What Should Be Thrown Away After a Fire?

2/14/2022 (Permalink)

Severe fire damage in Lone Tree, CO

After a Fire, What Should Be Thrown Away?

When it comes to a house fire, a lot of people only think about the charring and destruction caused by flames. Even small fires that don’t completely destroy your home in Lone Tree, CO, can cause a lot of damage from smoke alone. It’s hard to know what you can keep and what you should throw away when your belongings have been exposed to:

• Fire
  
• Smoke
  
• Heat
  
• Soot
  
• Water
  
  

So, what should you throw away after a fire? That really comes down to your personal safety, which can be divided into two categories: things you eat and things you put on your body.

Things You Eat

You may think that food and drink would be safe to consume if it remained sealed during a fire, but smoke can permeate packaging, and heat can alter the contents inside the package. You don’t want to risk putting anything in your body if it was near a fire, heat or smoke. That includes:

• Food
  
• Medication
  
  

Sometimes, food in the refrigerator is spared from the smoke and high heat, but remember to make sure the food wasn’t sitting for more than two hours at a temperature of 40 degrees or more. If it was, throw it out!

Things You Use on Your Body

There are many products people use that may have an impact through body contact or absorption. Here are some things you should throw away if they were exposed to heat, smoke, soot or fire.

• Toiletries
  
• Cosmetics
  
  

Charred clothing should be thrown out since it would come in contact with your skin, but you may be able to salvage some smoke-damaged clothing through washing or dry-cleaning.

When you have fire damage in your home, you can get help from fire restoration experts that will guide you through the cleanup and restoration process. Make sure you use extreme caution and throw out the items highlighted here if they have been exposed to smoke, soot, heat or water from the firefight.