Steps to take after wildfire?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/49044581

Questions about steps to take when I return home from wildfire evacuation. Not sure what to expect.

I’m impacted by the wildfires in Colorado, had to evacuate and currently staying in a hotel. I expect my house is still standing (solar and some network devices were still responding until all power was cut off in the area and impacted the local ISP, and any fires in my immediate vicinity seem to have been controlled). The fires did get near or possibly to my home but the area is all grass and scrub, no trees so it was controlled. Hotspots were extinguished and I’m a bit outside the actual fire perimeter, with no real fuel for it to burn in my neighborhood further. Fingers crossed, I’ll get to go home in the coming weeks.

I’ve never been in a situation like this though. Even if the house is still standing and structurally sound, there’s probably smoke damage, possibly other burn damage from hot ash (the main fire perimeter reached within a mile of my home).

For anyone who’s been through a wildfire like this and gone home, what should I expect, and what hazards should I be aware of? Will things like clothes, bed, and so on be salvageable? Are there things that 100% should be discarded? And can the house just be cleaned and aired out? And is there anything specific structurally inside and outside I should look out for that might not be obvious?

Thanks!

Mouselemming 4 points 3 months ago

Congratulations on making the smart choice to evacuate. How your home fared is going to depend a lot on which way the wind blew and a lot of little chances, but you're safe and that's important.

When you return home, do a check to be sure there's nothing smoldering anywhere, just in case, but the fire department probably wouldn't have let you in if there were. I'm hoping your home only got some smoke and soot, not fire or extreme heat. A suggestion: don't check out of the hotel until you know your home is habitable, including having power and water. Gas lines will probably be shut off throughout the fire area until they can be checked.

One thing you haven't mentioned but you should anticipate: with power out for so long, you'll have a fridge/freezer full of spoiled food. Don't try to save it, throw it out. Even if it's cold now you don't know how long it was warm. Canned food in the pantry or cupboard is probably fine, use your judgement for boxed/bagged food.

If you have smoke damage, you'll be doing a lot of cleaning and airing out. Get detergents for laundry and dishes, and paper towels and trash bags etc, now while you're in town, because even if the local shops didn't burn they'll run out. If you know what size filter your HVAC takes, get a couple good ones: you'll run one hard now (cool to a reasonable amount but fan on constant) and have a clean one to replace it in a couple of weeks. One thing about smoke, you can smell if it's there. And it's dry so you're not growing mold like after a flood. But it can have toxic chemicals (plus you might want to use household cleaning stuff) so protect your skin, lungs, and eyes.

There's a chance they'll issue a Boil Water notice so have some bottled water to drink and cook with, you can use tap to mop the floor (after sweeping) and probably to do laundry if it's not too bad. Being able to bathe is going to be important and maybe a problem, so enjoy your hotel shower now and clean your clothes there if you can.

Bring rubber gloves, like one pair of the tougher kind but maybe also a box of cheap exam gloves that you can toss out along with whatever disgusting thing you were dealing with. Oh yes, N95 or similar face masks to protect your lungs.

Carpets and curtains may need replacing or professional cleaning. Stuff stored in closed cabinets might be okay and in any case it'll be better than what was out, so start with tossing out or cleaning the dirty stuff (if you're tired you can bag up the ashy bedcovers, put on a cleaner sheet and decide what to do about the ones in the bag after you get some sleep) and getting your air clean.

I have to interrupt myself so I'll post this unedited and redundant, with my best wishes for you.

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tomkatt 3 points 3 months ago

I think I have a lot of this covered already, thankfully. I fully sealed the gaps in my ducts a few months back and I always run MERV13 filters (and have spares in the crawls, I assume they’re still good, being shrink wrapped.

I expect the food in the fridge to be bad by the time I get back, but freezer may be salvageable. I won’t know for certain until I get home and find out if my solar+battery setup stayed up or if it failed (I have a low power NAS set to safely shutdown in the event the UPS starts draining and it was running when I left. If it’s still on when we return, that means the solar power, and therefore fridge stayed up.

I’m okay with replacing curtains. I have heavy dual layered drapes over the windows. I’ll give them a burial with full honors if they helped keep the mess out. 😂

Don’t have any carpet, few soft surfaces other than in the bedroom (bed and plush chair) and a workout mat in my office. Even my recliners are pleather and presumably should be with a wipe down.

I also already have a stack of N95 and KN95 masks on me due to some health concerns, never stopped wearing masks when in public indoor spaces since COVID-19.

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Mouselemming 3 points 3 months ago

Sounds like you're gonna be okay because you've planned well. Take care of yourself as you come back, and I hope you'll pop back with an update.

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tomkatt 1 point 3 months ago

Back with an update, I’m home. No fire damage (the grass around the house is even still there. Heat maybe popped a nail or two in our exterior siding, but I don’t even think that was fire, it was already up in the 100s f before we evac’d.

Power did fail, with all the smoke my battery only held out for two days, panels couldn’t charge it up. Lost all the food but that’s no big deal. We did see power and appliances come back online yesterday, but we’re still evacuated until we got the all clear (area is “pre-evac” now, but safe, perimeter is full contained in our area).

House doesn’t smell smoky at all, just musty from the heat and humidity and some trash that stewed in the can all week. We have MERV13 filters for the air handler, so just running AC with fan on full time for the moment. Already smelling better after an hour or so.

We’re cleaning up now. Gonna have to mop and sweep, wash the curtains and linens and replace the food, and I’m buying an air purifier to be safe. But otherwise it’s looking like home came out pretty much unscathed.

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Mouselemming 2 points 3 months ago

YAY! Sounds like a pretty good outcome, all things considered, and that manky smell will air out much more quickly than smoke. Yep, better to throw out all the food and buy fresh. A week's worth of bottled water might be good, so if you suddenly get an announcement that the tap supply might have issues you won't worry about what you've already consumed. Welcome home!

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