Soot After a Fire

12/2/2019 (Permalink)

Dangers of Soot

Soot is harmful because a wide variety of natural and synthetic substances burn during a fire. As they burn, they create microscopic particles that contain chemicals, acids, dust, metals, and other hazardous substances. The soot spreads widely and sticks to every exposed surface, creating a larger contamination area. Soot can cause serious damage to the surfaces it sticks to, and this damage can quickly become permanent. If it reaches the building’s HVAC system, it can spread even further through the structure.

Unless the soot is cleaned quickly and correctly, the particles will be inhaled, causing bronchitis and other lung disorders, as well as aggravating current conditions like asthma or COPD. A report from the Environmental Defense Fund shows that even brief exposure to soot can cause problems. Not only are soot particles small enough to embed within lungs, some can even enter the bloodstream. Exposure to these particles has been linked to heart attacks and arrhythmias in people with heart disease. As people and animals breathe in these particles over time, the symptoms will only get worse.

Removing Soot

It’s easy to find large deposits of soot residue on walls, ceilings and other objects, but the individual particles are too tiny to see with the naked eye. It has a distinctive smoky/ashy odor, which is often how people realize an area has been affected. It’s important to remove soot as soon as possible, both for health reasons and to restore damaged items, but it’s more important to do it correctly. That’s why using a professional is a smart idea. Give us here at SERVPRO of Texarkana a call. 903-832-4400. Cleaning soot and smoke damage on your own can be difficult because it’s easy to spread it even further; exposure to soot even after a few days will still cause lung irritation without proper protective equipment, which many people don’t own.