Fireservice Disaster Kleenup handles those really big messes

FLORIDA WEEKLY PHOTO EVAN WILLIAMS Greg Frith, Fireservice Disaster Kleenup. When the next big meteor strikes the earth and in particular, the tri-county area (Lee, Charlotte, and Collier), Fireservice Disaster Kleenup will be ready, said spokesperson Greg Frith.

"We clean up some ugly stuff," he said, an amiable smile juxtaposing thoughts of dirty work. "Warehouses covered with soot. Or the Porter paint store fire. It's dark, you're sweating…It's not the cleanest job in the world, but it's a job."

The screensavers in his office near the corner of Metro Parkway and Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers display pictures of New York City during an apocalypse

scenario and his cell-phone plays The Doors, "Riders on the Storm."

Frith said the company, which has been in business in the Fort Myers area for 33 years and is available 24/7, will cleanup just about anything: water, fire damage, mold, hurricane aftermaths, and "specialty services" like crime scene cleanup, and death claims.

"A guy the other day tried to kill himself with a chop saw," Frith said. "He brought the saw into the living room, cut his arm off, and then called 911. They brought him to Tampa. We had to clean up the blood. That's biohazardous waste."

The company employs about 100 people, he said, with offices in North Port, Fort Myers, and Naples. It's owned by Bill Maute, the son of the original owners, and a Fort Myers High classmate of Frith's.

"Naples was a perfect market," he said. "Because you've got a lot of condos. When a pipe breaks in a condo, it spreads to all those floors."

Fireservice is also a general contractor, which means that it has the proper license to rebuild your damaged property, after they've cleaned it up for you. And they work with your insurance company as well, Frith said- although he adds that Fireservice endorses few insurance companies. Most of them (though not all of them), he said, just try to get your disaster fixed the cheapest way they can.

"We live here," Frith said. "We go to church here. We've been here in business thirty years and we'll take care of you. We don't hang people out to dry. We care about our reputation.

"In insurance, you really get what you pay for," he added.

In the big warehouse Fireservice has in back, everything needed to handle a messy disaster is ready. Rows of fans and dehumidifiers wait to be taken to the scene of, say, a washing machine that flooded a house.

"Change your washer hoses!" Frith insists. "Go to Home Deport and spend 15 dollars on the braided washer hoses."

In one corner of the warehouse, boxes filled with biohazardous waste from a recent cleanup, are stacked. Frith walked up to them, checking out a red bag that sat on top.

"Oh, that's a rug with blood on it," he said. "We have to cut everything out that has blood on it."

Frith said the company handles 3 to 4 death claims every month, and come "season," when the "snowbirds" arrive, that number goes up to 7 or 8.

"People come to Florida to do a couple of things," he joked- sort of. "Fish, golf, and die…You know how many (recliners) I've had to haul away? People die in their (recliners) all the time.

Frith said there are always 2 guys on call at night, and when people call in with an emergency, they will always talk to a live employee.

"We pride ourselves on getting there quickly," he stressed. ""There's a fine line between being a hero and a zero, and you have only one chance to be the hero."

Here are some tips Frith shared, to keep your home free of some of the damage Fireservice cleans up:

• Have someone check your home at least a few times a week if you go on vacation or head North for the summers.

• Don't let water sit on the floor in your home. "You need to dry it," he said. "The longer it sits the worse it gets."

• Know where to go to shut off the water in your house. "It's usually a valve outside, where the meter is read," Frith said. "Newer houses also have a shut off valve off to the side of the house."

• Keep all important papers in a fire proof, water proof safe. Frith recommends the ones at Wal-Mart, which cost about $50 dollars. "Floor safes are not waterproof!" he said.

• A statistic: The average person forgets 20 percent of their belongings after a fire. "So know what you own," Frith said. "Take a video camera, walk around your house, and video tape your belongings. If you can't prove to the insurance companies that you own it, and if you can't document it, they won't pay for it."

• Know who you're insured by (you'd be surprised how many don't, Frith said) and know who you would call for help in a disaster, beforehand. Keep that information handy, in your purse, or on a magnet on the refrigerator.

"A little common sense goes a long way," Frith said.

And if you still need Fireservice they can can be reached at: 936-1033. ¦