In Kingston, crime and trauma scene cleanup is done by independent private companies, not by the police or Kitsap County. Cleanup can begin only after law enforcement, and the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 if someone died, has released the scene. Biohazard Network connects you with an independent local company that you hire directly; we do not do the cleanup.
If you are reading this after a sudden loss, please be gentle with yourself. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, confidential support by call, text or chat at any time, day or night, and its counselors can also help someone worried about a loved one in a mental health crisis.
What this cleanup involves
Crime and trauma scene cleaners are independent companies that remove and disinfect what is left after an assault, a homicide, a break-in where someone was hurt, a serious accident, or a death by suicide, so the family does not have to see or handle anything. The materials involved are biohazards: blood or other body fluids that can carry bloodborne pathogens, which are germs in blood that can cause disease. Household cleaning is not enough. Fluids can soak into porous materials, such as carpet, padding, fabric and drywall, which absorb liquid and may need to be cut out and removed.
What happens first
Investigators control the scene until release
Police control the property until their work is done. If someone died, the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 is involved too. A medical examiner is an appointed official who investigates deaths; this office investigates all sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths in Kitsap County. Scene release means investigators tell you they are finished and the property is back in your hands. Neither the police nor the county cleans afterward.
You can reach the Kitsap County Medical Examiner’s Office1 at 360.731.6843. Its investigators carry a pamphlet for families that answers common questions and lists grief-counseling resources, and families can request the office’s report through a family declaration form linked from its page.
What not to touch
Before release, do not go back in to clean or move anything. After release, you still do not need to handle anything yourself. Do not throw damaged items away, and if you need something from the property, ask the cleanup company to set it aside. Sooner is better once the scene is released, because the area cannot be used safely until it is cleaned.
After a death by suicide
No one should have to clean after losing someone to suicide. The funeral home cares for your loved one, and personal property the medical examiner’s office secured is released to the funeral home with the body, so ask the funeral home about personal effects. The cleanup company takes on the cleaning itself so that family members do not have to. If privacy matters, ask before hiring whether the company uses unmarked vehicles and how its crew answers neighbors’ questions. The office’s family Resource Guide states that it does not endorse or recommend any specific providers, so the choice is yours.
For property managers and employers
After an accident at a workplace, rental or shared building, keep tenants, staff and visitors away from the area until the work is done. Before the crew leaves, ask for written records and photos showing what was removed, how surfaces were disinfected, and how cleaning was confirmed. Those records help with insurance and with later questions.
What to expect from the company you hire
Ask how the company will handle each step:
- Protective equipment: gloves, suits and respiratory protection for the crew.
- Containment: sealing off the work area so contamination does not spread.
- Removal: cutting out and bagging affected porous materials.
- Disinfection: applying products that kill germs on the surfaces that remain.
- Odor work: done after the source is removed; see odor remediation in Kingston.
- Waste: biomedical waste is Washington’s legal term for certain listed types of waste, including discarded blood and materials 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, so ask who will haul it.
Checking a company
Before you hire, ask the company how its work follows OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard3, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup from the IICRC, a non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. You can also look the business up in the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) tool called Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business, and the certifications guide explains what each of these means.
Does insurance cover crime scene cleanup?
Homeowners insurance sometimes covers this work, depending on the policy. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner4 (OIC) says you can ask your agent or insurance company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim. If a crime caused the damage, notify police and keep a copy of the report. You have the right to choose your own contractor for covered repairs, and the OIC warns that signing a contractor’s assignment of benefit form could affect your rights. Renters should know that a landlord’s policy does not cover a renter’s personal property.
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 works. Insurance companies can’t deny your claim if a covered loss is due to domestic abuse and you didn’t help cause the loss; if you file a claim for a property loss, you’ll also need to file a police report, says the Commissioner’s page on domestic abuse and insurance.
Usually not covered: A policy may exclude losses caused by intentional or fraudulent acts of anyone it insures, under RCW 48.18.550.
Ask your insurer: “What does my policy cover for cleanup after a crime, a serious injury or a suicide in my home, and do any exclusions apply?” Source: Filing a homeowner insurance claim (Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner)4
Washington’s Crime Victims Compensation Program
The Crime Victims Compensation Program5 of L&I5 does not pay for crime scene cleanup; L&I lists cleanup among the costs it does not cover. For a person physically injured or mentally traumatized by a gross misdemeanor or felony in Washington, reported to law enforcement with cooperation in the investigation, it may help with grief counseling, mental health treatment, medical and dental treatment, and funeral expenses. It calls itself the payer of last resort, paying only after primary insurance.
Crime and trauma scene cleanup in Kingston
Because Kingston is an unincorporated community, code complaints about a property go to the Department of Community Development, which takes code complaints about property in unincorporated Kitsap County. For waste questions, the Kitsap Public Health District2 has a Solid & Hazardous Waste program and can be reached at 360-728-2235. Whether the property is a storefront in Kingston old town, the small-town commercial core, or a home near Kola Kole Park, the county park on NE Maine Street, the first step is the same: wait for release.
Ask any company where its crew is based and when it can reach Kingston.
If a death was not discovered right away, see unattended death cleanup in Kingston. The Kingston biohazard cleanup page and Kitsap County page cover other services.
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.
- Kitsap County Medical Examiner (opens in a new tab)After a sudden or unexpected death, cleanup waits until this office is done.
- Kitsap Public Health District (opens in a new tab)For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab.
- Kitsap Public Health: permitted waste haulers (opens in a new tab)Cleanup companies that haul away waste here need this permit.
- 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.