Fire Safety Month Tips To Protect Your Building
Since 1992, the National Fire Protection Association has designated October as National Fire Prevention Month. During the month, the organization offers people and businesses the opportunity to learn how to make lives and buildings safer while also learning facts and statistics about fire emergencies.
For instance, did you know that, on average, seven people die each day from a home fire? Or that over 200 workplace fires occur daily, with more than 5,000 people injured annually?
Understanding the damage fire can do is particularly important to Northern California home and business owners. CAL Fire and the U.S. Forest Service reported nearly 7,800 fires in 2021, and in 2022, the number is currently at 6,739, with approximately 365,895 acres burned.
That’s already above the five-year average of 6,650. Fortunately, you can take time for these simple and practical steps to protect yourself and your property in case of a fire.
Check Your Building’s Fire Alarms
Whether it’s for your home or business, ensuring your fire alarms are working is critical to fire safety. Fire alarm systems protect your employees, property, customers, and business from a fire’s significant damage and losses.
They must be placed on every building level and ideally should integrate with other building control systems.
Make Sure Your Fire Extinguishers Work
If one or more of your extinguishers still needs maintenance, the law requires the work to be performed by a licensed professional. Annual fire extinguisher inspections and testing by a qualified, credentialed professional will ensure that your fire extinguishers are:
- In the proper locations
- Not damaged in any way
- Properly recharged
- Have unaltered seals
- Easily accessible by everyone in the building
- Have clear and legible dating tags for maintenance
Declutter Your Space
It’s easy for stacks of boxes, piles of paper, and other combustibles in your home or business to accumulate near heat sources, turning them into significant fire hazards.
Additional potential risks or dangers include clutter blocking windows, doorways, and other exit routes and improper storage or disposal of flammable or combustible materials or empty containers.
One of the most crucial reasons to keep your home, business, or facility free of clutter is that all that debris can help a fire spread more quickly. Other precautions include removing cords and tripping hazards, so no one is injured when trying to exit the property.
Choose Foothill Fire Protection for Fire Safety in Northern California
We hope these tips have helped raise your fire safety awareness and given you some good ideas on how to make it safer for people to exit a home or business in the event of a fire. Fire safety services from Foothill Fire Protection protect all types of buildings and property in the Greater Bay area.
For over 25 years, we’ve provided Northern California commercial and residential property owners and managers with inspection, testing, and maintenance services for preventative safety. We also offer 24/7 emergency repairs to ensure your fire safety equipment always operates as it should.
To learn more about all the services we offer or to schedule fire alarm or fire extinguisher inspections in the Bay Area, contact us online or call (916) 663-3582.
