Structures are built using a wide range of materials. Depending on their location and purpose, they can be made of steel, iron, wood, or plastic just to name a few. Seldom are entire structures made up of just one kind of material—these materials are used differently for different parts of the building.
Almost all kinds of materials are susceptible to fire damage. With the right intensity of fire, things can burst in flame, and eventually melt. Our very homes are made with these flammable materials, and although it seems improbable, no one is completely safe from fire damages.
Fire brings about destruction. It corrodes and eats up property and structures at an alarming rate, and makes things around it considerably weaker. Sometimes, fire becomes so intense that it brings whole buildings down to ground level. Entire structures and everything inside them crumble and are reduced to ashes.
Aside from the immediate damage and destruction that fires bring, there is the element of smoke that comes with the fire. This is an overlooked damage that fire brings. In fact, most deaths from fires are caused by suffocation from smoke exposure. However, it is important to note that smoke stays even after the fire has been subdued. Walls are stained, and certain parts of the property are contaminated with it. Determining the kind of smoke will help determine the kind of fire that took place, and ultimately save you lots of resources for cleaning and restoration of you property.
Different causes of fires
There are many causes of fire damage. The most common in homes and office buildings is faulty wiring. Exposed wires trigger sparks and surges that in turn ignite fires, causing huge damages to the structures involved. Fire can also spark from electrical surges that come from overloaded appliances, causing the initial appliance to burn until the flames eventually spread across the area. This happens in loaded sockets without voltage regulators. When this is the case, so much electricity is being drawn from the singular socket, to the point that it overloads the appliances and exploded itself, or somewhere along its wires.
Natural caucuses of fire are also possible. Although very uncommon, this causes the most destruction because it destroys animal habitat. During summer heat waves, dry forest leaves start to burn up because of the scorching heat from the sun. These can evolve and turn into forest fires, affecting huge areas at a time.
However, the most common cause of fire damage is human error. A huge percentage of fire-related accidents and damages are results of human carelessness. Electric appliances are left on, flammable furniture was placed beside open flames, and candles and fireplaces are left burning overnight without proper containers.
Kinds of smoke and smoke damages
As said earlier, there are different types of smoke that come with fires. There is wet smoke, which comes with low, slow burning heat. It is very pungent and its stains are hard to clean up. Dry smoke comes with high temperature, fast burning heat. If this type of fire had occurred, few of the structures are left sturdy as the fires burn away most of them. Protein smoke is hard to spot, but is extremely pungent. It damages paint finishes and varnishes in and around the area affected. Fuel oil soot is easy to spot, and is generally from furnace fires. These are the most common types of smoke that can be found in fire-related accidents around living spaces.
Determining smoke damage is important in finding out what type of fire occurred to be able to ensure the safety of those who will go into the burned down structure. Also, this can ultimately determine specific courses of action to be taken to restore or completely renovate the place, and concretely take the correct measures to guard it from such accidents happening again.
After gathering all the need-to-know information about the fire and the structures of the property, before the actual clean-up and restoration, one must first look at the actual extent of the damages.
Assessing the extent of damages
When assessing fire damage, it is important to look past the damaged furniture and see how the fire has affected the support structure of the house/building itself. Can the building still stand by itself? Can the frame of the structure hold up new walls and linings? Along with professionals, it is most important to determine whether the structure can still hold, or if a total renovation is needed for you to be able to continue the use of that space.
Burnt objects are brittle and weak, making supports very easy to break and or give way under or over people. Seeking the help of a professional should help in preventing such a thing from happening.
A professional should be hired when tackling fire damages because rarely do fires do their damage on just the surface. For an appliance, structure, or material to ignite, there have to be huge changes in the temperature and make-up of an object, therefore needing expert advice, assessment, and action.
When a structure is declared safe for re-entering, all easily moveable burned objects must be properly disposed of. After that, depending on the plans of the professional, the restoration process can begin.
To alleviate costs after a fire, it is best to get fire insurance to cover your home. This will only help with financial costs, but that in itself would be a big help in case of a big fire.
Fixing damages
In fixing damages, there is no question that all affected structural supports should be replaced. Walls, bases, frames—all these should be restored to full strength to avoid further damages, related or unrelated to the fire that occurred. Some of the furniture and smaller objects may be recycled, as long as they are properly cleaned from any smoke contamination so as to avoid further health hazards.
Looking at the damages, one must also focus on the source of the fire and improve on that aspect of the building’s plans.
Any local construction companies would know what to do after the fire inspector’s assessments on the condition of the structure. Also, in fixing fire damages, one must take into consideration the reality of preventing such fire accidents from happening again. Sometimes fires are caused by bad locations, an example of such would be living beside flammable structures without having safety walls between you. In such instances, perhaps moving altogether or building all the necessary precautions should be done. Other times, fires are caused by living habits of the occupants of a building, such as leaving appliances on.
Spacing of structures and buildings are important so as not to spread fires easily. There are laws on minimum distances between structures, which should be followed by all. Also, it would be best to have non flammable marks or separators on your property, separating it from nearby structures, and therefore lessening the possibility of catching fire from neighboring houses.
One must never try to tackle fire damage problems alone. This will risk accidents and further damage done. In going inside damaged property, one must wear thick clothing to avoid unwanted contact with burnt and contaminated materials, but at the same time allow for enough mobility to move effectively through the place.
Avoiding further damages and fires on your property
In medicine, it is well known that prevention is better than cure. The same can be said in fire-proofing your home. First of all, it starts with the thinking and making of building plans. For example, the kitchen should be made up of the least flammable materials. Having flammable materials (especially appliances) in the kitchen is unavoidable, so to compensate, for example, tabletops should be made of steel or plastic. Also, smoke detectors and, if your budget permits, sprinkler systems should be installed to be warned if and when a fire does start inside your home.
Another precaution would be to strategically place fire extinguishers in and around the house, just to have peace of mind in case of a fire breaking out. Also, fireproofing your home and appliances will make them more resistant to catching fire. These can be requested to specialists in the filed or some construction companies.
Little things such as not leaving appliances on, and even unplugging appliances when not in use should be developed. Leaving them on/plugged can cause over heating, (and consequently fires) to break out. Also, absolutely no open flames are to be left alone. Be it the fireplace in the living room or the stove in the kitchen, they must be supervised at all times.
It is also important to make sure that all the inhabitants of the house or building know where the exits are, and what to do if a fire does break out. Although seemingly unimportant and overly simple, following taking these simple preventive steps will greatly prevent fires breaking out in your living space.
Other safety measures
Apart from the measures to be taken in and around your home or living space, here are a few that should not be overlooked as well:
* Take time to know the phone number of the fire department nearest you. Make sure that the number is memorized or posted near the telephone so that it is there when it is needed.
* Notify your neighbors, and tell them to do the same when they have cookouts and bonfires and their yards (or any activity that uses fire such as playing with fireworks).
* Organize a meeting place outside and away from your house with your family in case a fire breaks out.
