A little soot goes a long way

8/28/2020 (Permalink)

Call your friendly neighborhood SERVPRO professional for a quick, FREE and thorough fire damage consultation.

Modern smoke and fire alarms are great life saving devices that alert us to this threat. Homes and businesses should all be equipped with fire alerts, extinguishing and escape equipment.

Our local volunteer firefighters are the last line of defense. These amazing neighbors of ours respond at any time day or night to quickly extinguish the flames.

Because of these valuable tools and people, the incidents of total fire loss have declined over the years in proportion to the number of structure fires.

However, a small fire can still be a huge problem.  

As the fire burns, it discharges soot in the smoke and vapor column that it produces. Soot is the residue of the ignited material that wasn’t converted into heat or vapor.

That sooty residue amplifies the qualities of the material burned.

Natural materials that God made like wood tend to burn more completely.  It produces grey ash that is  “cleaner”.   The soot residue is more powdery and generally is more easily removed.

Man-made materials such as plastic, rubber and artificial fibers generally include varying amounts of petroleum bases. Those materials will burn more slowly and are less consumed.

The resulting soot is oily, greasy and smears when touched. This type of soot is much harder to remove.

Special products, tools, and supplies are required to properly clean and remove this soot.

Should you experience the trauma of a fire at your home, try to refrain from cleaning. Improper methods can actually “set” the soot and staining in surfaces.

Call your friendly neighborhood SERVPRO professional for a quick, FREE and thorough fire damage consultation. We can assist with determining what can be cleaned, what methods to use and what results to expect.

Call today!