1. Open Cabinet doors, remove side panels and covers, and pull out chassis drawers to allow water to run out of equipment.
2. Set up fans to move room temperature air through the equipment for general drying. Move portable equipment to dry air conditioned areas.
3. Use compressed air at no higher than 50 psi to blow out trapped water.
4. Use hand held dryers on lowest setting to dry connectors, backplane wirewraps, and printed circuit cards. (Caution: Keep the dryer well away from components and wires.Overheating of electrical components can cause permanent damage.)
5. Use cotton tipped swabs for hard to reach places. Lightly dab the surfaces to remove residual moisture. Do not use cotton tipped swabs on wirewrap terminals.
6. Water displacement aerosol sprays containing Freon-alcohol mixtures are effective in first step drying of critical components.

Follow up with professional restoration as soon as possible.

Even with this extensive recovery process there is no guarantee the unit will ever properly function.

Other specialized extinguishing agents, such as foam and dry chemical powders, extinguish most fires but may have a long lasting effect on equipment. They can even damage equipment not affected by the fire. While very effective fire fighting agents in the right applications, these agents are not normally used to protect sensitive hazards in normally occupied areas.

Fortunately there are fire protection tools that do protect highly valuable and sensitive areas; Clean Agent Fire Suppression Systems. Clean agent systems not only protect an enclosure from fire, they protect the contents as well! Including people, documents, and equipment. Clean agent systems work on class A, B, and C fires and react quickly to extinguish a fire at its earliest stages. Using early detection and rapid extinguishment, clean agent systems eliminate the fire, reduce the damage to equipment, and increase the safety of people in the fire area .

Clean agents extinguish fires as a gas, which gives them the ability to permeate into cabinets and obstructed areas. It also makes them uniquely suited to protect the electronics hidden inside a piece of equipment, a likely place for a fire to start. By thoroughly flooding the area with a gaseous fire fighting agent, even obscured or hard to reach fires are quickly extinguished, usually long before they can be seen. After extinguishment, the agent is readily ventilated from the room along with any byproducts of the fire. Unlike water, these fire fighting agents are non-conductive and non-corrosive, making them safe to use on and around live electrical equipment. There is no residue to cleanup, no lingering materials to slowly degrade equipment, and no need for an expensive "Disaster Recovery" process. Operations are brought back online and productive in a very short time.

Most agents are also safe to use in occupied areas. These agents have undergone extensive toxicity testing to prove they are compatible with people. While NFPA recommends always exiting the hazard in the event of a fire, it is important that people not be harmed by the extinguishing system. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in the Significant New Applications Policy (SNAP), provides toxicity guidance for the use of new clean extinguishing agents through the use of LOAEL (Lowest Observable Adverse Effect Level) and NOAEL (No Observable Adverse Effect Level) values. Occupied hazard areas can be safely protected by agents up to an agent's LOAEL concentration, provided the area can be exited in one minute. For longer exposures, agent concentration should remain below the NOAEL level. The physical benefits of a clean extinguishing agent are many, but a greater value is what these fire-fighting agents can do for your business. In today's highly competitive global economy, any interruption or loss of service can be disastrous. Our increased reliance on sophisticated electronics, telecommunications and other valuable equipment, requires protecting those assets as effectively as possible. Clean agent systems are the best way to keep critical operations running.

Historically, fires have had a significant negative impact on business. Industry studies show that 43 percent of business closed by a significant fire never reopen, and another 29 percent fail within three years. A strong testament to the value of good, effective, fire protection. The immediate effect is lost assets. Most people view assets in terms of tangible items: equipment, computers, supplies, and product inventory. The dollar value of these items can range into the millions. In some circumstances the value is immeasurable. Consider the effect of a fire in a museum, a one-of-a-kind piece of equipment, a library, or a record storage vault. The lost items are irreplaceable at any cost. For these hazards, fire damage and the collateral damage that can occur with some protection methods is simply unacceptable.

Saving valuables from fire makes good sense. But destruction of tangible assets is only one problem. A study by the Network Reliability Council, an organization established by the Federal Communications Commission, found advances in technology have created a higher level of risk exposure. It is no surprise that businesses are doing more today, with much less equipment and staff. The repercussions of a fire, even a small one, have a greater impact today than the same size fire of 10, or even five, years ago.