How can you prevent fires? This disaster is both natural and unnatural, claiming thousands of lives and injuring far more every year in the United States alone. As such, fire sprinkler installation is necessary to drastically reduce injuries should a fire occur and prevent property damages from being accumulated. A commercial fire sprinkler system is designed to detect the presence of CO2 and curb the intensity of the fire while simultaneously buying residents time to contact the fire department for assistance. If your business doesn’t have an evacuation plan or you’re considering fire sprinkler installation, continue reading to learn more about what you can do to reduce the probability of fires.
Rate Of Fires
Ongoing surveys are conducted every year to track the most common causes of fires and better figure out solid means of reducing their occurrences. Hotel and motel fires, to start, cause an estimated 15 deaths and 150 injuries every single year. They also cause an additional $76 million in property loss, with multiple sources pinpointing the often poor ventilation systems, negligible behavior and lack of proper fire technology oversight.
Common Sources Of Fire
Although fires can and do occur everywhere, certain areas are more high risk than others. The four property classes account for half of all high-rise fires — apartments, offices, hotels and facilities that tend to the sick. Warehouse fires, due to their massive size and location close to other businesses, are often associated with higher than average property losses per fire than even other high-risk areas. However, they have a lower rate of injury on average. Confined cooking fires alone account for 55% of medical facility fires and electrical malfunction is the leading cause of non-confined fires in hospital settings.
Common Daily Habits
There are simple daily habits you can ensure at your place of residence, be it a hospital or a small business, to curb the likelihood of a fire. First is putting a consistently available and clean area to dispose of cigarette butts, as even a single improperly disposed cigarette can cause a massive fire if left unchecked. Second is proper ventilation — this is particularly necessary for hospital and nursing home environments, to both vent out the presence of smoke as well as circulate the air to avoid spreading illness.
Fire Protection Services
A combination of awareness, up-to-date technology and back-up plans are key to maintaining continued security in your business. A survey of over 100 businesses found that only 35% had a set fire evacuation plan in place, which includes a series of exercises and an accessible, easy-to-read diagram for anyone to follow should a fire occur. While fire protection technology is important to diagnose and reduce the intensity of a fire, additional actions are necessary to ensure people are kept safe.
Calling For Fire Sprinkler Installation
Whether you need to double-check your fire alarm systems or need to consider multiple fire sprinkler installations, calling a fire alarm contractor is the first step you should take. Not only will they assess your place of business, they will provide you with the technology you need to stay safe as well as essential advice concerning fire escape plans and local fire protection services. A recent study saw sprinklers operating in over 90% of all reported structure fires large enough to activate, excluding construction and buildings without sprinklers. The National Fire Protection Association currently has no record of a fire killing more than two people in a building with a proper sprinkler and the combination of sprinklers and early warning systems can reduce injury and damages by 50%. Call a fire protection professional and ask them how you can improve the ongoing safety of your business.