An apartment complex in Manchester, NH recently sustained fire and smoke damage. One of the residents burned their casserole after leaving it in the oven for too long.  While the fire was taken care of rather quickly, the smoke travelled throughout the complex and into other rooms.  The fire was put out and the charred objects were removed. However, the remnants of smoke remained for days on end. Professional smoke odor damage cleaning was needed.
Smoke particles settled in the ceilings, walls and contents.  Some other residents in the room next door could smell the horrible odor of smoke for a week.  Soon, they noticed what looked like cobwebs in between where the walls and ceilings intersected.  They would later come to realize that these weren’t spiders, but rather smoke particles that had settled into the corners.

The Effects of Smoke Odor Damage in Your Home or Business

At first, the property manager thought it would be easy to clear out the odor and soot. Unfortunately, it was never that easy because there was always that lasting smell of smoke that only temporarily dispersed before it once again spread throughout the apartments.  This left many of the residents uneasy. The smoke odors affected their wellbeing and the residents grew more and more restless.

There is more to residue from a fire than what one can see.  Residue can be noticeable in many forms, including:

• Particles: Substances, partially or completely burned that are often toxic and can penetrate surfaces or fabrics
• Vapors: Small, misty and fog-like droplets that are often poisonous if inhaled or absorbed
• Toxic gases:
  • Phosgene is created when plastics, vinyls, and other solvents containing chlorine materials are burned
  • Hydrogen cyanide, which is a by-product of the combustion of insulation, carpets, clothing, synthetics, and plastics.
• The smell of smoke:
  • Smoke can trap itself in all kinds of items like clothing, carpets, drapes and upholstered furniture.
  • The smell will last a long time unless the items are properly cleaned and deodorized by a professional fire and smoke odor damage cleanup service.
  • It is often hard to find the source of an odor, as it could be in the soot on a surface, in the pores of wood, or saturated within a piece of furniture.
  • Smoke odor can also continue to reoccur if soot and smoke particles become trapped in an HVAC system. In all these cases, if smoke odor is not properly handled, it potentially can cause respiratory problems.

The apartment residents noticed several of these forms of residue in their own living spaces.  They complained to their neighbor who started the fire before reaching out to the property manager about the smoke damage.  The property manager realized that he should not take care of this damage on his own as it might cause even greater damage without being professionally cleaned up.

Call a Smoke Odor Damage Cleanup and Restoration Service Immediately!

The property manager called Soil-Away Cleaning and Restoration Services, a business that specializes in water, fire and smoke odor damage cleanup.  Soil Away offers 24-hour emergency services, is a company with longevity in the business (family owned and operated since 1990) and has a professional staff, who are IICRC trained and certified.
Upon first arriving to the apartments, the technicians checked the areas that were impacted from the fire so that they would know where the repairs were needed.  Within a matter of time, they were able to clean up the residue from the fire damage and successfully deodorized all the affected areas.  A detailed cleaning by IICRC-certified technicians combined with commercial odor-eliminating equipment did the trick. Both the property manager and residents’ satisfaction levels were through the roof.

When the Fire is Gone, You’re Still Not Done

Don’t wait until it’s too late and you need more than just a basic clean up from fire damage.  As soon as you have a fire, call the smoke odor damage removal experts at Soil Away Cleaning and Restoration Services at (603) 641-6555 to come out and inspect your home for fire damage. Your property disaster recovery starts with Soil-Away.
By A. Phelps