If you’ve ever seen a demo by the fire service, you’ll realize how quickly a fire can develop. For example, a chip pan fire can start in less than thirty seconds and take over the room in a few minutes. That fire can then spread throughout your house at an alarming rate unless you’ve adopted the right approach to stopping them from spreading.
You should note that the first sign of fire is generally smoke. Smoke rises and spreads through a building fast. It can cause disorientation and problems breathing. In fact, breathing in smoke causes more deaths than the fire itself.
Method 1 – Prevention
The best way to stop a fire from spreading is to prevent a fire in the first place. Most house fires are caused by unattended cooking devices, portable fires left alone, and bad wiring.
By making sure you don’t leave devices on and unattended, you’ll dramatically reduce the risk of a fire. Having annual electrical and fire system inspections can also help identify any electrical issues and resolve them before they cause a fire. It’s worth speaking to a professional electrician.
Method 2 – The Fast Response
The quicker you respond to fire, the more likely you’ll be able to deal with it using a fire extinguisher or by getting the fire service there early. The good thing is that you can be alerted early with a smoke alarm.
However, like most fire equipment, you must purchase your smoke alarms from reputable fire safety equipment suppliers. This will ensure they are high-quality and will work when you need them to. Of course, you should also test them regularly.
Method 3 – Containment
The third option is to contain the smoke and the fire, preventing it from spreading. You can purchase smoke curtains and fire curtains.
These are made of specially formulated material rolled and stored in a box structure bolted to your ceiling. They have a smoke detector built into them or connected to your home alarm system.
Once triggered, the material will drop.
Smoke curtains tend to come down two-thirds of the height of the room. That allows you to move under them but stops the smoke from spreading into the surrounding rooms. It can hold the smoke for several hours, buying you time to get out.
Fire curtains tend to drop straight to the floor and create a barrier, preventing the fire and the smoke from getting past. These curtains can tolerate high heat, effectively containing the fire and allowing you safe passage out of the building.
Of course, if you’re building a new property, you can add fire protection and containment into the structure using cavity barriers built into the walls. This isn’t an option for most buildings as you probably won’t want to tear down walls to rebuild them.
As always, if you’re faced with a fire, then the emphasis should be on getting out safely and staying out. Your life is worth more than any building.
