How To Recover After A House Fire

5/4/2018 (Permalink)

St. Charles Home Health: How to Recover after a House Fire

A house fire is one of the greatest fears for every homeowner and parent. To protect your family and your home from a fire, smoke detectors must be properly installed and tested monthly, fire extinguishers need to be placed in strategically throughout the home, and your evacuation drills need to be practiced regularly. These safety precautions can help to prevent house fires, minimize fire damage, and protect your family. ] However, if your home is damaged by fire, smoke, and water damage, SERVPRO of St. Charles/Geneva/Batavia can help you recover quickly.

After a fire, once you and your family is safe, the first step is to call your insurance company. The sooner you make contact and start the claims process, the quicker you and your family can resume your lives. Most insurance companies have a 24-hour emergency claims numbers; however, if you are unable to reach a live agent, leave a clear message explaining the damage, and provide a phone number where you can be reached. SERVPRO of St. Charles/Geneva/Batavia can work with you to file a claim allowing the recovery and restoration process to begin immediately.

 
Once the fire department has deemed your home is safe to enter, proceed with due caution and wear proper protective clothing and footwear. In your initial walk through, take photos and videos of the damage. If you have an inventory of items in your home, you can begin the process of checking off items that have been affected by fire or smoke damage. Meticulously cataloging each damaged item helps hasten the insurance claims process allowing you and your family to get your life back to business as usual. The SERVPRO of St. Charles/Geneva/Batavia team is highly trained to assess the damage to the contents of your home, and its structure, and can assist you throughout the inventory process.  We can quickly determine if items are a total loss, or whether they can be restored to pre-fire condition. Even items that may seem hopelessly lost to the devastating effects of the fire damage may be recovered and restored by a professional fire restoration team. 

The final steps are cleaning and rebuilding, and yes, SERVPRO of St. Charles/Geneva/Batavia is here to help with you throughout these steps as well. Cleaning up after a fire can be daunting, and even dangerous. Weakened structure, standing water, charred household items, damaged electrical appliances, and soot-covered keepsakes make it difficult to know where to begin. And, don’t discount the emotional side effects that a fire in your home will have on you, and your family. Allow your locally owned SERVPRO of St. Charles/Geneva/Batavia to assist you throughout the clean-up and rebuilding process, and you focus on attending to you and your family’s immediate needs and healing.

Seeking support throughout the fire recovery process is important too. Reaching out to friends, extended family, your worship community, and professional counseling are essential to the house fire recovery process. In fact, while fire damage restoration can take a few weeks to a few months with SERVPRO of St. Charles/Geneva/Batavia, the emotional recovery may take several more months. This is particularly true for the children in the household; be sure to consult a grief counselor if your children begin to show signs of fear and anxiety.

In the days and weeks after a house fire it may seem life may never return to normal. However, it most certainly can and your local SERVPRO of St. Charles/Geneva/Batavia is here to help you every step of the way.

For more information, please visit us at http://www.SERVPROstcharlesgenevabatavia.com/.