Stanley Steemer mitigates damage in under a week, and within three weeks this Amsterdam home was back, and even expanded, beyond what it was before the fire.

A beautiful lake house just north of Amsterdam was severely damaged by fire caused by a rare event during a home improvement renovation in December of 2007. After having their upstairs hardwood plank floors refinished, the homeowners had a change of heart over the color of the floor. They directed the contractor to strip the floor once again to stain the floor darker.

After sanding off the new finish, the dust collected in the sander’s bag was placed in a box which was placed against an exterior wall. The contractors worked for several more hours before leaving. However, shortly after they left, the box of sawdust spontaneously combusted, erupting into flame which spread quickly to the wall.

The fire burned a large whole in the exterior wall, a hole in the floor beneath it and filled the upstairs with a thick chemical smoke. Due to a rapid response from the local fire department, the fire was contained before it got too far out of control, saving the majority of the structure.

After reporting the claim to their insurance agency, the Bashwinger Agency, the agent put the homeowners in touch with Steve Van Pelt, restoration manager for Stanley Steemer. Steve met the owner at the home within one hour of the call to setup a restoration plan and to coordinate with the contractors on the rebuild.

The first step in the restoration was to remove all contents and soft goods for cleaning off premises. The next step involved the detailed cleaning of the structure, in addition to ozone and thermal fog treatments. This removes both the soot and any lingering odors from the home, even behind places hands don’t fit, such as molding.

Lastly, the upstairs walls were sealed and repainted, and the fire damaged portions of the home were rebuilt. The homeowner took this rebuilding opportunity to add a small addition to their upstairs as well. In all, they were back to where they began three weeks after the fire, having a very positive claim experience.

Spontaneous combustion

Spontaneous combustion often it involves vegetable oils such as linseed oil or tung oil, but sometimes just damp hay is enough. In the typical case, somebody refinishing furniture or a wood floor piles a bunch of oil-soaked rags (in this case, sawdust) in a bucket, corner, or other confined place overnight. The oil oxidizes, a process that generates heat. (In the case of damp hay, bacteria start digesting it, which also generates heat.) If the heat can’t dissipate, it builds up, dramatically speeding up the oxidation reaction and generating still more heat. Eventually the oil, rags, or whatever other potential fuel is on hand reaches “autoignition” temperature—that is, the point at which the stuff bursts into flame without the need of an external ignition source.