Tips for Avoiding Fires this Summer

6/3/2014 (Permalink)

Home is certainly where your heart is—except when it’s been burnt down. After an unexpected fire you and your family are likely feeling flustered, displaced, and overwhelmed. The last thing you need is to be burdened about your health. And yet, immediately after a fire is when you must be concerned with your health the most! The number one cause of death related to fires is smoke inhalation. More people die of smoke inhalation injuries than burns. 

During a fire you naturally breathe the products of combustion, and those products can easily aggravate chronic lung conditions and trigger a scratchy throat, menacing headaches, or stinging eyes.  The best way to prevent the need for smoke damage repair is to prevent a fire from taking place at your residence in the first place. According to the United States Fire Administration, practicing home hazardous materials safety is important in preventing home fires. Oftentimes, when we think of hazardous materials we think of slime or goo, but we need to be aware of common household items that can easily trigger residential fires.

1. Barbecue products: It’s summertimeand it isn’t abnormal to have easily flammable items like charcoal or starter fluid lying around. Charcoal produces carbon monoxide, a poisonous odorless gas, when it is burned. Make sure to put away your barbeque supplies after you finish using them.
2. Laundry products: Stain removerstypically contain alcohol and are highly flammable. Detergents and bleaches also may be very volatile reactive products. Typicallythere are also many heat sources and electrical outlets in the laundry room, which can be the trigger needed to start a nasty fire.
3. Paint products: Paint and paint thinners are highly flammable, and they are usually kept in storage sheds or garages, which aren’t typically insulated. In the summer, the temperatures in these structures peak, making way for paint products to combust and burn.

Rather than deal with the smoke damage from these poisonous chemicals that can make you chronically sick, call SERVPRO Brea/Yorba Linda. Our team of experienced technicians will come to your residence, evaluate your fire and smoke damage emergency, and restore your residence so that you can move on from the disaster both physically and emotionally.