We have 3 basic goals when fighting a fire. Save lives, control the fire and protect property. Salvage efforts protect property and belongings from damage, particularly from the effects of smoke and water.
Overhaul ensures that the fire is completely extinguished by finding, exposing, and suppressing any smoldering or hidden pockets of fire in an area that has been burned. Our community has entrusted us with the care of their property and we take that very seriously and work to prevent or limit any secondary loss. Depending on the structure we can have ruptured pipes, we may need to deactivate sprinklers and may need to monitor the air as there can be a wide variety of toxic substances present at a fire scene.
We always have to be conducting a continuous evaluation of the structural condition of a building when doing overhaul and we work with the fire investigator to ensure that we preserve the area that could indicate the cause or area of origin.
Original source can be found here.
