You Fire Cleanup Should Include Electronics – Here’s Why

2/1/2022 (Permalink)

You and your family made it through the fire and most of your belongings look untouched. But unbeknownst to many homeowners in Loveland, CO, even materials that look undamaged can be impacted. This is especially true of electronics, which can be penetrated and permanently ruined. Still not convinced your fire cleanup efforts should include cleaning electronics? Learn exactly how smoke can impact your electronics.

How Smoke Causes Damage

Electronics are remarkably delicate and lots of things can impact how well they work. There are two main elements of fire that can impact electronics.

• Smoke damage - smoke penetrates deep crevices in electronics, making them prone to overheating and failure

• Soot - Pushed in by smoke, soot can form a layer in delicate electronics, interrupting circuits and causing malfunction
You know what about smoke causes the problems, but how do these things wreak havoc?

Corrosion

Soot is acidic, and acid and electronics never mix. When soot gets into wires and circuitry, it can corrode these delicate surfaces. The result is degraded components and a device that may soon fail.

Insulation Damage

Soot can also leave a film that coats the inside of electronics, forming a sort of insulation. This can result in overheating once you turn these devices back on after fire cleanup. Overheating leads to failure in the best case and can trigger a fire in the worst case.

Magnetization

Believe it or not, smoke has a magnetic charge. Magnets can short circuit electronics - something you might not realize until you’ve used your device a few times and find it stops working.
High heat and soot can be devastating to sensitive electronic devices, causing malfunction and even triggering new fires. The good news is that there are ways to salvage your electronics safely. Be sure to talk to your fire cleanup specialist about electronics cleanup to ensure you’ve covered all your bases after a fire.