PA Company Offers Fire Stations Free COVID-19 Cleanings

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First responders — whether they’re emergency medical service providers, firefighters or law enforcement officers — are critical during times of crisis. Now more than ever, it’s vital that these workers are healthy enough to do their jobs.

That’s why Mammoth Restoration — a water, fire and smoke damage restoration company with locations across the state, including State College and Pleasant Gap — has been offering its cleaning and sanitation services to area fire departments over the past weeks, free of charge.

It started with Rich Olsen, an employee at Mammoth and a volunteer firefighter in Centre County who recognized the need to help out local fire stations.

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“(COVID-19) cleaning is fairly expensive, and some fire departments just struggle to keep the lights on or to keep fuel in their vehicles to respond to calls,” Olsen said. “I thought it was a good idea to offer these departments a sanitizing and cleaning, so they could stay safe when they go out into their community.”

The one- to three-hour process involves wiping down highly-touched areas with a disinfectant called Shockwave. The employees then use a machine called an ultra low volume fogger, which turns the liquid chemical into droplets and disperses it over large rooms, to sanitize every part of the station.

Mammoth has now cleaned more than 20 fire departments.

Because Mammoth employees have to deal with similar chemicals and personal protective equipment on a regular basis, they’ve been able to utilize their stock of these items, which are currently in high demand and low supply. It also gives the Mammoth employees work to do, since nonessential “cosmetic” repairs were nixed in order to avoid spreading the virus.

Before every cleaning, Mammoth asks fire station staff if anyone there has had flu-like symptoms in the past 14 days. If the answer is yes, the cleaning procedures become much more careful, incorporating a decontamination (or “decon”) chamber as well as full plastic suits and protective gear.

So far, however, none of the stations have reported symptoms, so Mammoth has been using a more preventative approach to the cleanings. Olsen said the company is prepared for both scenarios.

“We’ve done as much research as we possibly could and we trained ourselves,” Olsen said. “Right now, there’s no product on the market that prevents the spread of the virus, so all we can do is help out and clean as we go.”

Olsen said he has told every station Mammoth has cleaned so far that if they want the service done again, the company will provide it. A second cleaning prior to businesses in Pennsylvania reopening would ensure that the departments are clean before people start coming through them again.

One company that has taken advantage of this opportunity is the Boalsburg Fire Company, which will likely be cleaned again prior to reopening to the public. Van Winter, the chief of the company, said that even though there aren’t a lot of people currently moving through the station, the cleaning provided assurance that no one would contract the virus from any surfaces.

“It was nice knowing that the people that are there are going in and out of a clean environment because of the professional cleaning that was given to the station,” Winter said. “We are more than likely going to ask them to do the cleaning again, just because of the confidence and the safety of it.”

Michael Bennett, the marketing manager of Mammoth Restoration, said it made sense for the company to help firefighters since they often work alongside each other. The fire department puts out a fire, and Mammoth helps homeowners understand the insurance and restoration processes.

“We are a tight-knit community, our friends and families are all connected in some way, so if there’s a fire tomorrow and there’s not a fire company that’s healthy enough to respond, that could be the difference between life and death,” Bennett said. “(COVID-19 cleaning) just seems like a simple thing we can offer to have a little bit of reassurance that they’re able to help us in our time of need.”

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Visit the Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.) at www.centredaily.com

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