Why did they do that?!

Have you ever driven by a home after there was a fire? You see boards covering all of the broken windows and doors, don’t you?

There are multiple reasons we get called by the fire department to board up a home after a fire. Let’s look at them!

Safety to Individuals and Structure

By securing the property (that’s the professional way of saying “board up”), we can keep individuals out so that they do not get hurt. Plus, it keeps the structure from receiving any further damage done to it. Securing the property also prevents animals from entering the structure and nesting in it.

We can preserve the damage until we create a plan to restore or rebuild the structure. Many times after a fire, the insurance company requests an inspection to determine the cause of the fire. There are many reasons for this: who gets the blame for the fire, research for appliances and home design, and others. When the property is secured, it creates a longer snapshot of time for the inspection to take place.

Property Owner is Liable

Even though the fire department came out to put the fire out, the property owner is still liable for the property after the fire department leaves. “Liable” is the insurance word for “responsible.” If an incident happened on the property, the property owner is responsible for that person’s safety. That is a large risk to the owner! By boarding up and securing the property, we lessen the risk for the property owner.

Theft

If a home or building is not secured after fire damage, it is vulnerable to theft. Anyone can walk into the structure and take what they want or do what they want to it. Boarding up the property allows your valuables that are left in the structure to stay protected. You would hope it wouldn’t happen, so this is one extra layer of protection to prevent that.

Weather

It’s no surprise that Ohio has some crazy weather! One day it feels as if we are in an oven turned all the way up, and the next day everything freezes. Then the next day brings back memories of Jumanji with the monsoon rains flooding the home!

Boarding up the property after fire damage can prevent further damage to the property.

If the damages increase on the property, it means an increase for other things as well: the number of repairs, the time for the repairs, and the money for the repairs. By boarding up the property, we can protect it from those increases.

Peace of Mind

Having a fire in your home is an emergency of enough magnitude to take away any peace of mind you had. It could throw your life out of balance and rhythm for about a full year! To help you during the beginning of that chaotic time period, the board up of your home will give you a small bit of peace of mind.

When you have a fire, please have your property secured afterward.

Does your property need secured?

Call our Emergency Hotline: 419-331-1024

24 / 7 / 365

Want to learn more?

Hear from Chief Kitchen about the importance of boarding up after a fire.

Read about the Leading Causes of Home Fires.

Photo Credit: Swartz Restoration board up team, on the scene after two different local fires.