When you have a fire at your home or business, you might be immediately concerned about the damage caused by the fire itself. Fire is fast and flashy, and it catches our attention. However, fire is only part of the cause of damage. In addition to fire, smoke can cause significant damage in the building.
Smoke damage and fire damage are different, and understanding both types of damage can help you determine the specific restoration challenges you’re facing after a major fire. You will have a better idea about what needs to be done, so you can make an informed decision about whether to handle it yourself or work with a fire damage restoration professional.
What Is Fire Damage?
Fire damage is caused by the flames themselves as they burn. Even this type of damage is not all the same. There are two different types of fire damage to consider: combustion damage and heat exposure.
Combustion damage
Combustion damage is when something burns. This is probably what you think of as fire damage. Items blacken and contract. They give off additional heat and typically create smoke. Burning may create large, open flames, or objects might simply smolder with small, barely visible flames that might be self-sustaining even though they are small. Some items burn readily, but others must be heated to a high temperature and held there for a long time to burn.
Heat Exposure
In addition to combustion damage, fires can cause damage through heat exposure. Even items that don’t catch fire might be damaged by the presence of hot temperatures. Wood, for example, can change properties, becoming more brittle and less flexible with just 15 minutes exposure to temperatures as low as 350° F, a temperature that might not cause drywall to burn. However, house fires can get much hotter than that, reaching temperatures of up to 2000° F, although 1000° F is more typical. At these temperatures, even objects that don’t burn, such as steel, are likely to be changed. They might melt, but they might not be visibly changed. Steel beams, for example, won’t melt at the temperature of a typical house fire, but their properties might change.
Evaluating Fire Damage
The good news is that fire damage tends to be concentrated at or near the site of the flames. However, the fire damage might be much more than it seems at first glance. It’s important to have your property inspected by fire damage restoration professionals after a fire, especially commercial structures that welcome employees and the public.
What Is Smoke Damage?
Smoke damage, on the other hand, is caused by the smoke that a fire produces. Smoke is the visible residue of combustion that rises off a fire. It typically includes numerous organic compounds, many of which are toxic and chemically active. However, the exact nature of smoke depends on the objects that are burning. That’s why smoke damage restoration professionals typically divide smoke into multiple types.
Types of Smoke
Most of the time, smoke is divided into four distinct types:
- Dry smoke: High-temperature, fast-burning fires create dry smoke. This is most often associated with burning wood or paper. They create fine ash and penetrating smoke that can easily penetrate walls and substances in the house.
- Wet smoke: Wet smoke is produced by fires burning artificial materials like rubber and plastics. These fires are not as hot, but the smoke they produce is thick and greasy. It creates a hard-to-remove surface residue, but it also tends to be highly acidic and can corrode wiring and circuit boards in electronics.
- Fuel smoke: This smoke comes from petroleum fuels. Think oil, gasoline, diesel fuels, and the like. Typical fire conditions aren’t ideal for combustion and produce lots of incomplete combustion products, which you would see as dark smoke or as the greasy residue that accumulates on surfaces.
- Protein smoke: Protein smoke is produced in a low-temperature kitchen fire, which burns food products, including meats, vegetables, and cooking oil. Protein smoke discolors what it touches and creates a pervasive smell, but it is otherwise easier to resolve than other types of smoke damage.
A house fire can sometimes produce smoke that is composed of some or all of the types of smoke above. This is sometimes described as complex smoke, but it isn’t always classified as a different type.
Smoke Contamination
When a fire creates smoke, it puts this smoke in the air as suspended molecules and even large particles. The heat of the fire also creates air movement which can propel the smoke far from its source.
Smoke can be made of large particles that settle on surfaces and create surface contamination. Sometimes, this can be cleaned off easily. Other times, it’s a challenge to get the smoke off the surface. Once on the surface, oils in smoke, especially common in wet smoke and protein smoke, can seep into the surface.
Other types of smoke can infiltrate substances. Porous objects like clothes and upholstery are easily infiltrated, but smoke can often infiltrate walls, too.
Once inside objects, smoke residue can be hard to remove and rarely responds to home remedies.
Chemical Damage
Smoke isn’t just a passive contaminant. It’s often highly reactive. That’s because the fire can create molecules that are highly unstable at room temperature. This means that wherever smoke lands, it can chemically react with the surface it lands on, leading to additional damage. Simply washing the smoke off can prevent future damage but can’t reverse the chemical damage that has already occurred.
The most common type of chemical damage from smoke is corrosion. Many types of smoke contain acids that will react with metals, causing them to rust. Rusted metals don’t have the same properties. They can be less conductive to electricity and may be weaker. The most obvious sign of chemical damage from smoke is electronics that weren’t anywhere near the fire but stopped working shortly afterwards.
Chemical damage from smoke is typically not instant. It can take time to occur, and in some cases a rapid response can prevent or limit this damage.
Evaluating Smoke Damage
Although you might not think it’s as serious as fire damage, smoke damage can be worse in some ways. Fire damage tends to be concentrated in the area where the fire was, but smoke damage can permeate the entire building.
Smoke damage can also be very difficult to assess. Is smoke residue just a bad smell, or does it include toxic chemicals that could have long-term health effects? Is the smoke acidic, likely to cause serious damage to electronics? What is the best approach for cleaning off a surface covered with smoke residue?
A smoke damage restoration professional can look at the materials that burned and understand the likely damage caused by the smoke to determine the best approach to reversing the damage.
your local FLEET company Can Handle All Types of Smoke and Fire Damage
After a major fire in your house or business, you might be dealing with multiple types of damage. This includes fire damage and smoke damage, plus anything the fire department might have done, such as water damage and physical destruction caused by them fighting to gain entry.
your local FLEET company can help with all the types of damage you’ve experienced as a result of your fire. We are prepared to repair fire damage, smoke damage, water damage, and more. We can handle the entire restoration process from the beginning to end, including the initial assessment and all the finishing touches like paint and trim. We have been the leading fire damage restoration company in your area since 1954. We also offer a 24/7 emergency response, so we can show up immediately to start dealing with the damage.
your local FLEET company will also coordinate with your insurance company. We work with insurance companies every day, and we know the information they need to pay your claim promptly and in full according to the terms of your coverage. When you let your local FLEET company handle your claim, it won’t be delayed or denied because of paperwork errors, plus the entire process will be easy for you.
To learn how we can help you recover from a fire at your home or business, please contact us today. your local FLEET company serves customers in your area.