October is recognized as a time to remind everyone about the dangers of fire and how to avoid hazards. Whether you’re thinking about your home or your workplace, fire prevention is a critical process that can’t be ignored.
This year’s campaign is focused on the sounds of fire safety. Read on to learn more about the risks of fire in any situation and tips to keep you, your family, and your property safe!
Important Fire Prevention Facts
The most important part of fire safety is understanding the true risks of a fire. It’s easy to underestimate the potential of a fire, especially when most people haven’t experienced a major one in their life. But fire can be deadly – spreading before you may even realize it’s happening.
Here are some important fire facts to understand for this year’s Fire Prevention Week:
Fire Is Only One Part of the Risk
Your property is hopefully protected by smoke detectors. Smoke isn’t just a secondary part of a fire, it’s equally as deadly as the fire itself. In fact, smoke is statistically three times deadlier than fire! Smoke inhalation reduces your overall oxygen levels, which will leave you vulnerable as you begin to lose consciousness or collapse entirely.
Thick smoke can spread from a fire in just a minute or two to fill up a small apartment or critical areas of the home. Not all fires start in the kitchen! You can’t plan for exactly where a fire will start, which means any part of your home could be susceptible to filling with smoke before you even realize it, especially without smoke detectors.
Fire Moves Quick
Movies and media can portray fire as a slowly encroaching threat, but that’s not the reality. A small controllable fire, like a grease fire in the kitchen, can build into an uncontrollable one in mere seconds. If you weren’t present when and where the first spark of a fire began, you’ll most likely need to evacuate instead of attempting to put out the fire.
Because fire moves so quick, it’s possible to get trapped if you don’t take immediate action to escape. There’s rarely time to think about saving belongings or finding a fire extinguisher that’s in the next room. That’s why it’s important to keep a fire extinguisher near locations likely to experience a fire, like the kitchen!
Fire Emergencies are Dark
We’ve relied on fire as a source of light for centuries. But when a fire begins inside your home or office, the light it provides is quickly eclipsed by thick black smoke. When alarms go off or you recognize a fire, quick evacuation is the best way to avoid becoming lost. For office complexes and larger buildings, the inability to see can be just as dangerous as any of the direct effects of heat or smoke inhalation.
Tips for Protecting Yourself from These Fire Risks
Smoke Detectors Are Non-Negotiable
Every building needs smoke detectors. Without them, your risk of injury or death in a fire increases dramatically. When a fire happens, the smoke spreads more quickly than the fire does. When your smoke alarm first goes off, it’s your best chance at evacuating safely.
Fires can happen when you’re unable to recognize them directly. You may be sleeping, listening to music with headphones on, or simply distracted with a hobby. The noise of a smoke detector going off should always be investigated, even if you think it’s just a minor cooking accident or an error.
More importantly, you should always test your smoke detectors regularly. Even modern smoke detectors, which can alert you when they’re low on batteries, can die unexpectedly. If you’re on vacation when the low battery alert triggers, you may return home to an unprotected home.
Monitored Fire Alarms
In homes or offices where fire alarms are installed, their primary goal is to evacuate the building before it’s too late. In the stress of the moment, even people who are evacuated safely may not be thinking about contacting the fire department for assistance.
Habitec Security provides ways to connect your fire alarms to your monitored security system, giving you an additional layer of security. When these fire alarms are triggered, our professional team at our award-winning Central Station will be alerted. They’ll review the alarm and, if necessary, contact the fire department to ensure a fast response time.
A monitored fire alarm can be the difference between major fire repairs or having to completely rebuild your home and replace all of your personal belongings. Because fire spreads quick, every second counts. And Habitec Security’s monitoring team is here to make sure your local emergency services are contacted quickly.
Businesses Need Business Fire Solutions
What works in a small home or apartment isn’t always what’s best for a larger building. From warehouses to office complexes, fire alerts and evacuations can be complicated. That’s why we provide unique business fire safety solutions designed to improve awareness of fire emergencies, offer ways to communicate during an alert, and get your employees out safely.
Habitec Security is a member of the NFPA, has NICET certified fire technicians, and decades of experience to provide your business with the most comprehensive fire safety solutions available.
Contact Us Today to Secure Your Property!
Continue to keep your home, business, and family safe! Our security experts can perform a security evaluation and provide custom-designed, integrated security solutions backed by award-winning, 24-hour local monitoring. Contact us today!
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