Crime and Trauma Scene Cleanup in Bremerton, WA

Independent local cleanup companies handle crime and trauma scene cleanup in Bremerton after an assault, a serious accident or a death by suicide. Cleanup can begin only after police, and the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office¹ if someone died, have released the property. Biohazard Network connects you with an independent local company that you hire directly; we do not do the cleanup ourselves.

If you are reading this after something painful, take it one step at a time. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential support by call, text or chat at any time, and its counselors can also support someone worried about a loved one.

What this cleanup involves

This work covers what is left after a crime, such as an assault, a homicide or a break-in where someone was hurt. It also covers a serious accident that was not a crime, and a death by suicide. The aim is that the family, landlord or employer never has to see or handle anything.

Ordinary cleaning is not enough, because the area may hold a biohazard: material such as blood that can carry germs able to make people sick. Household products do not reach what soaks into floors and furniture, and they do not protect the person cleaning.

What happens first

Police control the property while they investigate. If someone died, the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office¹ is also involved. A medical examiner is an appointed county official who investigates deaths; this office investigates all sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths in Kitsap County. You can reach the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office at 360.731.6843.

Scene release means police, and the medical examiner if involved, have finished their work and handed the property back. Neither of them cleans afterward. The office’s family Resource Guide says it does not endorse or recommend any specific providers, so choosing a company is up to you.

While you wait:

• Do not clean, move or throw away anything in the affected area.
• Close the door if you can, and keep children, pets and visitors out.
• If a crime was involved, ask police for a copy of the report.
• You do not have to decide everything today.

After a death by suicide

The funeral home cares for the person who died. The Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office¹ says personal property it secures is released to the funeral home with the body, and its investigators carry a pamphlet for families that lists grief-counseling resources. A cleanup company can take the hardest part off your shoulders, so you never have to go into the room. If privacy matters to you, ask before hiring how the company handles discretion, such as how its vehicles are marked.

For property managers and employers

After an accident at a rental, shop or workplace, keep tenants, staff and the public away from the area until the work is done. Afterward, ask the company for written records of what was removed, how the area was disinfected and how waste was disposed of.

What to expect from the company you hire

Crews wear protective equipment such as gloves, suits and face protection. It guards against bloodborne pathogens, which are germs carried in blood that can cause disease, and OPIM, short for other potentially infectious materials, meaning certain body fluids that can carry the same germs. Ask the company to explain each step:

• Containment: sealing off the area so contamination does not spread.
• Removal: taking out porous materials, which are things like carpet, padding and drywall that absorb fluids and cannot be fully cleaned.
• Disinfection: treating remaining surfaces with products that kill germs.
• Odor work: treating any odor after its source is removed; see odor remediation in Bremerton.
• Records: photos and a written summary for your insurer.

Removed materials may be biomedical waste, which Washington law limits to listed types, including discarded human blood and items containing free-flowing blood. In Kitsap County, hauling it is regulated by the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) and the Kitsap Public Health District² (KPHD), and haulers need UTC approval and a KPHD Solid Waste Hauling Permit, so ask the company who will haul it away. If sharps, meaning needles, syringes or blades, turn up, leave them for the crew. If the problem is limited to blood or other fluids, see blood and bodily fluid cleanup in Bremerton.

How to check a company

Before you hire, ask how the company’s crew follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard³, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, an industry standard from the IICRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification), a non-profit for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. You can also look the business up yourself with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) tool Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and the certifications guide explains what these mean.

Does insurance cover it?

Homeowners insurance sometimes covers this work, so call your agent before assuming either way; the Office of the Insurance Commissioner⁴ (OIC) says you can ask whether a loss is covered without filing a claim. Hold on to the police report if a crime was involved, since the OIC says to notify police and keep a copy. Read any paperwork slowly before signing, because the OIC warns that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights. You can pick the company yourself: the OIC says homeowners have the right to choose their own contractor for covered repairs. If you rent, check your own policy, since the OIC says a landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s personal property. If you get stuck, the OIC’s Consumer Advocacy line and “Ask an insurance expert” form are its help routes.

The Crime Victims Compensation Program

The Crime Victims Compensation Program⁵ of L&I⁵ lists crime scene cleanup under what it does not pay for, so plan to handle cleanup through insurance or directly with the company. It may still help a family with medical and dental treatment, mental health treatment, grief counseling and funeral expenses. If you think of applying, a person must have been physically injured or mentally traumatized by a gross misdemeanor or felony in Washington, and the crime must have been reported to law enforcement with cooperation in the investigation. File any insurance claims as well, because the program pays only after primary insurance.

Cleanup in Bremerton

Bremerton is an incorporated city, so if repairs after cleanup need a permit, the city’s Department of Community Development processes permit applications. Ask each company where it is based and how it will reach the property; one coming from the Tacoma side would cross the Tacoma Narrows Bridge on SR 16, which meets SR 3 at Gorst, at the western end of Sinclair Inlet. For a health concern at the property or for death certificates, the Kitsap Public Health District² offers Report a Public Health Concern and Birth & Death Certificates, and you can reach the Kitsap Public Health District at 360-728-2235 or online. More local information is on the Bremerton page and the Kitsap County page.

Crime and trauma scene cleanup: every town we cover