How to Prevent Property Loss During a Fire

While the ultimate goal is to prevent fires in your home or business, it’s wise to have protective measures in place to slow the flames and minimize damage in case a fire breaks out. Here’s how to prevent catastrophic property loss should a fire ignite in your building.

Design the Structure to Slow the Spread of Fire

During new construction or renovation projects, never forget the importance of fire protection. Following local building and fire codes is the best way to ensure the structure of your building is set up to slow the spread of fire. Here are a few examples:

• Self-closing fire doors: Steel doors are available with different fire ratings ranging from 20 minutes to three hours. The longer the rating, the better the door withstands the heat of a fire. Self-closing doors ensure the fire rating gets put to good use.
• Fire dampers in the ductwork: Smoke, heat, and flames can travel through ductwork. When dampers close automatically as the fire alarm activates, this slows the spread of fire and helps prevent property loss in rooms far away from the fire’s point of origin.

Follow Important Safety Protocols

With fire safety always in the back of your mind, you can take steps to make your building less vulnerable to fire on a daily basis. For example:

• Clean up dust and debris: Small combustible waste on the floor, such as sawdust and lint, can spread fire very rapidly. If you run a facility with this type of debris, practice good housekeeping and don’t allow it to accumulate on the floor.
• Store flammable materials properly: If your business deals with flammable liquids and gases, store them in suitable containers in a safe area. Flammables can explode in a fire, rapidly accelerating its spread through the building.
• Don’t block fire sprinkler heads: It’s easy to ignore your fire protection systems from day to day, but be sure never to block sprinkler heads with shelving or other obstructions since this could drastically reduce their effectiveness at fighting a fire.

Have the Right Firefighting Equipment on Hand

You may want to include certain firefighting equipment in your building, including:

• Fire extinguishers: Portable extinguishers put the firefighting power in the hands of people who witness the fire start. Their quick response may be enough to extinguish the blaze swiftly, minimizing property loss as a result.
• Fire blankets: These safety devices are useful for preventing damage during a fire in a home or business. They are designed to extinguish fires in their earliest stages before they grow out of control.

Install Automatic Fire Protection Equipment

Sometimes, an active approach is necessary to put out fires before they cause extensive damage. In addition to arming your employees with fire blankets and extinguishers, consider installing this automatic fire protection equipment:

• Fire sprinklers: Water is an effective extinguishing agent for ordinary fires, but sometimes blazes break out when no one’s around. That’s why fire sprinklers are so important in both homes and businesses. They offer 24/7 protection against unexpected fires, whether you’re in the building or not.
• Automatic fire suppression systems: Not all fires respond well to water. In areas of your building where grease fires, electrical fires, and flammable liquid fires are likely to occur, a fire suppression system may be preferable to sprinklers.

If you’re looking to prevent property loss with certain fire protection equipment, Kauffman Co. is your best resource. We install, inspect, repair, maintain, and replace fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire suppression systems, and more. To learn about how we can serve your Houston-area home or business, please contact us today.