Purchasing a fire resistant safe is undoubtedly a smart investment, but there are a few things to consider before doing so.
Read through the four factors below to help determine which is the right fire resistant safe for you:
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1. How many items do you need to protect?
It sounds like an obvious consideration, but many people who purchase a safe fail to consider the items they may buy in the future, and regret their decision to invest in a small, fire resistant safe. This can lead to them filling the safe up too much, or leaving items of value unprotected because they won’t fit inside.
Always buy a bigger safe than you think you need.
2. What is the value of the items you want to protect?
In general, you should try to purchase a fireproof safe that’s on par with the value of what you’re going to be storing inside it. The maximum fire rating is for 2.5 hours, and if you have a lot to protect, it might be worth investing in a safe that can protect the contents for longer in the event of a fire.
3. What would be the response time if you were to experience a fire?
Fires can happen anywhere, at any time, and people living in some areas of the country, typically receive swifter response times from the fire department, than others. A lot may depend upon whether the fire department are fully staffed at the building when the call comes in, and when they do arrive, how long it takes them to extinguish the blaze can depend upon a number of factors, such as:
- What your home is constructed from
- How close the fire is to an additional accelerant
- How much furniture is in the home and what it’s made from
- Ease of access to the fire from firefighters
If you live in an area that experiences slow response times to call outs about fires, then you may need a safe with a higher fire rating.
4. What is the risk of a forest fire happening near you?
For anyone living in an area that is prone to wildfires, you’ll definitely want to think long and hard about the fire rating your safe has. Wildfires can move fast – as we all have seen in recent years – and burn through buildings and destroy entire neighborhoods, in a matter of hours.
If you can afford to buy a high security safe with a high fire rating, then the advice would be to go ahead and buy one; it’s a bit of a no brainer. But if you have budgetary or space restrictions, for example, then the advice above should help you determine what size safe to buy, and how high the fire rating should be.
