What to do During and After a Commercial Fire

What to do During and After a Commercial Fire

While many of us know what we should and shouldn’t do during and after a residential fire, how many of us know what to do if there is a fire that breaks out while we are at work? The following are a few tips on what you should do during and after a commercial fire.

Safety Precautions for Employees and Employer

It is important to remember that the fire alarm and the sprinkler system may not be directly connected. This means that if the fire alarm does happen to go off, there is no guarantee that the sprinkler system will follow. You may even find that some buildings don’t utilize a sprinkler system at all.

When you hear the fire alarm, it is your first warning and it means it is time to evacuate the building. A fire in an office or work building also has the potential to spread much faster than a fire that occurs in a residential home. 

After you hear the alarm and begin the steps to evacuate, make sure the others around you are also aware and know they must evacuate as well. Some may have trouble hearing the alarm or may need assistance evacuating the building.

When evacuating, move toward the closest stairwell exit. Before grabbing the doorknob, let your hand linger over it to see if you can feel heat radiating from it. If not, it is then safe for you to open the door. If you feel any heat, then the fire may be behind the door and you should look for an alternative exit. Never use an elevator while evacuating the building. 

Once you safely make it outside, make sure the fire department was called and do not attempt to go back into the building under any circumstances. 

Handling the Cleanup After a Commercial Fire

A building that has been subjected to a fire or any other type of major disaster may be more prone to break-ins during its more vulnerable state. Once the fire has been extinguished and the building has been cleared, it is advised that all valuables are removed from the building. 

It is also important that the employees retrieve their personal belongings and valuable as well. Once all the valuables have been removed, it is then time to document the property that has been removed as well as anything that has been damaged or destroyed during the fire. 

After all the documentation has been gathered, it is then time to contact the insurance company to learn the next steps in the process following a commercial fire. 

Contacting a Professional

Keep in mind that before any clean up can be done, you will want to check with the insurance company to see if they need to conduct an investigation prior to cleaning the building. You don’t want to lose out on any valuable insurance money following the fire because you neglected this important step.

If you have experienced a commercial fire, contact us today. We can come in and help clean up following a commercial fire and this includes repairing damaged equipment and cleaning and sanitizing the building and restoring it back to its original condition.