Fires happen around us all the time. A commercial fire is when a fireoccurs in a workplace setting or a place of business. Fires can occur in restaurants, in furniture stores, and everywhere you could think of. Depending on the materials present in the area, the fire can grow and spread in any way. Sometimes, there might be harmful chemicals around, and you may have a massive fire that is more intense.

Sometimes, the circuitry of certain businesses goes haywire. However, remember that it’s not your fault. Even though you’re the one incurring a loss, fires mostly happen.  It may be very traumatizing to calm down and think about the entirety of your loss. Once you are past the grieving process, you can think about all you can salvage from your fire.

The scenario of a commercial fire affects more businesses than you realize. The National Fire Protection Agency estimates that fire departments put out fires in over 3300 office properties a year. It’s important to note that the objects you’ll be able to salvage are dependent on the intensity of the fire and the things which burned. With some planning and hard work, you can work out all the items which you can save from your office space. In the article below, we’ll tell you which material you can recover after a commercial fire.

Furniture

If you’ve had a commercial fire, your furniture will be affected. The damage will depend on the distance of the furniture from the fire. Sometimes the damage will only be that of fire. Sometimes it will be that of smoke. The material of your furniture also affects how salvageable the object is. If the thing is cheap plastic, there’s a high chance that it won’t survive the fire. However, if it’s metal or wood, then some of the furniture may be salvageable.

Smoke damage is when the visible particles that comprise the smoke will settle on surfaces and become soot. Soot can sink into the surfaces, especially soft areas. It can damage the upholstery and become extremely difficult to remove. This furniture can add to a very toxic environment in the household and exacerbate the poor air quality of the environment.

Electronics

After a fire, you may find that the electronics in your office or business don’t work as well as they’re supposed to. The circuits may have fried or gotten wet when the sprinklers went off or when the fire department tried to extinguish the fire. In any case, your electronics may be salvageable depending on the intensity and temperature of the fire. However, you shouldn’t check the circuitry or the working yourself. You might hurt yourself, and you don’t want to do that. One thing you should do before you hand over your electronics to a professional is to dry and dehumidify them as best as you can. Use a blow drier and cleaning wipes to rid them of any moisture.

You should also scrub them gently. Use a toothbrush or a gentle exfoliating cloth. Using this tool, you can scrub the material’s surface so there’s no build-up of soot. Once you’ve taken care of the externalities, you can send the electronics off for internal evaluation.

Books and Documents

Some of the most important artifacts from your office or business, which you would want to save, are the ledgers of documents regarding your business.  If you’ve kept your documents in a safe or a protected place, you may find that you can salvage these documents with relative ease. Furthermore, for books too, you’ll find that hardcover books aren’t destroyed easily. With a little damage control, you will find that you can recover your books as well.

If you find that your books have a layer of soot, you can scrub them up and try to clean them. However, for papers, the best method of recovery is by airing them out. Open your windows, and let the papers be completely dry. Once you’ve done that, you can try to remove any evidence of soot or burning from the documents. You should also go through your documents and ascertain that the most significant parts of these documents are protected.

Appliances

Most offices and commercial area have their fair share of appliances that are present. After a fire, you shouldn’t try to use the appliances all on your own as they can cause severe electric shocks and harm you if you do. Instead, you should take the appliance to a professional so they can assess the damage and fix them for damage.

If you find that your appliances have any exposed circuitry or wiring, you should carefully pack the machine in a cardboard box and take it to a professional.

How 911 Restoration Can Be of Help

Losing your business to a commercial fire may be very traumatizing. However, you’ll realize soon that this is a way for you to build your business from the ground up. It also gives you experience in damage control.  Furthermore, you can salvage things in a commercial fire. So, all may not be lost.

911 Restoration of Cedar Rapids provides fire damage remediation services to businesses as well as homeowners in their time of need. Our experienced, cooperative professionals are ready to provide an immediate emergency response 24/7.

We also offer residential and commercial restoration services for various small to large-scale projects, and this is done under the supervision of IICRC-certified restoration consultants.

For more information on Fire Protection Safety, please visit us at www.911restorationcedarrapids.com.