As a business owner, you must know what to do if a fire damages any of your commercial facilities. While dealing with a fire is stressful, you
minimize the resulting costs and disruption by knowing how to respond properly.
The following are six necessary steps for business owners recovering from a fire at a commercial facility.
1. Make Sure Everyone Is Safe
Safety is the priority during the immediate response to a fire. Contact the appropriate first responders, including the fire department and the police department. Stopping the fire from spreading and putting the fire out is the first step to minimizing injuries and damages the fire causes.
You also need to locate all of your employees and/or clients once you've become aware of the fire and ensure that they are not in danger. If
anyone is injured because of the fire, get the proper medical attention for them immediately.
2. Find Any Lingering Hazards
You need to work with the fire department to pinpoint the hazards. Let the authorities know of any flammable or explosive substances at your
facility. Your ability to anticipate hazards the event causes is important to avoiding injuries.
You shouldn't enter your facility until the fire department informs you that you're safe to do so. Stay out of your facility until all hazards have been addressed and prevent others from accessing your facility while dangers persist.
3. Communicate With Your Utility Providers
You should be in touch with your utility providers after a fire. Inform your utility providers of what has happened and provide what information
you can about the extent of the damages.
Utility providers to contact include your electric, water, and/or gas suppliers. Your utility providers probably want to communicate directly with
the fire department to evaluate the situation and prevent additional damage by cutting off utility supplies as necessary.
4. Evaluate the Damage
Once your facility is safe, you need to determine the extent of the damage. Evaluating the damage from a commercial fire is important for
numerous reasons.
You need to evaluate the damage to find out what equipment the fire has destroyed or damaged. Damaged equipment needs repair or
replacement before business operations can begin again.
You also need to evaluate the damage as part of your efforts to put together an insurance claim. As long as your facility and/or business is insured, you should receive compensation for the damage resulting from your fire up to a certain extent.
5. Contact Your Insurance Company
One of the first things to do once safety is restored is contact your insurance company. The sooner you contact your insurance company about the fire, the sooner you'll receive compensation for the damages.
Detail is important when communicating with your insurance company. Be precise and accurate in the details you provide. Any uncertainties
and/or inaccuracies in the information you provide to the insurance company can delay the claim process or even compromise your claim.
6. Find a Fire Restoration Service
A fire doesn't only cause damage by burning away buildings, furniture, and equipment. Fires also cause damage by leaving behind toxic smoke
odor, discoloring surfaces, weakening building structure, and causing utility leaks. You need to work with a fire restoration service to ensure that
they repair all of these various types of damage.
Fire restoration service providers will inspect your facility and put together a list of restoration needs before restoring your facility to its previous
condition. Contact a fire restoration services as the last step in recovering from a commercial fire.
Get in touch with us at C & Z Construction
if you want commercial fire restoration services in the Harrisburg area.
