s not a new NASA program. “Defensible space” is a zone of buffers with which you can surround your home, giving it a greater chance of surviving a wildfire outbreak. You can slow or stop the aggression of a fire with the right combination of thoughtful planting and pruning, hardscape made of concrete or gravel, and removal of dead trees and brush—a quick, favorite fuel for wildfire.

Think of defensible space as a way of using the land around you to choke out a fire as it draws close. If there’s nothing to feed the fire, it can’t keep spreading. It also gives firefighters their best chance of stopping a wildfire before it gets to your home.

Why Defensible Space Matters

You may consider wildfires a West Coast issue, but they can and do happen everywhere in the United States. In fact, there were over 59,000 wildfires across the country in 2020.

Even if we omit California’s 10,000+ fires, there were still almost 1,000 fires per state on average in 2020, and there were no states that were totally spared.

Even Pennsylvania is not immune—we suffered almost 1,500 wildfires and saw almost 3,000 acres of land burned last year alone. And don’t look now, but 2021 is on pace to top last year’s total—there have been 25% more fires this year than over the same period last year.

Anything that can be done to stop wildfires should be done, and defensible space is one more way you can safeguard your home.

If your home is damaged by fire of any sort, wild or not, SERVPRO is ready and able to repair the damage caused. Get in touch today to get the pros on your team.

Backyard Fire Hazard Awareness SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County

6/30/2021 (Permalink)

Fire can be a beautiful thing! Be careful that it stays where it should.

Spring practically begs us to head outdoors. There’s so much to enjoy, from the mild, breezy weather to the incredible display of nature’s beauty. And there’s a renewed sense of life that it all brings that energizes us and calls us to get out of the house and enjoy the world around us, or at the very least to head out in the yard and play catch.

One of the things many people love to do most outdoors in this season is barbecue, and just about any excuse to fire up the grill will do. But the increase in grilling and backyard activity also unfortunately means a rise in spring and summer fires.

In fact, spring sees more daily fires on average than any other time of year. But keeping fires at bay is pretty simple, and you can stay ahead of the curve by observing a few simple guidelines:

The grill. The grill is the first thing to check to avoid fires caused in springtime. This is only natural because grills are basically billboards for fire danger. Make sure your grill is sturdy and on solid ground, away from anything flammable. Don’t use liquid accelerants to make your fire burn quicker or hotter (the same goes for fire pits), always stay with the grill while it’s cooking and make sure to clean it between uses. Almost 20% of grill fires are due to poor cleaning.

The fire pit. Visions of marshmallows roast in your head at this time of year, and you should by all means make them a reality. But be safe with your fire pit! Avoid flying embers by using a grate cover, keeping leaves and pine needles out of the fire and extinguishing your fire slowly instead of dumping water on it suddenly. Don’t ever leave it unattended, and don’t allow pets or kids near unsupervised.

Chimneys and dryer vents. While you’re thinking about fire safety, go ahead and clean that chimney out, removing dangerous soot and ash from inside, so you don’t end up with a hazard in the fall when you need your fireplace again. Take off your dryer’s vent pipe, removing any dangerous lint from the inside—and do this again in six months.

Your local SERVPRO of Shippensburg/Perry County technicians are on hand ²⁴⁄₇ for emergencies. If you encounter fire damage at your home or business, no matter the cause, we will be there faster and have it cleaned up sooner. Call us today and experience the SERVPRO difference.