You’ve spent a lifetime building your business, and it could all go up in smoke in a matter of hours. Even more devastating is a fire that takes the life of a customer or employee. Most often, fires start accidentally in areas where cooking takes place, so healthcare facilities and restaurants are the most likely to experience fires from this source. Unfortunately, unintentional and accidental fires comprise a large percentage of all workplace fires, but are nearly impossible to predict.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, there was a steady decline in non-residential structural fires from 1977 to 2010. Then, beginning in 2011, the annual number of fires began increasing. Today, there are 15,500 more fires per year than there were in 2010.
The Centers for Disease Control suggest commercial building owners and lessees install smoke alarms in areas free of clutter, dust, and protected from potential damage. Smoke alarms seem like an obvious way to warn people of a possible fire; however, between 2014 and 2016, FEMA’s National Fire Data Center says that smoke alarms were not present in 52% of larger, nonconfined fires in occupied nonresidential buildings.
A study by the Maine Municipal Association Risk Management Services revealed that 85% or non-residential fires were human caused. The top four sources of workplace fires were unpredictable:
- Human error
- Electrical fires
- Boilers, furnaces, and water heaters
Your building may have an adequate number of smoke alarms, which are tested monthly, and everyone working in the building may be familiar with all the escape routes, so everyone would be able evacuate the building safety when an alarm sounds. But what then? Someone still must have the presence of mind in a hectic situation to call the fire department. And what if there’s a fire at night when no one is around to hear the alarm?
It’s great to have a smoke detection system that works when others are present, but even better to have a system that will also protect your property in the middle of the night when there’s no one around. The FireFighter will augment your present smoke detectors to offer ‘round the clock protection, 24/7.
For more information, or to get a free quote, call Connect Security at 520.209.2525.