Keep Calm and Call Knight
FIRE, FIRE, FIRE are never words that anyone wants to hear, especially when it happens in an occupied facility/building. Our fire departments do an amazing job, risking their lives to save lives and buildings. The aftermath that a fire department can leave behind can be horrendous for building owners, property managers and tenants. Especially when these areas are occupied and need to back in business asap. Unfortunately or fortunately Knight has a lot of experience with these types of situations.
Recently, we got the urgent phone call that the fire department has extinguished the fire and now they needed Knight to swoop in and get things back to normal. The fire had started in a trashcan and the smoke had spread from locker rooms to the auditorium and had affected flooring, ceiling, walls and the HVAC system. Good news, we were able to get the facility back in usable condition within 72 hours. Here are a few items that you might consider if this unfortunate incident ever happens in your facility.
- Ozone – make sure that your restoration company has industrial sized ozone machines that are equipped to handle LARGE amounts of square footage. Very specialized equipment
- Ceiling tiles do not always need to discarded, sometimes they can be HEPA vacuumed and if necessary sealed
- Anyone entering the space within the first 24 hours, need a full face respirator. No ideas on what materials actual burned, so better safe than sorry.
- Build containment around the source of the fire, if the source cannot be removed in a timely fashion. This will enable other areas to be cleaned while the source is addressed
This customer was elated at how quickly the process took and how efficient we were in providing such a quality service. In his words, “This is the team everyone needs.” Well, he called again so it looks like it was true! When dealing with fires be sure you focus on safety first. Then… Keep Calm and Call Knight!
Learn more about fire and smoke restoration!
