A fire breakout is unpredictable. For residential and commercial properties, the potential damage from a fire breakout can be catastrophic. Any victim of fire damage goes through both physical and emotional consequences, in addition to the stress of applying and winning a fire insurance claim.

This piece of content features common causes of fire damage along with the statistics:

Electrical Fire:

As per the National Fire Protection Association’s (NPFA), report (2012-2016), fires from electrical failures and malfunctions were the second major cause of residential fires in the United States.

The local fire department responded to an average of 37630 home fires triggered from electrical malfunction, electrical distribution, and lighting equipment failures during this period.

While these mishaps claimed an unfortunate 18% death rate, the property damage peaked at around 20%.
Nearly 39% of these fires occurred between November – February, surprisingly these were cold-weather months.
In 3 out of 5 homes, the malfunctioned electrical appliances were armed with arcing as the heat source.

Heating Equipment Malfunction:

Heating equipment is another common cause of residential fire in the United States. Heating equipment malfunction contributed to about 15% of home fires in the United States (2012-2016).

Stationary or portable Space was the major heating equipment involved in home fires.

Improper or failure to maintain heating equipment is the major factor that leads to home fires.

Keeping heating equipment too close to combustibles was the major cause of ignition.

Candle & Grill Fires:

Between 2009 & 2013, the fire department responded to 9300 residential property fires caused by candles. As per the reports, the main areas of candle fire breakouts are bedroom, living room, and bathroom.

The leading factor that contributed to the ignition was the placement of combustible things close to burning candles.

More than one-fourth of the grill fires reported during the period 2012-2016 was triggered due to cluttered or clogged grills.

The main areas of grill fires were balcony or open porch.

Gas operated grill fires were the major grill type that lead to residential building fire compared to charcoal and other solid fuel.

Natural Causes:

As per the NPFA, lightning strikes contribute to an average of 22,500 fires in the United States every year with estimated property damage of $451 million per year.

Florida is known for many lightning hazards that lead to fire damages on an annual basis, earning it the reputation as the lightning capital of the U.S.

On an average 10 to 13 people lose their life to lightening in Florida annually.

Wildfires are another natural cause that contributes to natural fire disasters to a residential property in the United States.

The damages incurred from fire caused due to these natural causes may be covered by a homeowners’ insurance policy. Some policies even cover temporary living expenses if your family is forced to move out of an area due to the risk of lightning fire or lightning strikes. Ensure that you do in-depth research on these options and foresee the risks and vulnerabilities related to your state and its weather statistics.

Smoking Materials:

An average of 5% of residential fires (2012-2016) was started due to smoking materials.

Smoking materials were accountable for 1in 20 residential property fires in the United States.

Open porch and balconies in residential structures were the common areas where the smoking material fire broke out.

Bedrooms and balconies contributed to the popular areas where the smoking material fire broke out and lead to deaths.

Proper disposal of smoking materials is critical for fire breakout. A fire triggered by an improperly disposed of smoking material outdoors can spread into concealed spaces within the property. Such spread can take it times to do the damage before the smoke triggers the emergency alarm.

Cooking:

During 2013-2017, the United States fire department responded to 173,200 residential structure fires per year caused by cooking mishaps.

Christmas and Thanksgiving were the popular occasions that contributed to cooking-related home fires.

Electric cooking equipment was linked with higher risks of fire breakouts compared to gas cooking equipment.
Unattended cooking was the major reason that leads to cooking fires and causalities throughout the United States.

Residential structure fires in the United States have been peaking annually. Improper maintenance and negligence leads to disaster in no time. A yearly fire safety inspection is crucial. Ensure that your residential structure fire amenities and precautions are aligned with the rules and regulations set by the county or state.

Fire damage is a common and dangerous disaster irrespective of whether it is a commercial or residential property. Considering all the elements, fire in a commercial property like an office space can have a bigger impact than most, especially when taking into account the lives and career of the employees in addition to the trading, which often comes to a standstill.

There are several critical impacts of fire on commercial property, which, if foreseen and acted for, can make a big difference when it comes to the smooth and productive functioning of your business.

Business incapacitation

The most observed effect of fire to a business is the damage and destruction of the property itself. As most businesses are self-contained, the business as usual or the operational procedures ceases. This drains the potential of the business to be productive and reliable.

Moreover, the downtime is always exponential to the revenue loss. For every day, the business remains offline, the average revenue takes a fall, which in turn starts affecting the employees and other stakeholders. Any business that suffers such loss might take weeks or months to recover.

Data loss

Most large businesses have a centralized data storage structure to store all their data. However, small or medium businesses are usually vulnerable to data loss, when considering a potential fire threat. The data loss might be in the form of both digitally stored data and physical file formats.

Even a minor data loss like a small portion of a big project, it will still require the concerned stakeholders to perform research, spent time and carry out several collaborations to put all the pieces back in place.

Loss of inventory

Depending on the type and size of the business, they might house some onsite inventory goods or products. A fire can inflict mass damage and destruction to these goods. These goods or products might be in the form of something that needs to be delivered or used within the business. Even though you have insurance coverage, you might end up paying an additional amount for replacing these products.

Impact on staff

The effect of office fires on employees is often overlooked when considering how devastating it can be for the business physical structure, products, and overall revenue. Employees risk lost wages and involuntary unpaid leaves.

Suffering any injury during a fire makes things further complicated and worse for them as they have to deal with some away time and hefty medical bills.

Furthermore, the severity of fir damage impact can force the business to make some drastic changes to the business structure after a considerable amount of time like making people redundant. This is usually done when the business finds it difficult to make up for the loss suffered due to fire.

Once affected by a fire, opening the doors and restoring the business as usual procedures is the priority of any business. This is where a fire damage cleanup professional with some additional services like insurance documentation assistance can play a crucial role.

Overlooking the basic fire safety precautions can lead to scenarios that can cost you your income, job and even life. Inefficient housekeeping, carelessness, and ignorance are the major reasons for fire in workplaces and residential properties.

Being a major cause of accidents in homes and offices across the United States, every business and house owner should take fire hazards seriously. As per the U.S. Fire Administration report on both residential and non-residential property fire damages, in 2017 alone, a sum of 10,516,400,000 was lost to fire damages.

The risk of fire hazards can never be eliminated completely. Sticking to some standard precautionary steps to prevent fire at the workplace and residential property, however, is mandatory.

Know the causes

The ideal means to prevent any hazard is to understand and foresee the possible causes. The US Fire Administration classified the major cause of fire at residential and non-residential properties as the following.

• Intentional
• Playing with Heat Source
• Smoking
• Heating
• Cooking
• Electrical Malfunction
• Appliances
• Open Flame
• Other Heat
• Other Equipment
• Natural
• Equipment Malfunction
• Other Unintentional, Careles

Precautionary steps to address any concerns related to the above list should start from the installation or even at the property planning/construction level. This is where an expert new contracting or restoration specialist can make a huge difference.

Prevention strategy checklist:

• Prevent unnecessary trash clutters within the property
• Do not try to contain fat/oil fire using water as it will help the fire spread
• Inspect and service electrically appliances periodically
• Keep the fire exits free
• Have special storage areas for hazardous materials
• Have designated smoking areas
• Know the limits of your power circuit and prevent overloading it, for example running multiple industry level appliances from a single power source using something like a low capacity electrical connector can be risky.
• Check whether appliances are overheating and turn them off and in an unplugged state when not in use
• For offices, having a designated fire warden and some mock fire drill test and putting together an emergency plan is mandatory. Residential buildings can invest in fire extinguishers and a fire escape plan which has to be familiarized by everyone. Training family members to use fire extinguishers can come in handy.
• Spend on quality equipment and wiring as these can turn out to be critical in preventing unwanted fires.

As noted above, fire safety is something that has been foreseen and acted on when you are building/designing a home or office. A company like Titan Restoration specializing in both fire damage restoration and new construction can be the ideal source who can walk with you throughout the journey and ensure that your property is designed in the best and the safest possible ways in terms of alleviating fire hazards.

Fire and smoke can inflict damage to both your property and health. While property damages can be immediately diagnosed and attended to, something like smoke inhalation can take its time to trigger health-related concerns in inhabitants. This being said, inhalation of untreated smoke from a house or office fires can infect your lungs, make it swollen or fill it with fluid.

This blog post features the top 5 harmful effects of untreated smoke that any property owner must be aware of.

Cost to restore

When your property suffers fire damage, restoring it via professional assistance should be your priority. Bear in mind that trying to restore any fire damage without proper tools and equipment can lead to untreated smoke lingering in the atmosphere which can slowly but steadily have a deteriorating effect in your health.

Additionally, if the condition is left unsupervised for too long, the smoke odor can be too pungent and difficult to neutralize. This has a direct impact on the treatment processes, equipments and time required, which in turn will escalate the cost.

Asset damage

Fire and smoke can cause both permanent and extensive damage to your assets. A mixture of smoke, water, and ash can contribute towards a corrosive element. This conglomerate can eat away walls, floors, and ceilings.

If not attended to immediately, untreated smoke can start decolorizing your walls and other surfaces. A common scenario is the walls turning yellow and corrosion of metal surfaces.

Some visible damages by surfaces are as follows:

Curtains and upholstery can accommodate soot and trying to vacuum or beat this off can result in pushing the soot deeper, which in turn can make it too difficult to remove.

Clothes and bedding can house chemicals from unburned substances. These are usually invisible and should be treated with proper chemicals to alleviate any odor concerns.

Hard flooring can always suffer the risk of water and sooth damage. It can also develop stains and other marks as a result of firefighting techniques. On most of the occasions, you need to deodorize, refinish or replace the flooring.

Soot deposits

Soot deposit is another concern from untreated smoke that can wreak havoc. Most people are unaware of the fact that soot if left untreated for long, can find it ways through other rooms within the house that was not affected by fire or smoke in the first place.

This results in staining of walls, carpets, clothing, and other household items.

Thinking ahead and acting quickly is the only ideal solution when you have encountered fire damage, which usually leads to untreated smoke, odor, and unfavorable living conditions. Note that as per the IIRC (Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification), the following timelines are standard when it comes to asset damage.

Porous materials and synthetics within your fire-affected property can get discolored within minutes.
Walls, flooring, and furniture can start getting stains within hours to days.

A couple of weeks can help the soot to deposit deep into the material structures which in turn can escalate the cost of restoration and the likelihood of asset replacements.

Containing or preventing fire damage can be a challenge for property owners. Irrespective of the property type, overlooking even the minor fire hazards can turn out to be costly.

Severe or mild, a property fire incident will leave some residue behind. The effort and planning needed to clean this residue depends on several factors ranging from the severity of the fire damage to the type of substance that was subjected to fire.

This post highlights 3 types of fire smoke residue left behind after a fire incident.

Dry and wet fire residue

Fire damage to your house or any property type produces two types of residue: wet and dry. Even when it is easy to understand the type from the name, there is a big difference and complexity in understanding the effort needed to alleviate the respective concerns.

A dry fire residue is produced when the fire is classified fast burning and occurs with abundant oxygen supply. A wet fire residue, on the other hand, is a byproduct of substances burning slowly under a limited supply of oxygen. The wet fire residue can be the hardest to clean.

Synthetic residue

Burning of oil-based materials like plastics and fabrics produces synthetic residue. The items in your house that can leave synthetic residue upon subjected for fire are window shades, furniture upholstery, carpets, and electronics. These items in question burn with a cloud of hazardous black smoke and leave a smeary residue.
Synthetic residue needs to be cleaned up professionally as it involves the burning of different types of chemicals.

Protein

Protein dominant substances like meat products and beans can leave a yellowish-brown residue. The residue after such instances can be sticky and requires professional gear and chemicals to clean up.

Kitchen fires are the prominent fire type that can leave this type of residue behind. The resultant odor can be a bit strong or unbearable. This makes deodorization an inevitable process in cleaning up such fire residue.

Fuel oil residue

Furnaces can often produce soot deposits due to incomplete burning of fuel oil. The incomplete burning scenario also creates thick smoke in addition to leaving greasy deposits behind.

It is easier to prevent fire damage than containing or restoring the damage post occurrence. Always think ahead and take the necessary steps to prevent fire at any cost. If your property has suffered fire damage, think smart and consult a fire damage restoration professional to ensure that the resultant residue is identified and treated in the best possible manner.

Protecting property and tenants from a fire breakout should be the number one priority of any commercial property owner.

Ensuring property fire safety compliance can be an overwhelming task. Foreseeing fire safety concerns and being proactive can help you avoid major losses and costly repairs.

Here are the five tips to consider when it comes to ensuring fire safety for your commercial property.

Fire safety measures

All the commercial properties, to abide by the local building codes, are required to install smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

Contact your local fire marshal to learn more about any specific criteria your building needs to meet in terms of locality or any other aspects in regards to fire safety.

Installing automatic sprinklers is a smart means to ensure that any fire-related issue is attended at the very instant it arises. Investing in advanced fire safety technologies like water mist systems and wireless detectors can help you efficiently and effectively manage fire-related concerns.

No smoking policy

Enforcing a strict no smoking policy within your commercial property is inevitable for fire safety. Irrespective of what the property is used for, it is an absolute necessity to prevent smoking within the areas of the building.

Use no smoking signs on all areas of the buildings including the emergency/fire stairs and car parking. Ensure that all the new tenants and employees are made aware of the strict no-smoking policies within the premises.

It is not a bad idea to have smoking zones away from the building. Remember to tag these areas with fireproof waste containers.

Educate employees

Irrespective of the size of the building or the businesses that operate within the property, it is important to assign someone to be the fire safety operator.

The fire safety operator or warden, with proper guidance, can easily educate employees regarding the emergency procedures and escape routes and meeting places.

Additionally, it is important to ensure that the emergency evacuation building plans and diagrams are properly displayed on all levels in the building. Consider these aspects to planning a fire safety evacuation.

• Plan an evacuation procedure for employees that needs special care
• Choose a meeting point and inform the employees
• Ensure fire escape stairs are well lighted and not used as a storage

Keep an eye on storage

Storing unnecessary combustible materials can turn out to be deadly when it comes to fire safety. Keep the flammables away from your building. It is not ideal to store all the paper and cloth waste within the building, scheduling a weekly cleanup for these items is ideal.

Regular maintenance

Regular maintenance and frequent fire safety equipment tests/checks are mandatory. When doing the fire safety equipment inspection, it is ideal to follow these strategies:

• Replace any items that are warm or hot to touch
• Replace worn or old power cords and consider using cord protectors for these
• Ensure that the fire doors are operational and not blocked with furniture or boxes
• Ensure that chemical and equipment storage rooms are properly ventilated
• Test all the smoke detectors to ensure that they are operational

Fire safety compliance is critical for any commercial property. Even with all the safety measures in place, a fire breakout can still occur. This is where you need to look into a faster and efficient means to rebuild and restore. Contacting a certified fire restoration company should be your priority to achieve this without throwing your money down the drain.