Driven by Disaster: PuroClean Goes Where They’re Needed Most

While some people avoid disasters at all costs, others run toward them. Keegan Trudgen and Tim Lohse, co-owners of PuroClean Property Restoration Professionals, are naturally compelled to help those impacted by property damage disasters.

Whether from fire and smoke damage, water damage, mold, or biohazard issues, our crew eagerly travels across the country to help families and businesses seeking property damage restoration services.

“Not Our First Rodeo”

Keegan and Tim are proud to own four PuroClean locations in Illinois, one in North Dallas and one in Wisconsin, and their newest site, PuroClean of Green Bay, also in Wisconsin. They know that if they genuinely want to help as many people as possible, they need to go where the disasters happen. “Traveling is just part of what we do,” says Keegan, “It’s not our first rodeo.”

When Keegan and Tim took ownership of their first PuroClean franchise, they played active roles in national disaster responses throughout the country. When Hurricane Irene devastated the east coast of the United States in late August 2011, the team spent weeks there, helping numerous families rebuild.

These experiences shaped the way Keegan and Tim decided they were going to operate the business. National disaster response is one facet of the organization’s business model.

Teamwork at Home or Away

Despite the desire to help everyone possible, Keegan, Tim, and their team know they can’t simply go chasing every disaster. Resources are often limited, and local jobs will always take priority.

The decision to send a team to a disaster site is never easy; as they learned from experience, there is a downside to being overzealous. Keegan and Tim recounted a time when St. Louis was struck with record-setting flooding. When the team traveled to Missouri to help, they discovered that the most impacted areas were cornfields.

The team’s resources, time, and expertise are better suited to helping people’s homes and businesses. There wasn’t much they could do for the crops, so they returned home.

Nationwide Disaster Response

As hurricane season passed and 2020 matured into 2021, another natural disaster soon followed. In February, two massive polar vortexes ravaged Texas, turning the Lone Star State into a tundra. For weeks, snow and ice buried homes, businesses, and millions of residents lost power. Keegan and Tim knew it was an important time for the team to join in the recovery effort.

These vortexes were unlike anything Texas had experienced before. The state’s infrastructure is not equipped to handle severe winter storms, and the extent of the damage proved it. In the north, most plumbing is made of sturdy metals, but in Texas, their pipes are made of PVC (Polyvinyl chloride), a synthetic material that resembles a thick plastic. This is sufficient in the typical subtropical climate, but problems can arise when a winter storm comes. When the water reaches sub-freezing temperatures inside the PVC pipes, it will expand until the pipes burst. This phenomenon was so widespread that Keegan recalled that it seemed like “every building in Dallas had at least one burst pipe.”

The team spent five weeks helping the people of Texas recover from the unprecedented event. During this time, they helped rebuild an office building whose tin roof collapsed under the weight of the ice and snow. When the roof caved in, all the ice melted inside and soaked the interior, causing severe water damage. They spent three weeks on this particular job, but by the time they left, all evidence that there had been any damage was gone entirely.

Lessons Learned

Witnessing disaster after disaster can be a heavy emotional burden to bear. Seeing families uprooted and livelihoods destroyed can affect even the strongest people. Their experiences have gifted them with a perspective that helps them grow with each challenge because they see the resiliency of the communities they have visited.

“When we get there, it’s important to remember that [even though] we’re just visiting, these are actual homes [of] real people. They want to tell you their story,” Keegan says with a smile. “They actually want to explain themselves, most of the time. ‘We swear it doesn’t always look like this!’ is something we hear all the time. It’s actually kind of encouraging to see that people can still make lighthearted jokes in their situations.” 

Most people impacted by disasters are experiencing catastrophic events for the first time, and they turn to the team’s experience for a steady hand to guide them.

The most profound lesson that Keegan and Tim say they have learned from their experiences is to appreciate everything because, ultimately, we are all fragile. This is why he and the whole team at PuroClean do what they do: they are driven by the disaster but compelled by humanity.

For Emergency Property Damage Restoration, Call PuroClean of Green Bay

PuroClean of Green Bay provides state-of-the-art water damage restoration, fire damage restoration service, mold removal, and biohazard cleanup in Green Bay. Our experienced, professional, and compassionate remediation technicians are ready to help mitigate disasters when they strike your property. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Please visit our website or call us at (920) 965-8339 to schedule an appointment today.