House Fire Smoke...How Dangerous Is It?

8/1/2022 (Permalink)

“They say it’s the smoke that will get ya” I cannot recall the first time I heard that term, but it took me awhile to understand what it truly means. Here in Oregon we are exposed to smoke often, we have cookouts, we BBQ, we have campfires, we have burn piles when conditions allow, and all of us know what it’s like smelling like a campfire on a summer night.
You may ask what the difference is between campfire smoke and house fire smoke? The answer may surprise you, because both are very dangerous to the human lung. Campfire smoke is carcinogenic.
In fact, The environmental protection association finds that smoke from wood burning is 12 times more carcinogenic than smoke from cigarettes, and it stays in the human lungs and body up to 40 times longer!
The answer to why house fire and campfire smoke is so incredibly toxic and dangerous is simple. It is unfiltered. Particles and chemicals that have not been completely burned are inhaled and larger than any particle that even avid smokers lungs encounter.
When a house fire happens, the smoke is enclosed in a compact space, it is concentrated and can cause immediate acute respiratory effects.
The saying “Never go back inside a burning building” makes all the sense in the world when you think about it. You may rationalize, well the fire is in the bathroom upstairs, I can fetch something from the downstairs living room…in realty, if smoke is throughout the home, you need to remove yourself from the structure as soon as possible…and stay out.
House Fire safety and education is so important and can greatly increase your chances of surviving a house fire. The soot and residue that a house fire leaves behind is also a carcinogenic…even when the smoke has settled.
If you suffer the unfortunate occurrence of a fire to your home or business, entrust SERVPRO of Benton, Linn, Lincoln and Polk County to clean and repair the damage safely from the beginning.