chawke

Strangely there's no longer such a smell in the building hall (even right next to the fire apt entrance), just my apartment. Maybe it's in the flooring, or it's something else. Either way I think I'll wait for the fire apartment repair to see if that helps.

No, you're right. :S Is it possible for the wall underneath to be charred but not the exterior (in the hall, facing the fire apartment)? Guess another renovation may be necessary.

Thanks but I don't see any burned material in my apartment (after the aforementioned sooty water leakage clean which was at the other end) as it was sealed at the time of the fire. It seems to be just a very distracting smell and maybe harmful chemicals.

Actually the smoky smell has returned after the two ~15-minute ozone sessions. I notice it a lot when I enter the apartment and when I wake up as I guess I'm no longer nose-blind at those times. I'll run it for longer periods and see if that helps. If not, guess I'll have to move when it's feasible to sell (which may not be now, as still waiting on repairs to the fire-damaged apartment opposite mine, which won't happen til the fire report is received).

Thanks for the advice. Good to know it's not necessarily harmful. I used an ozone generator for two 15-minute periods last week at either end of the apartment and it eliminated much if not virtually all of the smell. At this point I assume it's safe to start living there again.

There was a fire in an apartment facing directly opposite mine a few weeks ago, literally a few feet from my apartment, which destroyed the tenant's apartment (they've been relocated). I was away at the time. The damaged apartment is yet to undergo cleaning/renovation. While I did not notice any structural damage to my own apartment, there was sooty water leakage through the front door (now cleaned) and a fire smoke smell. Special fans were used to help clean the air in the hallways, but they weren't put in apartments. For my apartment I opened all windows and placed fans blowing outwards, and used an air purifier and AC. I did that for at least a few hours at a time for a number of days - whenever I was at my apartment - but have been primarily staying at my girlfriend's ever since the fire as I still notice a smoke smell despite my cleaning efforts. Does the smell necessarily mean there are harmful chemicals present in the air in my apartment? Are there any additional steps you'd recommend? Thanks.

I bought a cable with a preposition 65 notice for lead and lead compounds. This notice isn't found for many other cables but I realize it can be excluded from packaging in areas where not required. Is it that most cords/cables still contain lead but don't have notices, or most today don't have lead?