Yakima Fire Damage Restoration After Neighborhood Wildfires

Just this month, our Yakima neighbors in Schneider Springs have been facing a wildfire.  This year California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and even Minnesota have fought severe wildfires. Persistent weather patterns indicate that none of us are out of the woods yet; expect even more fires to erupt before the rains come. If your home has been damaged by flames or smoke drifts, you’ll need some help restoring it. 

Fire Damage Restoration In Yakima

Yakima’s Risk Level Of Wildfires

Each year, wildfires consume homes in the wildland-urban interface (WUI)–areas where homes are built near or among lands prone to wildfire. If brush around the homes were cleared and defensible space was created around structures, as many as 80 percent of homes might be saved. During this 2021 fire season, be diligent about managing your vegetation and encourage your neighbors as well. Our fire damage restoration team offers some helpful tools:

• Get a free risk-assessment from the Yakima County Fire Marshal’s Office
• Connect with the Yakima Valley Fire Adapted Communities Coalition for timely information
• Team up with your neighbors and start a Firewise Communities/USA® Recognition site.
• If your home is built in or near the forest, follow these steps to protect your home from wildfire. When developing your home landscaping, try planting fire-resistant plants to help reduce your risk from wildfire.
• Check out this interactive map to see if your home is in the WUI. (map is for reference only, homes may be at higher risk than shown)
• For more information and graphic illustration on how to create a defensible space please visit NFPA – Preparing homes for wildfire

Restoring Damaged Materials

After any fire, the restoration team will be responsible for removing damaged materials and replacing them seamlessly with the unaffected areas. Fires created additional problems for restoration. All electrical wiring, insulation, attic spaces, and corroded materials need to be inspected for hidden damage. More attention at this phase will lead to a better and more thorough restoration job.

After a fire, carpets and drywall need to be replaced. Some mirrors, metal items, and tiles might be damaged. Depending on your conditions, the Clean Image fire damage restoration experts will attempt to save any salvageable building materials to save you time and money. 

Removing Smoke Smell and Debris

Even if your street was spared from the flames, smoke can be carried into a home from miles away. There are multiple pathways for smoke to enter a home: vents, chimneys, windows, and door openings. Once inside the enclosed space, it is hard to get rid of. 

Wildfire smoke contains combustion by-products (“CBP”), which are gases and small particles generated when materials burn. Ash is the residue that is left when a substance is burned: trees, vegetation, and building materials. Char is a black carbon substance produced when a substance or material does not completely burn. Soot is similar but finer than char and will adhere to home surfaces. CBPs can cause damage to property and will often require specialized cleaning.

Both surfaces and the air inside a building can be tested for CBPs. Testing should be performed, whenever possible, by a Certified Industrial Hygienist with specialization in air sampling, health risk analysis, and toxicology. These CIH’s results might be used to prove to your insurance that smoke damage is present. Ask the Clean Image fire damage restoration team for advice about this process.

For Fire Damage Restoration In Yakima

Whether your house fire was caused by a wildfire, lightning, or from inside the home, the damage and smell will be too much to handle on your own. We know that a fire is one of the most devastating things that a homeowner or business owner can experience, and the team will help you get everything back to normal as soon as possible. Our fire damage restoration experts are dedicated to moving quickly to make the entire restoration experience as stress-free as possible. And speed matters. The longer neutralization, corrosion control, and cleaning are delayed, the greater the scope and cost could be. 

Clean Image Services is a Yakima, family-owned cleaning and fire damage restoration company with nearly 20 years of experience: evaluating the loss, testing damaged materials, selecting the best restoration techniques, and coordinating with insurance companies.