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An emergency call to mobilise a fire damage cleaning team was one of the first tasks on the list after a blaze at a sports shop.
Fire recovery experts called in the SafeGroup after an exploding light bulb started the fire at the store in Wrexham, mid-Wales.
It was vital to put in place a team from a specialist emergency cleaning contractor who could work quickly and in a co-ordinated way to get the store open again as quickly as possible.
The fire broke out in the store on a Sunday afternoon, forcing the evacuation of the shopping centre where it was located.
Perfectly placed to send fire damage cleaning team
The SafeGroup’s Operations Manager Wayne Basham said: “We were on site on Sunday evening, and our fire damage cleaning team was ready to start work on Monday morning. We have the capacity and expertise to mobilise in hours.”
With depots in Birmingham and Manchester, The SafeGroup was perfectly places to put together an experienced team of extreme cleaning operatives.
The fire service had responded rapidly to the fire, but it had still caused significant fire damage and smoke damage to the storeroom and shop floor areas.
“We carried out both high level and low level cleaning. Heat rises, so some of the worst smoke contamination is high up in ceiling areas. In modern buildings, there are often exposed heating and ventilation pipes hanging from ceilings, which makes cleaning even trickier. We used cherry pickers to gain access to the ceiling space. Our operatives are IPAF trained and qualified, and experienced at using this equipment. This is particularly important during fire damage cleaning work like this, where we are operating in confined areas under time pressure, alongside other contractors. Health and safety is a paramount concern.”
Wayne BashamServices Operations Manager
The SafeGroup has developed bespoke procedures for carrying out deep cleaning during fire recovery projects – which includes using specialist cleaning techniques and agents.
The company put together two fire damage cleaning teams, with five operatives in each. One team worked during the day, the other at night. Each operative wore full protective clothing and masks.
Advanced smoke damage cleaning techniques were also used. Soot was cleaned from all surfaces, including walls, ceilings, floors and fixtures and fittings, such as pipes, windows, racking and shelving. The final step was to apply a specialist deodoriser to remove smoke and fire smells.
In this case, the sports shop reopened on Friday, just five days after the fire had broken out.
“Our team did an excellent job, working to very tight timescales. Fire and smoke damage cleaning is one of the first task in the fire recovery process. “Only then is the environment both safe, and ready, for construction and fit-out contractors to send in their teams to starting repairing and refitting the space.”
Wayne BashamServices Operations Manager