Fire Prevention Archives - Davis Ulmer Fire Protection

Fire Extinguishers: Holiday Safety Tips and Inspection Information

While festive gatherings are a time for joy, they can also increase fire hazards in homes and workplaces. December is the perfect opportunity to discuss the critical role fire extinguishers play in fire safety and why regular inspections and maintenance are crucial.

Empowering Everyday Heroes: The Importance of Extinguishers

Fire extinguishers are more than just safety equipment; they make everyone a potential hero. Unlike smoke alarms and sprinkler systems, which activate automatically, extinguishers are tools anyone can use in an emergency. Having the knowledge and confidence to operate a fire extinguisher can mean the difference between extinguishing a small fire or a minor incident escalating into a tragedy.

Annual Extinguisher Inspections Are Lifesaving

Annual inspections are not bureaucratic red tape; they are a vital part of building safety. Local jurisdictions require these annual inspections to be documented by a qualified fire extinguisher technician to ensure all safety equipment is functional. The annual inspections are required along with the monthly inspections. Monthly inspections being performed onsite require a lesser level of experience – anyone trained to recognize obvious extinguisher damage, missing parts, or problems can help.
If you don’t inspect your fire extinguishers, they may not perform when needed. Unfortunately, we often forget or ignore fire extinguishers until they are desperately needed. Regular checks are essential to ensure reliability. During inspections, technicians frequently find extinguishers hidden behind desks or seasonal decorations, making them difficult to access in an emergency. Place your extinguishers where someone can reach them quickly.

The Critical Six-Year Maintenance for Fire Extinguishers

Another crucial aspect of fire extinguisher maintenance is the mandatory six-year inspection for many types of units. Over time, extinguishers can age, leading to issues such as rust, seepage, or dry-rotting hoses that can render them ineffective. Six year maintence is code mandated and essential; it resets the extinguisher’s reliability clock, ensuring the inside agent and components are in good condition which gives you peace of mind that it will work when called upon.

Seasonal Risks and the Speed of Holiday Fires

December can be treacherous when it comes to fire safety. Increased use of space heaters, the presence of dry Christmas trees, and the risk of overloaded extension cords can all contribute to fire hazards. In addition, holiday cooking and decorating often lead to distractions, further increasing the risk. Let’s not overlook fire extinguishers this month or any other. Their accessibility and functionality could potentially save lives.
Another alarming fact to consider is that holiday fires can spread much faster than many people realize. For instance, a Christmas tree fire can escalate in under a minute, creating a catastrophic situation in mere moments. This reality underscores the importance of fire extinguishers being in proper working order and easily accessible.

Building Managers: Protect What You Value Most

For building managers, December is not only about festivities but also a time to ensure compliance before the new year. By working with a licensed contractor, including our trained professionals at any DU Family of Companies branch, you can align with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards and local codes. We will ensure that the appropriate type of extinguisher is in the correct location, with proper placement, distance, and tagging.

As we embrace the holiday spirit, let’s also commit to fire safety. Regular maintenance of fire extinguishers is not just an obligation but a vital practice that protects everyone. Contact your local DU Family of Companies branch today to schedule your inspections and ensure your fire safety equipment is ready when you need it most.

Stay safe and enjoy a festive season!

October Fire Prevention Week

On October 8^th, 1871 a fire broke out that later became known as the Great Chicago Fire. This fire was devastating. It killed more than 250 people, burned 2,000 acres of land, and left more than 100,000 people homeless. In commemoration of this fire, Fire Prevention Week was established. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has sponsored Fire Prevention week since 1922. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge made it a national observance. This year, Fire Prevention Week is October 7-13. This week is dedicated to educating the public on the dangers of fires and fire safety methods. Spreading public awareness of fire safety can help to save lives.

“Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere.”

Every year, Fire Prevention Week runs a campaign to educate the public on fire safety. This year’s campaign, “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere,” teaches three steps to reduce the chance of a fire and educates on safe escape if a fire does occur.

LOOK for Potential Fire Hazards

Take some time to look around in your home or business and identify possible fire hazards. The most common fire hazards are cooking, heating equipment, electrical equipment, candles, and smoking materials. Cooking is the leading cause of home fires. Many cooking fires start when cooking is left unattended. Always keep a close eye on what you are cooking. Remember to have chimneys and other cleaning equipment cleaned each year and turn off space heaters before you leave the room or go to sleep. Make sure you are using electrical equipment properly. Do not overload your outlets and use extension cords properly. If you or someone you live with is a smoker, only smoke outside and throw away butts and ashes safely.

LISTEN for Smoke Alarms

Smoke alarms are critical to Life Safety in the event of a fire. Smoke alarms work as the first line of defense in a fire by alerting everyone that there is a fire and giving them time to evacuate. Having smoke alarms in your home cuts risk of death from a fire in half. Make sure to install smoke alarms in every level of your home and in every bedroom. Test smoke alarms every month and replace them if they are more than 10 years old. Also, you should interconnect the alarms in your home so that all smoke alarms will go off simultaneously, alerting everyone in your home.

LEARN Your Escape Plan

Time is crucial when a fire occurs. Every second counts when trying to safely escape a fire. Creating and practicing a fire escape plan for your home will lower the amount of time it takes you to escape in the event of a fire and will increase your chances of getting out safely. The general rule for escape plans is to have two ways out of every room. Usually these two escape exits are a door and a window. You also should identify a path from each exit to the outside of your home and designate a safe meeting place for everyone to gather. Once you have created a home escape plan, practice it with your family at least twice a year.

Knowing fire prevention techniques can save lives. If you want to know more about fire prevention week take a look at many great fire prevention resources, visit the NFPA’s website.

Preventing Factory Fires

The first step in fire prevention is safety, and when it comes to preventing factory fires, safety is an absolute priority.

According to the National Fire Protection Agency, fire departments respond to about 37,000 incidences of industrial or manufacturing property fire per year.

Practicing fire safety in a factory setting is a little bit different from practicing fire safety at an apartment complex, your home, or an office building. Fires that occur in large spaces that are full of people and machinery are particularly dangerous; there could be multiple injuries and even deaths caused by asphyxiation.

Practice Your Fire Escape Plan

To practice fire safety in a factory setting, the most important thing to do is make sure the employees know where the closest exits are to them. That way, if a fire occurs, they’ll be able to evacuate quickly.

Unobstructed Exits

Make sure that any fire doors at emergency exits are in full working order at all times and are not blocked. Doors should be regularly inspected by the building or factory owner, as well as local fire experts to ensure they are working.

Safely Store All Cleaning Supplies and Chemicals

If your factory deals with any flammable chemicals you need to be sure that your employees know how to safely use and store them. Make training sessions mandatory, even for long standing employees, in order to keep staff educated.

Want to ensure that your factory is as safe as possible? Davis Ulmer provides the highest level of expertise, quality, customer service, and satisfaction in the fire protection and security industry. We work with customers throughout the Northeast corner of the United States.

Sprinkler System Saves Yet Again

Whether you are at home or in a commercial building when a smoke detector goes off, you’re alerted of a possible fire and potential danger. However, being alerted of a fire will not put a fire out.

Fires can be extremely difficult to put out, and whether one happens in a large commercial building or in a home a smoke detector will only alert you of it, making a sprinkler system your best go-to for practicing fire safety.

Sprinkler systems don’t just warn people of fires as smoke detectors do, they work on putting fires out.

Recently, a sprinkler system put out a fire in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A grease fire started when a man was cooking his dinner on the stove and grease splashed out, starting a fire.

The flames quickly spread through his kitchen and melted the microwave and cabinets above the stove, spreading to the ceiling. The flames then triggered a sprinkler head in the man’s kitchen, before the fire could do more serious damage. The sprinkler system successfully put out the fire, saving the man’s kitchen, the man’s home, and possibly his life. According to the firemen in the area, if the sprinkler system hadn’t doused the flames, the fire could have spread quickly causing mass destruction.

Fire Sprinkler Systems Help Prevent Fires from Spreading

In residential areas and developments, homes are often close together. A serious fire in one home could cause damage to a home down the road. In this case, the sprinkler system prevented the fire from spreading to other homes.

If you don’t have sprinkler systems in your home or commercial building at this time, learn more about the benefits of installing sprinkler systems offered by Davis-Ulmer Fire Protection Services. We are your full-service fire protection company and work with customers in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

Making Your Rental Property Fire Safe

As a landlord, you have a lot of responsibilities that you need to keep in mind at all times.

One of the most important ones is doing everything within your power to ensure that your rental properties are as “fireproof” as possible. There’s no guarantee that a fire won’t ever affect one of your properties due to an accident but you can do your best to prevent them and to make sure that they are extinguished quickly in the event that they do take place.

About once every year, you should inspect your properties and do a fire risk assessment to gauge any potential risks that could result in fires.

You should make sure the electrical systems are up to code, check to see that fire extinguishers are functional and present within the properties, and take a look at the types of furniture that are being used in your rental homes and/or apartments. Furniture made out of fire resistant materials is always your best bet.

Ensure smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are in working order.

Additionally, you should make sure smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are installed and in working order within your rental properties. If a fire ever takes place, these detectors could help save lives and reduce the damage that is done to your properties.

You should also consider installing sprinkler systems inside of the properties that will kick on if a fire ever starts

Just make sure you have routine maintenance done on these systems so that you know they are ready to turn on at the first sign of danger.

It can be hard to keep an eye on a large number of rental properties at one time in an effort to prevent fires.

Davis Ulmer can help give you the peace of mind that comes along with knowing you have done everything you can do to reduce the risk of fires in your properties.

Request a quote from us today and find out more about how we can help make your properties safer. We are the full-service fire protection company that works with properties all over the Northeast region of the United States.

Fire Companies Set Controlled Fires for National Fire Prevention Month

October is National Fire Prevention Month and many fire companies educated their local communities on fire safety throughout the month. It is great to see people making fire safety a focus in their communities and fire companies in Illinois focused specifically on sprinkler systems.

Various fire departments in Northern Illinois educated the public on fire safety and fire prevention in a unique way this October. Fire companies in Northern Illinois actually set controlled fires as demonstrations so the public could understand the benefits of fire sprinklers.

Sprinkled Rooms vs. Non-Sprinkled Rooms

The fires were set outside in two staged rooms that were totally furnished like a living room. One of the rooms had sprinklers installed and the other room did not. People were able to feel the level of heat coming from the room and how quickly it spread in the room without the fire sprinklers installed. They were able to see how quickly the room with the sprinklers controlled and cooled the fire where the other room quickly got out of control.

fire prevention month

Fire Protection Systems Save Lives

The demonstrations were made possible with the help of the Northern Illinois Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the proven performance of fire sprinklers. They helped local fire companies host a variety of fire and sprinkler demonstrations throughout the month of October. They plan to assist with a total of 53 demonstrations in 2016, driving attention to the important of sprinkler systems and the roles they play in fire safety.

These demonstrations gave the local fire departments a chance to talk to the public about preventing fires, the benefits of smoke alarms, the advantages of sprinkler systems, and fire evacuation methods.

In Illinois, one hundred communities actually require fire sprinklers in new homes that are being built. Illinois has made fire safety a focus in their communities and have established the benefits of sprinkler systems in not just businesses, but homes as well. If you’re looking to install sprinkler systems in your business or your home, contact Davis-Ulmer Fire Protection Systems, we can help. We are your full-service fire protection company and work with customers in New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New York.