How to Deodorize After a Fire

8/13/2020 (Permalink)

A fire can cause heavy damage to a structure and to the content within the structure. Smoke odor is also a major cause for concern after a fire. Removing all affected materials is the first step toward deodorization.

Deodorization can be a challenging task and our technician’s job is to accelerate the process of odor elimination. There are a variety of procedures, products, and equipment that can be utilized to achieve this goal. Sometimes they must employ multiple techniques to produce results. Below are some of the equipment and products that SERVPRO utilizes to remove smoke odors.

Equipment:

• Air scrubbers/air filtration devices – air scrubbers can remove airborne particles from the air. The device draws dirty, indoor air through a series of filters and then exhausts clean air back into the structure.
• Thermal fogger – vaporize solvent-based or petroleum-based deodorizers, generating a “smoke” or fog consisting of very small particles. They are pairing agents, meaning they chemically react with odor-causing residues and eliminate odors rather than just masking them.
• Ozone generator – this machine generates ozone, an unstable gas of oxygen molecules which reacts with odor-causing molecules to oxidize residues and remove odor.

 Products

• Water-based odor counteractants – can be added to cleaning solutions to provide odor control of smoke. These products work at a variety of temperatures and pH extremes to neutralize most malodors and replace them with a pleasant scent.
• Solvent-based thermal fog deodorizers – blend of aromatic phenolics, odor counteractants, and fragrances in a solvent base. These products are applied with thermal fogger and penetrate materials to counteract smoke odors.
• Sealers – applied to the affected surface to encapsulate remaining odor residues when odor remains after all other deodorization procedures have been performed.

The deodorization process typically requires several steps and may require some trial and error to ensure the correct methods are being used to remove the odor. SERVPRO has the knowledge, experience, and resources necessary to make a fire smell "Like it never even happened."