4 Steps You Must Take After a Fire

5/25/2020 (Permalink)

It’s every business owner’s worst nightmare: a fire starts in the office, threatens your safety and inflicts serious damage. You prepare your best to ensure this never happens, but this won’t guarantee your immunity from a disaster. If you’ve had a fire at your place of business in Raleigh, NC, you need to act quickly so the fire restoration process can begin and allow you to return to work.

4 Steps You Must Take After a Fire

1. Stay Safe

Nothing is more critical than the safety and well-being of your employees. Your building’s integrity, your business information and your equipment are secondary to getting everyone out and away from harm.

• Develop a fire escape plan.
• Practice your plan at least annually.
• Do not re-enter the building unless a competent professional deems it safe to do so.

2. Document Damage

Depending on how severe the damage is in your building, you might not have access to your business for several days or even longer. If you can’t get inside for a while, have a trained professional such as firefighter take photos to record the extent of the damage and what areas were affected. Make sure you don’t touch any items, however.

3. Contact Insurance

If your company has fire insurance coverage, you will save yourself many financial headaches. Call your insurance agent as soon as you can - even before the fire restoration process begins.

4. Cleanup Structure

Only the most qualified professionals should handle this step. A company that specializes in fire cleanup and smoke cleaning will remove all soot and ash from your building. The technicians will extract any water and will clean and sanitize damp areas. A board-up service will cover holes or damaged structures as well. The team will also tear out unsalvageable carpet, drywall, furniture and other items. A skilled group of professionals will then replace these so you can resume your business in the building.

Fire restoration is critical, so you must hire the most reputable companies to help with this effort. Also, make sure you involve your insurance company.