blackhawk2000
member
The thread about storing ammo, and guns together got me thinking about the subject of house fires. I don't know if it's been gone over here before or not, but you can do certain things to protect valuables in the event of a fire. I am an electrician, and we do a lot of insurance work. Mostly house fires, and floods. First of all keep whatever you don't wanted toasted down low. I've personally seen paint on a wall blistered 48" from the floor right next to a coffee table at about 30" that had perfectly shaped hershy's kisses in a bowl. This particular room wasn't even the room on fire. Also keep your stuff away from your fuse box, or circuit panel. They do sometimes go up. Also keep away from washer/dryers, hot water heater, and furnaces/boilers. Believe it or not but your sump pump can start a fire. I went on a job where the pumps drain got frozen, and the pump fried itself straining against the ice blockage. Basically anything plugged in can start a fire.
Then there is the water damage from putting the fire out. Keep your valuables in water proof containers and that usually takes care of that. Also the Firemen will throw stuff around trying to get at hot spots. You can't really avoid that as far as breakables go. It really depends on where the fire is. You also should keep flammable stuff in the garage or shed. This last fire I went on was a fatality, and as far as I can tell the homeowner fell asleep in bed (basement) with a lit cigarette. The bed smolders, then lights. By then it's really hot at the ceiling, and that can go up, and spread from there. Anyways this particular house looks like it had painting supplies right in the next room. This is where the fire was hottest, as the rafters where charred bad. It was also hot enough to melt the light bulb in the ceiling but plastic stuff on the floor was fine.
Finally you should put a smoke detector in every bedroom, hallways outside of bedrooms, and at least one on your other floors. Currently new smoke detectors are wired into the houses wiring, and when one goes off they all go off. You should have this done if you can afford it. This will help protect the most valuable of all valuables...life.
Then there is the water damage from putting the fire out. Keep your valuables in water proof containers and that usually takes care of that. Also the Firemen will throw stuff around trying to get at hot spots. You can't really avoid that as far as breakables go. It really depends on where the fire is. You also should keep flammable stuff in the garage or shed. This last fire I went on was a fatality, and as far as I can tell the homeowner fell asleep in bed (basement) with a lit cigarette. The bed smolders, then lights. By then it's really hot at the ceiling, and that can go up, and spread from there. Anyways this particular house looks like it had painting supplies right in the next room. This is where the fire was hottest, as the rafters where charred bad. It was also hot enough to melt the light bulb in the ceiling but plastic stuff on the floor was fine.
Finally you should put a smoke detector in every bedroom, hallways outside of bedrooms, and at least one on your other floors. Currently new smoke detectors are wired into the houses wiring, and when one goes off they all go off. You should have this done if you can afford it. This will help protect the most valuable of all valuables...life.