Fire safety at home – let your door hardware help you prevent the spread of fire
Fires are very dangerous and can often lead to damage of property as well as loss of lives. This is why it is important to ensure that you and your loved ones are protected in the event that a fire does breaks out in your home.
ASSA ABLOY offers a wide range of residential fire rated products that can help you to prevent the spread of fire while you and your family evacuate the house safely.
These fire rated products keep the fire in one place for a certain period of time, while allowing you enough time to call for help in extinguishing the fire, once you are safely out of the house. Below are a few tips to help you keep your house and your valuables safe from fire:
1. Install smoke detectors
Smoke deters are very useful in detecting a fire before it becomes a huge blaze, especially during the night while you may be asleep, it might take longer for you to detect a fire without a smoke detector. The smoke detector from Yale works in conjunction with your Yale home alarm system. In the event of a fire, the smoke detector will trigger the alarm system, and also sound the internal siren.
This is one of the best ways to catch a fire early as the siren sound gives you an alert that there is something wrong, which may be in time before the fire spreads. This also provides a life-saving warning as it allows you to evacuate the house before you are trapped inside by fire or smoke.
2. Fire-rated doors
Ensuring fire does not spread in your home, it is important to install certified fire doors. Fire doors are made from special material that withstands fire for certain periods of time. Combining a fire-rated door with fire-rated Ironmongery from ASSA ABLOY ensures you and your families safety.
3. Fire rated hinges
In ensuring that the fire stays contained in one place without spreading to other rooms in the house, it is recommended that you install fire rated hinges on fire-rated doors, which are made to withstand heat for a longer period. This ensures that the door does not fall off from the heat of the fire.
If the door does fall off during a fire, this allows air to enter the room which is ablaze, aiding to the spread of fire on the rest of the house. It is for this reason that strong fire rated hinges are essential in ensuring that the fire is contained in one place for longer, buying you valuable time to call for help and hopefully saving the rest of your home. UNION offers fire rated hinges which can withstand fire for up to 120 minutes on timber doors and 240 minutes on metal doors.
4. Fire rated locks
In ensuring that your lock maintains its functionality and holds the door in place during a fire, it is also important to install a fire-rated lock. ASSA ABLOY offers a comprehensive range of Strongbolt locks which comprises offire rated mortice locks.
These locks are supplied in a 3 or 5 lever as well as a cylinder variant. These locks are not only fire rated but also offer you high security for your home. With its fire rating and high security traits, these locks can be suitable for rooms in which valuables items are kept. Strongbolt locks also carry a 10 year warranty.
5. Door closer on garage door
It is also encouraged that you install a door closer on the garage door that leads into the house. Because we tend to worry less about ensuring that internal doors are closed, a door closer will ensure that the garage door remains closed at all times.
This is due to the nature of the items that we normally store in our garages, these can include items such as flammable chemicals and extension cords which can be a fire hazard. Therefore, a garage can be considered a risk area for a fire.
With this being said, the importance of ensuring that the garage door leading into the house is always closed is highly imperative, especially if a fire should erupt while no-one is at home.
ASSA ABLOY offers a wide range of doors closers, all of which are fire rated.
Contact ASSA ABLOY today to find out how you can fire proof your home. Call 011 761 5000 or send an email.