How To Recover From A Home Kitchen Fire

There’s no denying that kitchen fires can be pretty frightening when they happen. Kitchen fires can spread rapidly, depending on the source; at best, they can cause smoke damage; at worst, they can completely destroy the kitchen and other areas of the home.

You’re probably reading this because you’ve had smoke or fire damage caused by a kitchen fire in your home. Thankfully, the fire got contained, but now you need to restore your kitchen to its former glory.

While it makes sense to consider using restoration companies, if you want to restore your kitchen yourself, the following points illustrate what you should do to recover from a kitchen fire:

Stay Safe

First of all, your safety should be a priority. With that in mind, you must ensure that you don’t walk on or touch anything that could injure you, such as broken glass, sharp edges of exposed metal, and hot spots.

Consider wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) such as gloves, a mask, overalls, and sturdy boots with steel toe caps.

Salvage Any Usable Items

Next, you’ll need to identify if any items in your kitchen haven’t got damaged by the fire. If the fire was put out quickly, the chances are high that you’ll have plenty of usable items – they’ll just need a thorough clean due to smoke damage and the chemicals used to put out the fire.

Discard Affected Food

The trouble with kitchen fires is that they can make food unsafe to eat, even if stored in a refrigerator or freezer. That’s why you will need to dispose of all food affected by the fire that was stored in your kitchen.

There might be some items you can keep, such as sealed long-life products that were nowhere near the fire and that haven’t been affected by smoke damage.

Replace Damaged Kitchen Units And Counters

You’ve likely got one or more fire-damaged kitchen cabinets, cupboards, and worktops. That’s because they typically get made from wood, and as you probably know, wood can turn into ash quite quickly.

Remove all damaged kitchen cabinets, cupboards, and worktops. Thoroughly clean the underlying areas, and install their replacements.

Replace Damaged Appliances

Some householders can get lucky and find that kitchen appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, and other items might still be in working conditions.

Have an electrician check those items, and if the contractor confirms they are safe to use, remove them from your kitchen and give them a good clean before reinstalling them.

Replace All Electrical Wiring And Gas Pipes

One final point to consider is how you should make sure that all electrical wiring and gas pipes in your kitchen get replaced.

Yes, it’s possible that not all of those items got damaged during your kitchen fire. But renewing them will give you, and your family added peace of mind.

If you’ve been affected by a kitchen fire, the good news is you can take some actionable steps by having fire damage restoration Denver, such as the ones above, to restore your kitchen to its former glory or even create your dream kitchen.