A raging wildfire in Riverside County has grown from just 300 acres to over 6,000 in one day. The fire has already destroyed numerous houses and injured a civilian and several firefighters.
At least 1,500 people have been told to evacuate several communities as firefighters try to stop the advance of the fast moving flames. This fire is the most recent in what has been a busy fire season in Southern California.
Large black plumes of smoke can be seen for miles. This smoke is filled with combustion by-products that include soot, ash, carbon black and char. This wildfire smoke can travel long distances and have damaging effects to both people’s homes and businesses and to their health. Once the fires are extinguished, a number of properties that were not touched by flames may suffer from extensive smoke damage.
“Often times, property owners and residents of smoke damaged properties have to show proof of damage before insurance providers will approve any repairs and remediation work,” reported Michael Chapman, Laboratory Manager of LA Testing’s Garden Grove facility. “Testing for smoke damage takes true expertise and access to advanced instrumentation. Due to the size of many combustion byproducts, especially carbon black, analysis with light microscopes alone is inconclusive and generally not legally defensible. LA Testing performs smoke damage testing using a combination of scientific techniques, including the use of our Electron Microscopy (EM) Laboratory. LA Testing's advanced analysis frequently results in the dismissal of other less reliable techniques in legal cases.”
To help educate people about smoke damage and ways to test their properties, LA Testing has just released a new website at . LA Testing has also recently produced an online video about smoke damage that can be seen on the website or on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owo8lIoVTuk.