Common Causes of Fire Damage in Commercial Properties

9/7/2021 (Permalink)

Fires within commercial buildings can cause a devastating amount of damage. Thankfully a large amount of fire damage can be avoided with a good, up to date fire system. The most effective fire systems include detection, control and extinguishing. A key part of fire systems are fire alarms and sprinklers, which demand constant maintenance to not only ensure the buildings safety, but also your inventory and save human lives. Being able to identify the most common causes of commercial fires should be the first step in prevention. Makes sure you consider an ERP – Emergency Ready Profile for your commercial property. SERVPRO of Edmonds offers this as a cost-free assessment to help you develop your emergency plans. Call us at 425-775-5723.

Here are the 3 most common reasons why fires occur in commercial building.

1. Kitchen: Approximately 25%-30% of all commercial fires occur because of cooking and human error in the kitchen. Due to the kitchen being a high-risk zone, this area requires extra caution while using and more prevention. Sprinklers and Fire Alarms should be central in the kitchen and a fire extinguisher should be easy to access while in the kitchen.
2. Arson: Roughly 10% of all non-residential fires occur on purpose. These fires are the most destructive because they are usually planned after working hours where nobody is around to pull the fire alarm. Some of the most common areas to start an Arson Fire are bathrooms, trash cans, dumpsters and garages. To try and prevent these fires from occurring we suggest making sure trash cans are emptied at the end of the day, keep dumpsters away from the building, keep trees and shrubs trimmed, putting motion cameras or lights in unused or dark areas and installing smoke/fire curtains near doorways. Due to the nature of Arson fires, these are the hardest type of fires to prevent. These few steps are a great way to prepare and minimize damage to important parts of the office.
3. Human Error: These also account for about 10% of commercial building fires and can be very hard to prevent. Human error could include forgetting to blow out a candle, leaving heating equipment near walls or flammable objects or as simple as overloading an outlet. The best way to prevent these is to make sure everybody in your office knows the risk of what can happen and urge them to be cautious when dealing with anything that could possibly be harmful.

We hope that these tips help your building and employees stay safe. The number 1 way of preventing a fire is proper preparation and preparedness. If you believe your Commercial Building is at risk for any type of emergency, then ask SERVPRO of Edmonds to create an Emergency Ready Plan to help you get prepared!