Posted: 4/14/2009 6:40:18 PM EDT
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I recently bought a cheap ($40) fire resistant chest that has a UL 1/2-Hour Fire Endurance Test rating. The prices exponentially increase to get better protection levels (like a a UL 2-Hour Fire Endurance Test)
Two questions: Is a UL 1/2-Hour Fire Endurance Test rating completely insufficient for the average two story suburban home fire? Is that like choosing a .22 for self protection? I would be storing money/papers and live in Houston if that makes a difference. I can imagine the location of a fire resistant safe makes a big difference to how long it lasts in a fire. Would the best place be a first floor exterior wall? Ratings in more detail http://www.sentrysafe.com/products/testingAndStandards/fire.aspx And thanks to all of those who put your lives on the line everyday! |
| IMHO a 30 min is more than sufficient for general fire safes. Usually fires are extinguished fairly shortly after water is applied to the body of the fire. The testing is for 30 min of prolonged flame impingement and that is when the lining begins to break down. If you have absolutely critical paperwork (bonds, T-Notes, ect.) store them in a safety deposit box. I have investigated plenty of fires with those involved and most of the time the boxes come out fairly intact. If you have more concerns then try to locate the box in a non-combustible area, closets usually fair well. |
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It depends on a lot of different circumstances. Where it is located in the house, how intense the fire is and what kinds on materials involve dictate how hot the fire will be. If you wanted to really protect it I think the best place is in the basement or even better built into the basement floor below the slab would be the best choice in both fire and theft protection. Another thing you could do is secure it to the basement floor and then use cinder blocks and create a sort of vault around it. This would give it some protection/insulation from the heat from even a fully invloved/total loos type of fire. The only thing about the basement is possible water damage, does your basement get much water? If yes then that's out.
For a small room and contents type fire generally not a lot of heat gets generated for very long so they're good for that. For a long high heat exposure maybe not so great. I saw one(don't know whtat fire rating it had) that had been in a fully involved fire not too long ago, I mean the only thing left was the cellar. We're talking high heat for a long time. the safe had been stored in the upstairs bedroom and was found near the top of the smouldering debris. The owners safe didn't do so well as far as the outside goes, the metal shell was actually burned through is a couple small areas, I wasn't there when they opened it up so I don't know how his documents made out. Get the best you can afford. Basically they are a made in layers with a metal outer box with what is similar to sheetrock like material for an insulating liner, and platic on the inside. I got a call once to open one up for our local SRT team who had raided a drughouse. I was actually surprised at how hard it was to open. No match for the spreaders though. Hope this helps. Stay safe... |
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Quoted:
It depends on a lot of different circumstances. Where it is located in the house, how intense the fire is and what kinds on materials involve dictate how hot the fire will be. If you wanted to really protect it I think the best place is in the basement or even better built into the basement floor below the slab would be the best choice in both fire and theft protection. Another thing you could do is secure it to the basement floor and then use cinder blocks and create a sort of vault around it. This would give it some protection/insulation from the heat from even a fully invloved/total loos type of fire. The only thing about the basement is possible water damage, does your basement get much water? If yes then that's out. For a small room and contents type fire generally not a lot of heat gets generated for very long so they're good for that. For a long high heat exposure maybe not so great. I saw one(don't know whtat fire rating it had) that had been in a fully involved fire not too long ago, I mean the only thing left was the cellar. We're talking high heat for a long time. the safe had been stored in the upstairs bedroom and was found near the top of the smouldering debris. The owners safe didn't do so well as far as the outside goes, the metal shell was actually burned through is a couple small areas, I wasn't there when they opened it up so I don't know how his documents made out. Get the best you can afford. Basically they are a made in layers with a metal outer box with what is similar to sheetrock like material for an insulating liner, and platic on the inside. I got a call once to open one up for our local SRT team who had raided a drughouse. I was actually surprised at how hard it was to open. No match for the spreaders though. Hope this helps. Stay safe... Lots of good points. You should also consider the type of service you should expect from the FD serving your area. For instance, if you live in a very rural area with a VOL FD, the response time may be greater than an inner city residence with a firehouse every several blocks. The longer the response time the more fire damage you could expect. No disrespect to the Vollies - the contrary actually. Just the logistics. |
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I was told by a guy who sells safes that the only difference between fireproof and regular is the addition of a fire rated sheetrock liner.
He said that you could line your own safe or build it into a sheetrocked cove. Think of it as uparmoring your existing safe, firewise. |
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Quoted:
I was told by a guy who sells safes that the only difference between fireproof and regular is the addition of a fire rated sheetrock liner. He said that you could line your own safe or build it into a sheetrocked cove. Think of it as uparmoring your existing safe, firewise. That's actually a great idea. The moisture content in sheet rock is VERY fire resistive. We use it on our controlled / training burns to build "burn boxes" to reduce fire extension until we're ready to burn the structure down, to maximize the amount of training evolutions we can do. |
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Quoted: It depends on a lot of different circumstances. Where it is located in the house, how intense the fire is and what kinds on materials involve dictate how hot the fire will be. For a small room and contents type fire generally not a lot of heat gets generated for very long so they're good for that. For a long high heat exposure maybe not so great. I saw one(don't know whtat fire rating it had) that had been in a fully involved fire not too long ago, I mean the only thing left was the cellar. <nods head> Very true. Even if the fire is small, if it involves structural members the heavy things can wind up in the basement... ie bye-bye optics. Quoted: Lots of good points. You should also consider the type of service you should expect from the FD serving your area. For instance, if you live in a very rural area with a VOL FD, the response time may be greater than an inner city residence with a firehouse every several blocks. The longer the response time the more fire damage you could expect. No disrespect to the Vollies - the contrary actually. Just the logistics. And heat from a house fire lasts for a loooong time. |