The importance of integrated fire systems in public buildings cannot be stressed enough. These safety solutions serve to protect your building from fire-related damage or casualties year round — wintertime is no exception. In fact, ensuring your building has a reliable fire system in place is more important than ever this time of year. At Automated Control Systems, we are dedicated to helping make buildings safer and more efficient than ever. Because of this, we have compiled a list of potential, seasonal fire hazards in an effort to stress the importance of having a well-operating fire system in your building.

Seasonal Fire Hazards in Public Buildings:

Each season brings its own set of unique fire hazards, making it crucial to familiarize yourself with them and take the appropriate precautions.

Holiday Decorations

Although the holidays have come and gone, many office buildings still have tinsel trees and light-laden garland hanging from the doorways. When business picks up, it can be hard to find the time for removing festive decorations. However, it should be noted that the removal of these potential fire hazards is one of the best preventative measures that can be taken. What makes otherwise harmless decorations so dangerous?

People have a habit of overloading electrical circuits with lights, which has all the right ingredients for an office fire. This isn’t to say decorations should be prohibited from the office, it just means some basic guidelines, such as not overloading electrical outlets and turning off lighted decorations after hours, need to be followed. And did we mention the importance of a reliable fire system in these situations? Despite our best intentions, lights sometimes get left on and fires occasionally occur. A fire system serves to help alert anyone inside the building of the imminent danger that exists, while alerting the authorities who strive to keep fire-related damage to a minimum.

Candles

When it’s cold outside, many employees enjoy creature comforts like candles. Having a strict no-candle policy in place at the office is advisable; however, many employees may still light candles regularly. Rather than have a closed, no-candle policy enforced, encourage employees to use flameless candles that run on batteries. This alternative still creates a warm ambiance and greatly reduces your chances of office fires. We know you cannot be on candle-monitoring duty all the time, which makes the implementation of a fire system very important. If prohibited candles create an office fire, a fire system can help get everyone to safety and alert emergency officials all at the same time.

Space Heaters

When it is freezing cold outside, it can be very difficult to heat the inside of an office building. Because of uncomfortable working conditions, many employees use space heaters to keep their work station warmer. While these heating solutions are quite effective, they can also be very dangerous, posing a serious fire threat. To put things in perspective, consider that “The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) estimates that there were 21,800 home fires involving stationary or portable space heaters in 2007. These fires resulted in 490 civilian deaths, 1,180 injuries and $330 million in direct property damage.”

Although these fires took place in the home, the danger of these heating devices cannot and should not be ignored. The solution? Prohibiting the in-office use of space heaters is the best fire prevention measure; however, we understand that many offices do not want to place an altogether ban. Educating employees about space heater-related fires and integrating strict policies about how, when, and where these supplemental heating devices can be used is a good idea.

Integrate a Fire Safety System Now

When it comes to fire safety, having a reliable detection/alert system in place is an absolute most. If your office building does not already have a fire system, it is not too late. Ready to make the transition to safer working conditions? Our fire system experts can help.

Call (816) 533-4338 to learn more about how our state-of-the-art fire safety systems can be integrated into your building.