If you find yourself the victim of a residential or business fire, you know the results of such an event can be catastrophic. Firefighters respond to help corral destructive blazes, but there will undoubtedly be extensive property damage in addition to the risk to those people who were present when the fire erupted. Amidst the loss of property that is the result of structural fires, there may also be lingering aftereffects of the fire that can have an impact on your well-being and health long after the flames have died down and the smoke has cleared.

That’s one reason that providers of smoke restoration in Ocean City, MD, can help the victims of structural fires deal with the residual impact that can ripple for months or years after the event. The best smoke restoration services can help erase the traces of smoke that remind you of an unpleasant event and mar your once-beautiful structure. They can also help you mitigate any continuing threats to your health and well-being caused by smoke. Read on to learn a few of the ways that smoke damage restoration can help you avoid health risks in the wake of a fire.

Removes Chemicals

When your structure and everything in it is involved in a fire, it’s not just the structure itself that burns. Your clothes, furnishings, documents, electronics, an array of plastics, and household chemicals also combust, which results in a dangerous cocktail of potentially dangerous and irritating substances into your home environment that is transmitted via smoke. Those chemicals settle out of the air and land upon surfaces. They can also permeate soft materials in the structure that may have been untouched by the fire, such as furnishings, walls, and fixtures. For those who suffer from health conditions such as asthma, chronic bronchitis, or skin problems, contact with that volatile chemical residue can have dire consequences. Even in situations where the presence of chemicals carried by smoke don’t constitute a life-threatening hazard, they can still cause persistent irritation. A good smoke damage restoration company will clean all the surfaces in your structure to remove this chemical footprint of the smoke and remove potentially volatile substances from your building.

Removes Dangerous Particulate

Aside from the chemical deposits that are left in the wake of smoke, there is also soot that blankets all the exposed surfaces in the structure. That particulate can be dangerous for people with respiratory conditions, such as asthma, bronchitis, or emphysema. Soft surfaces including carpet and furnishings can harbor this fine particulate outfall from the smoke, and each time contact is made with those surfaces, a plume of fine soot is released into the air. That particulate matter can settle in the lungs and cause continued difficulty breathing, but smoke damage restoration services can make sure that soot is removed from the environment so that it can’t cause health problems for those with compromised respiratory systems.

Soot on walls

Cleans Hidden Surfaces

While you may do a good job of cleaning the surfaces in your structure following a fire, you likely can’t access several key hiding spaces for contaminants. Places such as closets, pantries, basements, and HVAC ducts can harbor both chemical and particulate contaminants that can detract from your indoor air quality and cause a host of health issues. However, a professional smoke damage restoration service knows exactly how to get to those hard-to-reach places to ensure they’re thoroughly cleaned before you take up occupancy of the structure again.

If you’ve been the victim of a structural fire, make sure that you consult with a provider of smoke damage restoration services to ensure that any health risks caused by smoke are mitigated. If you’re in need of smoke damage restoration services, call United Restoration, Inc., at 443-727-3307.