Kitchen Fires: Part 2: Pan Fires

It has happened to all of us: we are calmly cooking away on the stove when suddenly, items INSIDE the pan catch on fire! What is the first instinct? Perhaps it is to dump water in the pot to put the fire out. Or grab the pot and throw it in the sink! Here are some less risky ways to handle this little snafu!

• Make sure you are using an oven mitt once the pan catches on fire.
• Cut off access to the oxygenated air by sliding a cookie sheet or the lid of the pan over the pan. This keeps the fire from being fed.
• Turn off the heat at the burner
• Leave the covered pan there for a while. Don't move it!
• Once the covered pan has cooled, you will know that the fire is out. At that point, please remove the lid or cookie sheet.

Kitchen Fires: Part 1

Did you know that the most common place for a fire to start is in the kitchen of a home? It seems logical. We rush around, turn on the stove and forget about what we are doing in the rush to do something else. The best way to prevent a kitchen fire is to stay within arm's reach of the stove while cooking ... don't go to another part of the house to do something else! Keep your oven and stove clean, and move all flammable materials at least 3 feet away from the heat.

We will provide other tips soon ... watch for them!

SunGlo Services

SunGlo - Your place to go to repair structural damage

 

SunGlo helps you through more than just the natural disasters. A few years ago in August, the M family was very surprised and shook up when young driver actually struck the front of their home. Not only was there structural damage to the front foyer and a bedroom, the home was also a brick home ... replacing all of the brick on the front of the home was not an endeavor the home owners looked forward to.

SunGlo to the rescue once again. Not only did SunGlo repair the structural damage, they came up with a solution when a perfect match could not be found to the brick facing: remove bricks from the garage to put on the front of the house, ensuring a match, and replace the open areas with glass block, making the formally dark and dank garage brighter. An effective and cost savings solution to a problem that had to be solved!

SunGlo Too Busy?

We received this comment from someone on our blog. This comment has been reposted exactly as we received it:

"You may be too busy to take in new clients, but it is really sad when you mistreat them. If you are a good company, your employees should be trained to deal with people going through difficult times. It is unacepatable to have one of your supervisors stating on the phone that you are too busy and you do not want more bussiness!"

We want to thank whoever left this comment, and are very disappointed that we cannot directly answer this comment, as we don't know who it was who left it, what supervisor they were talking to, or what their situation was!

Please be assured that all of our supervisors, in fact all of our employees, go through extensive training and are very well versed at what they do. There are times when we are extremely busy, but we pride ourselves in the time we take to treat our customers as people, not as claims, and get them back to home / school / work as quickly and efficiently as possible. Take a look at our testimonials page, and you will see how impressed our clients have been with our service.

We understand that going through a restoration is a confusing and emotional time. We take pride in saying that we do treat our customers with compassion. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this comment.

Sunglo Services

Fireplace Safety: Part 2

What did you think of our first list? Disaster prevention is so key here. No one wants a nice evening by the fire to turn into an emergency. Here are some more helpful hints to keep your fireplace safe and functional.

• use a fireplace gate.
• approved fireplace tools are recommended
• never burn garbage, rolled newspapers, charcoal or plastic in the fireplace
• avoid using gasoline or any liquid accelerant
• Clean out ashes from previous fires and store them in a noncombustible container with a tight-fitting lid. Keep the container outside and away from the house.
• Never leave a fire unattended
• Make sure the fire is completely out before closing the damper

Source: www.disastersafety.org

Fireplace Safety: Part 1

We are going into fireplace season soon ... but we don't really think about the fireplace until we are ready to fire it up. The truth there is some maintenance that should happen every year to keep this popular heat source operational.

• annual inspections by a professional chimney sweep
• regular cleaning to keep the fireplace free of obstructions and creosote
• installation of a removable cap at the top of the chimney to keep out debris and animals
• installation of a spark arrestor with mesh
• keep the area around the fireplace free of combustible materials
• keep the screen closed when using the fireplace
• keep glass doors open when using the fireplace

Healthy Indoor Environment

The colder weather is on its way, and all of us will be spending more time inside. But the Environmental Protection Agency says that air inside your home is more polluted than the air outside your home - two to five times more. One way that you can help improve your air quality is by keeping your humidity level below 60%. Allergens and mold are less likely to thrive with lower humidity levels. Be sure to vacuum often to keep mold spores, dust, soil and allergens at bay. And having your rugs and plush furniture cleaned once a year by a IICRC-certified firm...Like SunGlo...will reinforce your clean air efforts. Then you will be able to maintain a healthy indoor environment!