The restoration process has begun for hundreds of people whose homes were damaged but not destroyed by the Waldo Canyon Fire.
/ FOX21: Kurt Story
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Even after a fire is extinguished, the effects of smoke and ash can linger.
The Waldo Canyon Fire destroyed 346 homes, but more than 1,000 are estimated to have damage. For those homeowners, the clean-up process can be stressful and expensive.
American Water Damage in Colorado Springs is one business with new tools to take out the smoky smells and erase the ash from your home.
President Matt Colligan said the business is "an unfortunate necessity." He added, "not very many people have been through a wildfire, so we just want to gingerly take people through the process and take care of them as best we can."
They're doing that with 70 new machines called Hydroxyl Generators. They get hooked up to a fan and emit particles that latch on to odors and eliminate them.
They're completely green, meaning you can do your daily routine or clean-up around the house while they work. If the company you've hired uses older ozone machines, those are toxic to living things. Be sure to get your plants, your pets and your self out of the house while they run.
Colligan said the average home needs three machines for about three days before the smell is completely gone.
And for ash, they've got special chemical sponges that attract soot stains like a magnet.
Colligan's company is bringing in extra help from sister services to be able to handle the increased call volume they've had and the larger size jobs the fire produced.
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