Fire has always been one of the foundations of our civilization. It is such an important aspect that fire can be found in any piece of literature in every culture across the world. You are quite familiar with the story of Prometheus from Greece, where he stole the fire from heavens. There are countless of other myths and legends, but all of them point to one thing: Fire is beneficial to man. We use it to defend ourselves from the cold and cook our food. It has also been the vehicle for many discoveries in our modern world. Fire helps in a way that we could have never imagined, but there is a catch. Fire can also become man’s greatest foe.
Fire is considered as one of the most devastating calamities in human history. Countless cities have been razed by flames from Nero’s time in Rome to Nova Scotia in 1979. Not like earthquakes and tornadoes that can be observed immediately, ordinary fires usually start out slow. It comes from simple things a lit candle or a spark from a cigarette. Once that little flame finds something it could consume, it will not stop until it destroys everything or until it is snuffed out. Fires can also grow quickly out of control and can be devastating to cities and even forests. Can you remember the wildfire that affected the B.C. area last year? (Check out https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/state-emergency-bc-wildfires-1.4803546) Almost 13,000 sq. km. of the whole province was burned, more than 1 percent of the total land mass. It might not sound like a lot, but this is the third largest province in Canada. People were also affected by the fire and there were many casualties as well.
This is why there are so many laws related to fire safety, and each province has their own programs to manage these situations. However, their end goal is the same: to promote awareness and safety from fire related incidents. One of the programs of most fire departments is the annual inspection of businesses and infrastructures. This is to track down any place which is fire prone or those who did not follow the protocols. Once a business or building fails this inspection, it might lead to terrible consequences like closure of the building itself. It is also a precautionary measure for any business as fires can occur anytime even in offices. For factories and manufacturing related businesses, these rules are far more crucial as burning chemicals can become health hazards.
Now, there are many areas that the inspectors check for in this situation. If you already have a fire alarm or any related equipment that is usually the first thing they check. However, do not wait for the fire inspectors to tell you what to do. In this case, active participation for safety is needed for your own peace of mind. It might not sound very important today, but neglecting your own fire safety equipment can lead to worse consequences. For example, you may have fire sprinklers installed in your building, but do you even know how it functions?
There are many kinds of fire sprinklers that are installed for every kind of need. You might always see them on TV and movies when a fire is involved. However, there is a tiny bit of error with their portrayal as not all valve would release their content immediately. If they do that in real life, then a lot of establishments will get flooded for no reason at all. The water on these sprinklers is not 100 percent water, too. This is because there are certain chemicals which can hasten to put out the fire.
Sprinklers are also divided into two; the “wet” and the “dry” sprinkler. The main difference comes from their contents. “Wet” sprinklers have water and other chemicals running around the whole system until a valve breaks. Think of it like your own blood running in your blood vessels. This is the most common set-up as it is easy to install and operate. “Dry” sprinklers do not have anything running around the tubes inside but it has a pressure which releases the pyrophobic material. It can be in powder or foam form. These are quite common in colder areas where water freezes almost immediately. No matter what kind though, they will always break at certain temperatures.
Having these in your establishment is actually advantageous to your part if you are a business manager or owner. This is like another blanket of security for you and your company. However, they need to be maintained regularly to avoid any kind of problem-related to it. It might be a bit of hassle, but this is the actual body of your business; why not try to protect as much as you can? There are fire safety experts who can check on your existing system, they can also install fire sprinkler systems – Bartecfire.com.
We can never predict what is going to happen in the future because nothing is ever certain. Education and proper preparations are the most effective strategies to help cope with fire and its possible problems. It is a totally unavoidable disaster if we know what to do before, during and after a fire. You must stay vigilant as we never know what’s going to happen next.
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