Its vital to prepare for all emergencies as a the responsibility of the home or business owner. This means having the proper fire protection equipment installed and in good working order. There are four main kids of fire safety equipment (Smoke Detectors, Fire Alarms, Fire Extinguishers, and Fire Sprinklers) that can protect your home or business. Blue River Restoration has put tips of what equipment you should have in your home or business as the importance of fire protection equipment.
Smoke Detectors
Every home and business should have smoke detectors. There is no debate on that, making sure they do not have dead batteries or are not beeping is important. Also make sure your smoke detector is up to date. The National Fire Protection Association states that three out of every five home fire deaths can be attributed to a lack of working fire alarms.
The best way to minimize that chance of something happening when a fire happens and maximize the effectiveness of your smoke detectors is to position them correctly. Install one on every floor of your home, including outside each sleeping area. Test each smoke detector once a month to ensure it’s operating correctly. Trade out the batteries once a year or as soon as the unit starts beeping. Replace your smoke detectors every 10 years. The importance of fire protection equipment can save several lives when used and checked correctly, smoke detectors is one of them.
Fire Alarms
When it comes to alerts via smoke once a fire happens, smoke detectors alone are sufficient for residential buildings, but large commercial properties require more complete fire alarm systems. In addition to smoke detectors, these may include heat sensors, manual pull stations, and strobe lights and sirens to ensure everyone at risk knows to evacuate the building immediately.
Another advantage of fire alarms is monitoring. Monitoring signals the fire department to dispatch immediately to your location when the alarm sounds or a manual pull station is activated. The importance of fire protection equipment can save several lives when used and checked correctly, fire alarms is one of them.
Fire Extinguishers
Fire extinguishers can be helpful on a small fire, especially portable fire extinguishers. They can serve for life-saving purposes of putting out fires before they grow to an uncontrollable size. Every home and business needs at least one fire extinguisher.
There are different types of fire extinguishers that are designed to fight specific fires. In the average home or office building, a multipurpose ABC fire extinguisher is ideal. This puts out Class A (ordinary combustibles), Class B (liquids) and Class C (electrical) fires. Class K extinguishers filled with wet chemicals are designed to smother grease fires, making them appropriate for kitchens. Having this knowledge when purchasing a fire extinguisher, will be able to help purchase the correct extinguisher for you home or business. The importance of fire protection equipment can save several lives when used and checked correctly, fire extinguishers is one of them.
Fire Sprinklers
Fire sprinklers are normally used in big buildings with mass amounts of people that come into them as a way to extinguish fires using water. These heat-sensing fire protection systems extinguish fires quickly and effectively, even when the building is vacant.
Regrettably, while new commercial buildings are required to have sprinklers, only 4.6 percent of homes have this life-saving equipment. Fortunately, it’s possible to retrofit your home with fire sprinklers to provide extra peace of mind. The importance of fire protection equipment can save several lives when used and checked correctly, fire sprinklers is one of them.
