One could think that our neighbourhoods and cities are safer from fire dangers today than they were about fifty years ago. After all, most modern buildings are equipped with the most advanced fire sensors as well as safety equipment, and we have also regulations to prevent fires and reduce spread when they do happen.
However, buildings nowadays develop fires five to ten times faster than they used to do in the past! This is mainly due to the usage of plastics and other synthetic materials, which are far more combustible than other natural materials.
Moreover, as cities keep growing and buildings are positioned closer to each other, the risk of a fire spreading grows larger too. Thus, proper fire mitigation plans have never been more important than now.
Insulation plays an essential role in fire-resilient buildings. As a matter of fact, stone wool is inherently non-combustible and resists temperatures above a thousand degrees Celsius. This permits stone wool insulation to contain fires and prevent them from spreading quickly.
People usually have as little as 2 minutes to run away from a burning building after the alarm goes off. With stone wool insulation, people will be given more time to evacuate before the fire fighters arrive at the place to extinguish the fire, which might really mean the difference between death and life.
By confining the flames to a certain section of the building, stone wool insulation minimises the damage to the property, aiding you to preserve memories and save money on extra repairs.
Insulation also guarantees that the flames will not spread to neighbouring areas in a tower building, ensuring that other apartments won’t have to suffer as a consequence.
Therefore, embracing stone wool insulation will assure you that the most effective fire safety measurements are in place. If the flames do not break out, this increases the odds that damage is reduced to a minimum, and that people will remain safe and sound.
Aside from stone wool insulation, there are many other measurements we can take to protect our buildings. The first step towards safety should be running a fire risk assessment to understand the situation we are in, and from there we will be able to take all the necessary preventions. In a residential leasehold property, it is especially imperative to be aware of our safety, as well as of the safety of others around us.
Here are a few tips on how to stay safe inside our apartment:
In case you are a landlord or a property owner, it is your responsibility to keep your tenants and leaseholders safe, and to provide them with all the guidance they need in order to know what they should do in the event of an emergency within the building. It is advisable to consult with the building’s management board in case you’re unsure as to what the emergency procedures in your building are.
Your building’s management board needs to provide you with information on everything, this includes details from what to do in case you hear the fire alarm go off and also how to report any events, from a potentially suspicious package in a corridor, and most importantly, how you need to react if there is a fire.
Apartments and flats differ from other types of properties in that each apartment can be specifically designed to be a fire-resisting ‘box’. This means that in case a fire starts within the apartment, the fire will remain just within that unit, and other apartments will be protected.
To prevent a fire from spreading through a building, here are the top recommendations on how to ensure that an apartment is fully protected:
1-Install smoke detectors
By far this is the most effective method. Smoke detectors give an essential warning and extra escape time in case there is a fire breaking out. Mains-wired detectors are by far the most effective and need to be checked on a weekly basis.
2-Ensure that all electrical appliances are safe
Electrical fires are usually the most common type to happen in domestic environments. Please ensure that all electrical appliances are actually turned off instead of leaving them on standby mode before you go to sleep, and that you keep an eye on them if they overheat.
3-Clean kitchens regularly
A build-up of grease and fat on your oven, grill or hob can ignite a fire. In order to prevent this, it is a good idea to keep these areas very clean and in working order at all times.
4-Keep doors closed
Closing doors at night can help prevent a fire from spreading. It’s a wise idea to ensure all door keys are in a place where everyone can easily find them, so that you can exit the property quickly and easily, just in the event that your main exit is ever blocked.
