Toss it or Keep it? After a Fire What Can You Keep and What Should be Tossed

6/3/2021 (Permalink)

SERVPRO is here to help with the aftermath of any fire.

A fire can be extremely devastating when it rages through a person’s home. In the aftermath, you need to go through the cleanup process and decide what to keep and what to throw away. There are some things you can salvage, while others are unsalvageable or possibly pose health hazards to keep.

Clothing/Other Soft Goods

"Soft Goods" Refers to items in a home that are made of textiles such as clothing, bedding, drapery, couches, etc. In very minimal cases where the exposure to smoke and soot were little to none the textiles can be treated by specialized companies, even then they do not guarantee that they will be able to remove smoke and soot smells from soft goods. Usually it is best to discard of of any affected items that don't seem like they have a good chance to be properly cleaned.

Medicine/Cosmetics

High heat will wreak havoc with your medicine or cosmetics. You don’t want to risk ingesting anything that you know was either in or close to the fire. You definitely should throw away the items if they are charred or have other obvious defects or damage.

Food

You don’t automatically have to throw out all of your food following a fire. However, fire damage can render some things unhealthy. Inspect your food supply carefully following a fire to determine what can say or go. You should toss the following:

• Opened containers or perishable foods.
• Food you stored in thin plastic bags or cardboard.
• Non-perishable food that was close to the heat.

If you have experienced any type of fire loss give SERVPRO of Clovis a call at (559)297-3429, we're here to help!