Fires are perhaps among the most terrifying things that can happen to a home or building. They’re doubly dangerous. Not only is the fire itself consuming; smoke inhalation is just as, if not even more dangerous. Furthermore, fire is difficult to control and very difficult to put out. Very quickly, fire can spread to the point that it’s not only dangerous to those within the original burning building, but those in the surrounding area in general. As such, it’s important that we prevent fires in every way possible. But prevention is not enough — fires need to be suppressed as well. This is why fire protection engineering companies have made great stretches in producing devices that will not only warn people of the presence of fires, but suppress them. In order to better prevent fires and protect people from them, we need to understand their true danger. How do they happen? What can we do to stop them? The more we do to understand fires, the more we can do to stop them. This not only saves property, but lives as well. Fires have been an almost perpetual danger — but they don’t have to be. Let’s look into why fires start in the first place, and how fire protection engineering companies are working to stop them.
Fires: The Real Damage
For some, the idea of a fire actually hurting them seems far-fetched. Yes, fires happen. But recent advances in fire protection and suppression has led some to believe that their chances of actually dying or being seriously injured in, say, a house fire are fairly low. This is unfortunately not the case. Each year, hotel and motel fires alone cause an estimated 15 death and 150 injuries. This doesn’t even take into account the amount of people killed and injured in house fires and forest fires. Hotels and motels are perhaps the most susceptible to injuries and deaths by fire, simply because fires at motels and hotels are difficult to detect and suppress, and the buildings themselves are complicated and difficult to escape. Obviously, injury and death are the greatest risks at the heart of any fire. But the fact is that they are not the only risk factors to consider. Hotel and motel fires — again, just those fires — result in $76 million in property loss each year. People can literally lose all of their belongings in house fires. The loss involved in fires cannot be downplayed — but the question is, how do these fires start in the first place?
The Source: How Fires Begin In The First Place
Fire protection engineering companies can’t make the proper fire suppression devices without knowing how those fires begin in the first place. Of course, the source of a fire is dependent on where the fire began. Hotel and motels, as well as residential homes, are more susceptible to certain kinds of fires than other buildings and locations would be. Medical facilities, surprisingly enough, are quite susceptible to confined cooking fires, which account for 55% of all fires in medical facilities. Of course, confined fires are not the only fires common in hospitals. Unfortunately, electrical failures account for 19% of non-confined fires in hospitals. Cooking fires and electrical fires are also common sources of hotel, motel, and house fires. Of course, now that we know how such fires begin, perhaps we should look at what fire protection engineering companies are doing to stop them.
Ending It: Putting Fires Out
Some fires are impossible to prevent; so how do we stop them? Fire protection services have come a long way from the simple smoke detectors we’re all familiar with. For example, before a firefighter even arrives at your home, fire sprinkler systems can cut the fire off at the source. Many fire sprinkler systems act as both alarms and suppression, activating as soon as smoke is detected. In this way, the danger is cut short before it even really occurs.