“During a wildfire, innumerable toxic chemicals, poisonous gasses, heavy metals, and other toxins are generated by the materials, household products, and vegetation that burns. These contaminants fill the air, become part of the ash, and are extremely dangerous to your health if inhaled or come in contact with your skin.” – Excerpt from “The Red Guide to Recovery”, Sean M. Scott
After the Marshall Fire, many members of our community were fortunate to have homes to return to once the evacuation order was lifted. However, upon returning home, many people discovered that the driving winds accompanying the smoke and fire had contaminated their homes to some extent. For some, the contamination appeared minor; for others, nearly every surface in the home seemed covered in ash.
All of these homeowners were now asking themselves many of the same questions: How bad is the contamination? Will I be able to clean or restore the home myself? Should I reach out to a professional smoke and fire restoration company? Is my insurance going to cover the restoration? What about my clothes, furniture, and electronics? Is it acceptable for me to return to living in my home?
A great first step I highly recommend is visiting The Red Guide to Recovery website. I have no affiliation with them, and you don’t have to buy the book right off the bat; go to the Free Tools tab and either click the button to download the toolbox or scroll down to read all the available articles. These articles will give you valuable information to help you begin to understand the full scope of the situation you are in with having a smoke-damaged home.
I have provided VOC testing and analysis to my clients for several years, and immediately after the Marshall Fire, I reached out to the lab I have been working with, Enthalpy Analytical (formerly Prism Analytical). I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had actually developed the industry-accepted testing protocols and analyses for smoke and fire contamination in 2016, following the California wildfires. I have spent many hours with representatives from the lab, receiving certification in both developing site-specific testing protocols and properly carrying out all necessary tests on smoke- and fire-damaged homes. This ensures that I am providing my clients with informative, actionable data. Unfortunately, some companies in the market offer testing that lacks relevance or analytical value — a distinction I will address below.
Since the aftermath of the Marshall Fire in 2021, I have worked closely with toxicologists, public adjusters, and attorneys, helping clients affected by structure fires deal with insurance claim resolution.
Air Sampling- Air samples are submitted for Smoke/Fire specific VOC analysis, as well as broad-spectrum VOC and mVOC analysis.
Surface Sampling- Surface samples are submitted to determine the presence/composition of Char, Soot, and Ash.
Bulk Media VOC- Samples from porous materials (furniture, textiles, insulation), as well as some building materials within the home, are submitted for Smoke/Fire-specific VOC analysis.
Bulk Media Particulate – Samples from porous materials and building materials can be submitted to determine the presence/composition of Char, Soot, and Ash.
Dioxin/Furan – Samples are taken (generally from carpeting or other surfaces) and analyzed for the presence of Dioxins and Furans, which are extremely toxic carcinogens that can be byproducts of combustion.
Heavy Metals – Samples are taken and analyzed for the presence of heavy metals, including but not limited to Arsenic, Cadmium, Cobalt, Chromium, Copper, Lead, and Vanadium. None of these metals should be present in a residential environment.
All samples are sent to certified laboratories for professional analysis. The time required to complete the sample analysis depends on which panel is being run.
Sampling and analysis can be performed prior to restoration to determine the extent of contamination in the home.
Sampling and analysis can be performed post-restoration to assess the restoration’s efficacy.
Restoration and testing of smoke-damaged homes are complex and technical subjects. If you have any questions regarding testing or analysis, or just need some advice on how to proceed, please don’t hesitate to give me a call at 720-442-0785. I am committed to helping our community recover from such events.
Particle Counts- A particle count meter is an inexpensive device that draws air through a chamber and counts particles. Results are generally given as particles/cubic meter and are sometimes grouped by size, such as “Larger than 10nm” or “Smaller than 2nm”, and are available immediately.
These results are basically useless in the context of a smoke-damaged home. It is simply giving a count of airborne particles; it gives no qualitative analysis, telling you what these particles actually are. The numbers will be lower if there has been no recent activity within the home, and could be drastically higher after just walking around for a few moments in each room, or after the HVAC system has been running.
Stand-Alone Surface Sampling- Surface sampling by itself doesn’t really give you useful information. You can probably visually tell that you have surface contamination; you don’t need someone to charge a lot of money to tell you what you can already see.
I do perform surface sampling, but the results are put into context with those from the VOC and other analyses.
Chem-Sponge Test- It sounds fancy, but this test consists of taking a block of natural latex rubber in the shape of a sponge and rubbing it over a few surfaces within the home. You then look at the bottom of the sponge and, if it’s white or brown, you assume it has only picked up household dirt and dust. If it’s black, you assume it has picked up Char, Soot, or Ash. That’s it.
I’ve seen some unethical companies charging hundreds of dollars for this service.
These chem-sponges can be useful for cleaning particulate contamination from more delicate items that cannot be washed, such as artwork or cellular blinds. If you’d like to check one out, they’re available on Amazon for under $10. If you get a case of 48, the price drops to about $2 each.
Site Visit Charge- If someone’s going to charge you just to show up at your property, I’d interview them long and hard to see what qualifications and experience they actually have and what kind of testing services and results they will actually provide.
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Total Home Inspection Services LLC provides InterNACHI Certified Residential Home Inspections, Annual Maintenance Inspections, IAC2 Certified Mold Testing, and Radon Testing to Northern Colorado, including Boulder County, Weld County, Larimer County, Broomfield County, Boulder, Broomfield, Niwot, Lyons, Berthoud, Loveland, Frederick/Firestone, Denver, and the surrounding Front Range Area.
