Health Hazards Posed By Fire Damage
If you have experienced fire damage in or around Raleigh contact us today to get your home back in order as quickly as possible. We are locally owned and operated and have been restoring home in the area for years.
It’s highly understandable for a homeowner to be concerned about his or her house and personal property after a fire, but it’s also important to be concerned about their health. Not all health hazards of a fire are posed by the heat of the flames and smoke inhalation. Some of the risks can stick around for weeks or months after the fire is put out.
The heat generated by a fire affects different materials in different ways. Things made out of plastics or other synthetic chemicals can melt, and release toxic fumes into the air that, when inhaled, can cause serious lung and tissue damage. These fumes aren’t just released by the fire, but for days afterward.
Soot and smoke are both comprised of microscopically tiny particles that are just a single micron in diameter, less than .1% the width of a human hair. They are so small that even the best HVAC filters can’t capture them, meaning that as the heating and air conditioning circulates air throughout the home, the tiny toxic particles are spreading to each and every room.
Not only does this lead to a nasty, persistent odor throughout the house, but it creates a health hazard for anyone that’s inside, breathing in tiny particles that can stick to the inside of the lungs and airways. There they can cause tissue damage, and possibly even lead to diseases or cancer.
Most homes are primarily constructed out of wood, even if the exterior is encased with bricks, stucco, or vinyl siding. When treated lumber inside the home burns it releases a wide range of incredibly dangerous gasses including methane, carbon monoxide, benzene, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde, formic acid, acetic acid, and traces of heavy metals.
These chemicals are harmful if inhaled, but can also settle onto surfaces throughout the home, like carpets, furniture, kitchen and bathroom counters, and walls. There they can lie hidden until disturbed, where they are then redistributed into the air to be inhaled at a later time.
In order to keep your family safe and healthy after a house fire, contact PRS. We’re trained and experienced professionals capable of cleaning all of the harmful toxins and chemicals from your home that most cleaning supplies are designed to handle, and that most cleaning services aren’t trained to look for. We’ll even clean the places that most services don’t think to ever look, like the insides of the air ducts, where chemicals can get circulated through the entire home.
