When an Employee Microwaves Commercial Fire Damage in San Antonio

4/18/2019 (Permalink)

Do the snacks in your break room have the potential to cause fire damage?

Commercial Fire Cleanup Eliminates Microwave Popcorn Nightmare in San Antonio Drycleaner Breakroom

Fire damage can happen to a commercial property or business for many reasons. Natural disasters such as lightning are rare or more common causes like electrical wiring overloads and failures, arson and employees and residents misusing appliances such as microwave ovens.

The foundation for a successful restoration begins with commercial fire damage cleanup. In San Antonio, SERVPRO was called to assist a dry cleaner establishment that had a fire in a small backroom area. An employee made popcorn set the timer on too long and left the area. Although extinguished quickly, the fire left residue throughout the back area of the facility and a strong odor. The owner thought this would harm his business because potential customers were going to encounter the smell that from the first moment they walked through the door.

When our technicians arrived at the site, they immediately had the owner turn off the HVAC and contained the breakroom area to stop any further issues with soot and odors spreading. We moved the clothes the dry cleaner had on site to a locked, separate glass area, so they were not in danger of any contamination from soot or odor. Our technicians began hand vacuuming the fire extinguisher residue and removed the charred microwave that was contributing heavily to the smell in the room.

Once removing the visible loose debris, SERVPRO techs wiped down the surfaces with our professional-strength cleaners to eradicate any fire damage residues remaining, and this lowers odors. To ensure that we left no odor-causing particulates in the area, our technicians set up an air scrubber which pulls air in the room through a series of HEPA-filters and can capture tiny particles smaller than the human eye can see that are still capable of causing odors.

After completing the cleanup efforts, the owner was walked through the area to ensure our work met his approval.

SERVPRO of Braun Station knows commercial fire cleanup is crucial to getting your business back on track. Call us at (210) 267-2159 when you need fast, professional restoration for your fire loss.

Read more about Brackenridge Park here.