Property fires are one of the most destructive, dangerous, and costly disasters that can befall you. If you own a building, then there is always the chance – no matter how slim – that a fire could break out.
While it is impossible to eliminate the risk of fire entirely, there are certain measures you can take to reduce the odds. This should start with basic fire safety protocols such as ensuring that no potential fire risks are left unattended but can also extend to more rigorous solutions.
For example, you should consider the implementation of passive fire protection. Although it is natural to lean more towards active fire prevention solutions such as fire alarm systems, fire extinguishers and sprinkler systems, they may not always be the most effective method for preventing fire.
Passive fire protection is equally, if not more, useful than active solutions because it equips stationary objects and materials with the ability to prevent or fight a fire.
Although it often gets overlooked in favour of active solutions, it can make all the difference so you should investigate passive fire protection.
Firstly, it is crucial to understand what passive fire protection is exactly. With passive solutions, the aim is to contain the spread of fire or smoke in one fixed area and stop it from ripping through the building.
This is crucial because one of the many dangers of building fires is that they spread incredibly quickly. By the time they have been detected, it may be too late to deploy active solutions.
To combat this, you should integrate passive fire protection systems into the architecture of the building. This structural fire protection could include fire retardant walls and floors, fitting a fire door, or smoke dampers. Click here to find out more about passive fire safety.
Passive fire protection is important because it minimises the chances of a fire spreading quickly.
Consider for a moment the difference between a fire in a wooden building and a brick building. The former is going to be decimated in minutes, whereas you have a fighting chance of controlling a fire in the latter. Once it has begun, it is difficult to get a fire stopped, so ensuring the building materials are reducing the spread is key.
When the building is equipped with in-built fire resistance, you can better deal with many types of fire.
Of course, just because passive fire protection (PFP) is important, it doesn’t mean that you should ignore active fire protection systems. Both active and passive fire protection should work in unison because they are both crucial to fire prevention.
Active protection includes fire rated extinguishers, fire blankets, sprinklers, and smoke ventilators, which can help you fight the fire once it has started.
The types of active protection and passive solutions will depend on your building layout, so conduct a fire risk assessment to take stock of the building protection requirements. These risk assessments are a great way to stay on top of your fire protection systems. Just remember to update them when necessary.
