A private biohazard cleanup company that you hire directly cleans a home after an unattended death, meaning a person died alone and was not found right away. In Lacey, the Thurston County Coroner’s Office1 and the funeral home come first, and cleanup starts only after the home is released. Biohazard Network can connect you with an independent local company, but it does not do the cleanup work.
If you have lost someone, or a tenant in a unit you manage has died, we are sorry. You are not expected to clean anything yourself. This page explains what comes next.
Why ordinary cleaning is not enough
The affected area can hold biohazards, which are biological materials that can carry disease, including bloodborne pathogens, germs in blood that can make people sick through contact. Household cleaning products cannot reach what has soaked into porous materials, meaning things like carpet, padding, mattresses and drywall that absorb liquid. Professional cleanup protects the health of anyone who uses the home later, and it protects the home itself, because material left inside floors or walls can keep affecting the space after the surface looks clean.
What happens first in Lacey
The Thurston County Coroner’s Office and the funeral home
The Thurston County Coroner’s Office1 investigates sudden, violent, unexpected and suspicious deaths in the county. Under Washington law, the coroner’s jurisdiction covers a person found dead, and a person who died suddenly while in apparent good health without medical attendance in the 36 hours before death.
Deputy Coroners are in frequent contact with families and help with answers about the death and next steps toward final arrangements. The funeral home you choose generates the death certificate, which a physician or the Coroner’s Office1 signs. The Thurston County Coroner’s Office can be reached at (360) 867-2140.
Scene release and what not to touch
Scene release means the coroner, and police if they came, have finished at the home and allow others to enter and work. Until then, leave everything as it is. Even after release, you do not need to enter the affected room, move furniture or throw anything away. If you must go in for important papers or a pet, keep it brief, stay clear of the affected area, and close that room’s door if you can.
What to expect from the company you hire
Cleanup workers wear protective equipment such as gloves, suits and respirators. The crew sets up containment, which means sealing off the work area so contamination does not spread through the home. They remove affected porous materials, then carry out disinfection, meaning they apply products that kill germs on the remaining surfaces. Odor work comes only after the source is removed; the odor remediation page for Lacey covers that step.
Washington’s legal definition of biomedical waste is limited to a fixed list of types, such as discarded human blood and materials containing free-flowing blood. Under Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission rules, a company that collects, transports and disposes of biomedical waste must keep an operating plan that holds that waste separate from other solid waste until treatment or disposal. Ask who will haul the waste, and ask for photos, a written scope of work and an itemized list of removed materials for your insurer.
Before you hire, ask whether the crew is trained under OSHA’s bloodborne pathogens standard2, 29 CFR 1910.1030, and whether the company follows the ANSI/IICRC S540 Standard for Trauma and Crime Scene Cleanup, written by the IICRC, a non-profit organization for the inspection, cleaning and restoration industries. You can look the business up in the Department of Labor & Industries3 (L&I) tool called Verify a Contractor, Tradesperson or Business3, and the certifications guide explains each of these.
How long it takes, and what makes it longer
A company cannot fairly name a firm timeline before seeing the home, so ask for the planned steps in writing rather than a promise. These things add to the work:
- How long before the person was found. More time means material may have spread deeper into porous items and the layers beneath them.
- Porous materials. Each mattress, chair or stretch of carpet that cannot be disinfected must be removed and packaged for disposal.
- Flooring and subfloor. The subfloor is the structural layer under carpet, vinyl or wood; if contamination reached it, sections may have to be cut out.
- Odor work. Treatment begins only after the source is gone, and the company may need to check results and repeat it.
- Rebuilding. Replacing floors or drywall is a separate restoration job. Lacey is an incorporated city, and its Community and Economic Development Department handles land use and construction permitting. See how biohazard cleanup fits with restoration.
Insurance can shape the schedule too. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner4 says you can ask your agent or company whether a loss is covered without filing a claim, so that call can happen while you choose a company.
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 works5. 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 exclude.
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)4
If you are the landlord or property manager
When a tenant who was the sole occupant of a rental dies, RCW 59.18.595 sets out the landlord’s duties, and those duties should shape the cleanup plan. On learning of the death, you may enter and immediately dispose of perishable food, hazardous materials and garbage, but the tenant’s other belongings follow a notice process. Before the crew starts, decide with the tenant representative, who is first the personal representative of the tenant’s estate if you know of one, which affected items will be removed, and ask the company to leave everything else in place.
Your written notice, mailed or personally delivered promptly, goes to people including the emergency contact on the rental application. It states that the tenancy ends 15 days after the notice is mailed or delivered, or on the date rent is paid through, whichever is later. A second written notice is required before you sell or dispose of the tenant’s property, and personal papers and personal photographs are excluded. For future tenants who live alone, you may ask them to name a designated person in writing, separate from the rental agreement.
Lacey and Thurston County details
Whether the home is near Huntamer Park in downtown Lacey or by Long Lake Park on Carpenter Road SE, give the company the exact address and access details when you first reach out. Interstate 5, U.S. 101 and State Route 507 run through the Thurston region, and local planning efforts address congestion on I-5 between Mounts Road and Tumwater, so ask a company how it plans to reach you. The Thurston County Coroner’s Office1 Resources page lists bio-hazard clean-up companies under the heading Bio-Hazard Clean-Up Services, along with funeral homes and support groups. The county’s health agency is the Thurston County Public Health & Social Services Department, whose programs include a Solid and Hazardous Waste Program. To be connected with an independent local company serving Lacey, start from the Lacey page or the Thurston County page.
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.
- Thurston County Coroner (opens in a new tab)After a sudden or unexpected death, cleanup waits until this office is done.
- Thurston County Public Health and Social Services (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.