DISASTER COMES IN THREES

 

Fire and smoke damage costs millions of dollars a year to property and loss of business during restoration. 80% of companies that undergo a major fire never actually recover (National Audit Office)

They say disasters comes in threes

You lose equipment and stock

You lose the means to produce and do business

You lose customers – often permanently

Getting the business up and running again is the prime concern. This will require specialist cleaning of carpets, furniture, walls, A/C systems, electronics cleaning and data retrieval.

Checklist after a Fire or Water damage

Never switch on equipment even to test

Switch off equipment, disconnect any back up batteries

Allow smoke to escape by opening windows or vents

Place smaller equipment in a clean dry room

Remove excess water by vacuuming

Call the Professionals

Install dehumidifiers or fans

One of the most important things is speed because smoke residues and water continue to damage equipment and property often irreversibly. This is primarily due to the acidic level of smoke residues, cleaning should commence within 48 hours to be successful with restoring the contaminated goods back to the original condition. While decisions are being made the emergency cleanup plan needs to be put into ACTION to minimise damage.

Imagine you work in an office with extensive electronic equipment and sophisticated computers and your office is the regional headquarters All your branches rely on your computer servers to save files and have all business transactions logged. When you get a phone call in the middle of the night from the security services saying your building is on fire, the good news is that it was not your office but all the smoke has entered into your offices through air condition ducting.

The next day when you get into your office you see total devastation, you can hardly breathe, there is no power, the smoke is like a thick fog and you look at the quotations and tenders on your desk that have closing dates just a few days away.

The first step of remediation is to reduce the odour level and clean sensitive items like computers, Fax, Printers and other electronic equipment. Failure to carry out cleaning as quickly as possible will result in permanent damage and system failures, especially computers. It is then possible to start with general cleanup. Everything in the home is made of different materials, oriental carpets, works of art, metal items, crystal glass, wooden furniture, upholstery, leather, A/C systems, walls, ceilings, marble floors, clothing and many more. Each of them must be individually dealt with to bring them back to pre-incident condition. Clothes cannot simply be sent to the laundry, as some items will lock in the smoke odour. Deodorization has to be done before cleaning. Metal items will tarnish due to the acidic nature of the smoke, and needs to be cleaned quickly like chrome bath taps etc.

The A/C system has to be cleaned and deodorised by qualified and certified staff using the correct equipment. Regular cleaning materials are not at all designed to deal with the complex problems of smoke, odour and bacteria.

Call the Professionals, get free advice, immediate action and a fair and a realistic estimate to get you back in business. Don’t be a statistic and end up going out of business caused by delaying urgently required and immediate action.