After an unattended death in Port Townsend, the cleanup is done by an independent biohazard cleanup company that you hire directly, once the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office1, which serves as coroner in Jefferson County, and the funeral home have finished their part. Biohazard Network can connect you with an independent local company, but we do not do the work. You choose the company, and it works for you.
If someone you love, or someone who rented from you, died alone and was not found right away, we are sorry. An unattended death means a person died with no one present and was found later. You are not expected to clean any part of the home.
What this cleanup involves
When a death is not found right away, body fluids can reach past the surface into carpet, padding, mattresses, furniture and sometimes the floor beneath. These are porous materials, meaning materials with tiny openings that soak up liquid, so wiping them does not make them safe. The fluids are a biohazard, a biological material that can carry disease, including bloodborne pathogens, the germs in blood that can make people sick. Household cleaners can hide the problem while leaving its source in place. Professional cleanup protects whoever lives there next and protects the home’s future by removing what ordinary cleaning cannot reach.
What happens first
The coroner and the funeral home
A coroner is the public official who looks into certain deaths. In Jefferson County, the prosecuting attorney serves as coroner, and the role of the coroner is to determine cause and manner of death. Washington law gives the county coroner jurisdiction over deaths such as the sudden death of someone in apparent good health with no medical attendance in the 36 hours before death, a death from an unknown cause, or a person found dead. For questions about this step, contact the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office1 at 360-385-9180. After that, the funeral home your family chooses cares for your loved one.
Scene release and what not to touch
Police or the coroner’s office control the home until they release it. Scene release means they have told you their work there is done. Until then, do not clean or move anything. Afterward, you still do not need to enter the affected room. Keep children and pets out, and do not throw anything away, because the company and any insurer may want to see it. Make a list of papers, keepsakes or photographs you hope to save, and ask the company how it handles them.
What to expect from the company you hire
Ask any company to walk you through its plan before work begins. A complete plan covers these steps:
- Protective equipment. The company’s crew wears gear such as gloves, full-body suits and respirators.
- Containment. This means sealing off the work area, for example with plastic sheeting, so contamination does not spread to other rooms.
- Removal. Affected porous materials, such as carpet, padding and sometimes flooring, are cut out and bagged.
- Disinfection. This means applying products that kill germs to the hard surfaces that remain.
- Odor work. Odor treatment comes after the source is removed, not before. See odor remediation in Port Townsend.
- Waste disposal. Biomedical waste is a set of waste types Washington law lists by name, including discarded human blood and materials containing free-flowing blood. State rules for companies that collect and transport it require an operating plan that keeps it separate from other solid waste until treatment or disposal, so ask who will haul it.
- Records. Ask for photos, a written description of the work, and a list of what was removed, for your insurer.
For insurance, the Office of the Insurance Commissioner2 (OIC) says you can ask your agent or company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim. That is a gentle first step. The OIC also warns that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights, so read any form like that slowly.
Usually covered: Homeowner insurance protects your home and belongings from damage caused by specific risks, says the Insurance Commissioner’s page on how home insurance works3. For damage from those risks, dwelling coverage typically covers repairing or replacing your damaged home.
Usually not covered: Standard homeowner and renter policies exclude wear and tear: insurance covers sudden accidents, not ongoing issues, says the Insurance Commissioner’s smoke damage page, which lists what standard policies exclude4.
Ask your insurer: “Without filing a claim yet, can you tell me if my policy covers cleanup and repairs after a death in my home, and what limits apply?” Source: Filing a homeowner insurance claim (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner)2
Before you hire, ask the company how its work follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard5, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup (the IICRC is a non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries). You can also look the business up yourself with the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) tool Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and the certifications guide explains what each of these means.
How long it takes, and what makes it longer
No company can fairly give a time before it sees the home, so ask for its plan in stages instead. These things add time:
- How long before the person was found. More time can mean more materials and more layers are affected.
- Porous materials. Every piece of carpet, upholstery or bedding that absorbed fluid has to come out.
- Flooring and subfloor. The subfloor is the structural layer under the finished floor. If fluids reached it, sections may need to be cut out.
- Odor work. This starts only after the source is gone.
- Rebuilding. Replacing flooring, drywall or trim is a separate stage after cleanup. The restoration overview explains how that work fits together.
- Insurance steps. If you file a claim, the OIC2 says the insurer has 30 days from the date of the claim to inspect the damage, so ask early whether it wants to see the home before anything is removed.
For landlords and property managers
When a tenant who was the sole occupant dies, RCW 59.18.595 sets out the landlord’s duties. If you manage the unit for an owner, start this before you bring in any company. On learning of the death, you must promptly mail or personally deliver a written notice to people including any known personal representative, any known designated person, and the emergency contact on the rental application. The notice must say the tenancy ends 15 days after it is mailed or delivered, or on the date rent is paid through, whichever is later. Keep a dated copy.
Before cleanup starts, separate what you may remove from what you must hold. The law lets you enter and immediately dispose of perishable food, hazardous materials and garbage. The tenant’s other belongings go to a tenant representative who asks in writing, and a second written notice, giving a date at least 45 days after mailing, must come before you sell or dispose of them. Personal papers and personal photographs are excepted even if no one comes forward, so tell the cleanup company in writing what to set aside.
Port Townsend and Jefferson County
Port Townsend is an incorporated city and the county seat of Jefferson County. The steps above apply whether the home is near Fort Worden Historical State Park, which overlooks Admiralty Inlet at the entrance of Puget Sound, or close to Chetzemoka Park, the city’s first community park, established in 1904. The county health department is Jefferson County Public Health, 360-385-9400, and its programs include a Solid Waste Program. For building questions during a rebuild, the city’s Planning and Community Development Department (PCD) has Planning, Building and Code Compliance divisions.
If the company you choose is based in Kitsap County, WSDOT says there are no convenient alternate routes between Kitsap and Jefferson counties, and the SR 104 Hood Canal Bridge closes to road traffic whenever it opens for passing vessels. Ask where the crew will travel from and how a bridge opening could affect its arrival.
Who to call first
In an emergency, call 911.These official offices may be part of the first steps. They are government pages, not ours.
- Jefferson County Public Health (opens in a new tab)For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab.
- Washington Crime Victims Compensation Program (L&I) (opens in a new tab)If a crime happened, it may help with some costs, such as funeral expenses. It doesn't pay for cleanup.
- Verify a contractor (L&I lookup) (opens in a new tab)Look up whether a company is a registered contractor before work starts.
- Washington State Department of Health (opens in a new tab)State health rules, such as for drug lab cleanup and hantavirus.