Crime and Trauma Scene Cleanup in Federal Way, WA

Crime and trauma scene cleanup in Federal Way is done by independent cleanup companies that a family, landlord or property manager hires directly, and the work can start only after police, and the King County Medical Examiner’s Office¹ if someone died, release the property. Biohazard Network connects you with an independent local company; it does not clean anything, and the company you hire does the work. Until the scene is released, you do not need to do anything with the affected area.

Whatever happened, you do not have to handle the cleanup yourself, and you do not have to go through the hours ahead alone. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential emotional support to people in distress, and its counselors can also help someone who is worried about a loved one. You can reach a counselor by call, text or chat at any time, day or night.

What this cleanup involves

This page covers cleanup after a crime such as an assault, a homicide or a break-in where someone was hurt, after a serious accident that was not a crime, and after a death by suicide. In each case the area may hold a biohazard, meaning biological material such as blood or other body fluids that can carry germs able to make people sick.

Ordinary cleaning is not enough. Fluids can soak into porous materials, which are things that absorb liquid, such as carpet, padding, drywall, upholstery and mattresses. Wiping a surface can leave contamination underneath. Crime and trauma scene cleaners remove and disinfect what was left behind, so the family does not have to see or handle any of it.

What happens first: releasing the scene

Police control the property while they investigate. If someone died, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office¹ also takes part. A medical examiner is a public office that investigates certain deaths to find out the cause. This office investigates sudden, violent, unexpected and suspicious deaths that occur in King County, and its work at the scene includes photographs, evidence collection and information from family and other witnesses.

Scene release is the point when the investigating agencies say they are finished and the property can be entered and cleaned. Before release, do not touch, move, wash or throw away anything in the affected area. Items that contributed to a death are not returned to the family; they go to the investigating law enforcement agency. For questions about a death investigation, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office¹ can be reached at 206-731-3232, ext. 5, available 24/7.

After a death by suicide

If your loved one died by suicide, please take things one step at a time. While the examination is under way, the family chooses a funeral home or crematory, and the office asks families to select one within 3 days. Viewing takes place at the funeral home, and personal effects collected during the investigation go there too. Families are not charged for the investigation or examination.

Once the home is released, the cleanup company can take care of the affected area so that no one in the family needs to go into it. If privacy matters to you, ask the company how it handles discretion, such as how its vehicles are marked and what its crew says if neighbors ask.

What to expect from the company you hire

The crew should wear protective equipment, such as gloves, suits and eye protection. Ask how they will set up containment, which means sealing off the work area with plastic sheeting or barriers so contamination does not spread. Affected porous materials are cut out and removed. Then comes disinfection, the use of products that kill germs on surfaces after they are cleaned. Lingering odor is treated after its source is gone; see odor remediation in Federal Way.

Washington law defines biomedical waste as specific types of waste, including discarded human blood and materials containing free-flowing blood, and sharps such as used needles. Also ask for written records, such as photos and a list of what was removed, for your insurer. Related situations are covered on blood and bodily fluid cleanup and unattended death cleanup.

Before you hire, ask whether the crew is trained under OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard², 29 CFR 1910.1030, and whether its methods follow the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, written by the Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC), a non-profit for the cleaning and restoration industries. You can also look up the business yourself with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries³ (L&I) tool, Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business³, and the certifications guide explains what each of these means.

Does insurance cover it?

Start by calling your agent or insurance company. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner⁴ says you can ask whether a loss is covered without filing a claim, and that homeowners have the right to choose their own contractor for covered repairs. If a crime caused the loss, keep a copy of the police report to share with your insurer. Read any paperwork a company hands you, because the office warns that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights.

Many families ask about the Crime Victims Compensation Program⁵ of L&I⁵. That program lists crime scene cleanup under what it does not pay for. It may still help a qualifying victim with costs such as mental health treatment, grief counseling, partial wage loss replacement and funeral expenses. It pays only after primary insurance, and the crime must have been reported to law enforcement, with cooperation in the investigation.

For property managers and employers after an accident

Keep tenants, staff and visitors away from the area until it is released and cleaned, and do not ask employees to clean it themselves. If the unit is rented, remind the tenant that a landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s personal property, so they should check their own policy. Afterward, ask the company for records showing what was removed and how it was disposed of.

Federal Way offices and getting help to the property

Federal Way is an incorporated city, so its Community Development Department is the local office for property matters. Its Building Division administers and enforces building codes, including plan review and inspection, which may matter if walls or floors must be rebuilt after removal. Its Code Compliance division handles enforcement cases on private property on a complaint basis.

Public Health – Seattle & King County is the county’s health department, with guidance on biomedical waste and on how to handle used or found sharps; its main number is 206-296-4600. More local resources are on the Federal Way page and the King County page.

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