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No. 11549
ID: 263d6c
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8. FIRE RATINGS
Residential fires usually reach 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit rather quickly. After that, windows blow out and holes emerge in the roof, so temperatures don’t typically get any hotter. Still, it takes time for the Fire Department to arrive and put the fire out, so buying time is the key.
Different safe companies use different laboratories to test and rate their safes in terms of how long they can prevent internal contents from reaching flashpoint temperatures of less than 350 degrees.
In case you were wondering, paper chars at 402 degrees. Also, electronic media, such as CDs, tapes, etc., will lose information when subjected to intense heat. We recommend storing them in a firebox or media cooler within the safe to keep them from reaching temperatures exceeding 125 degrees.
Still, none of these tests take radiant heat into consideration, which is the biggest killer of safes. Oven tests don’t measure cool-down time, so there are a lot of discrepancies among ratings, as they can be manipulated.
The average rating is 30 minutes at 1,200 degrees, while the average fire lasts 25 to 45 minutes. Yet 75 to 80 percent of gun safes are rated for 30 minutes. How smart is that? Anyone living in an urban area would be wise to buy a safe with a minimum fire rating of 60 minutes.
Keep in mind, however, that the farther you live from the city, the longer the wait and the less probability firefighters will arrive in time to save the house. So, if you live in an urban dwelling, it would be wise to purchase a safe with a two-hour rating.
9. FIRE LINER PROTECTION
Just like metal thickness, the more fire-liner protection, the merrier—especially in the door and ceiling. A generous amount of water-retaining insulation sandwiched between two thin layers of sheetmetal behind a heavy-gauge layer of steel body armor, is the best possible barrier against heat damage.
The most commonly used firewall used in gun safes is gypsum board, otherwise known as sheetrock. Some manufacturers use two layers. Other firewall protection includes ceramic wool and a mixture cement and vermiculite.
The various manufacturers we interviewed stated their cases for the fire protection they employ; many pointed out the drawbacks of the barrier they are not using. Sturdy Safes, for example, offers protection consisting of an outer barrier of 7-gauge steel backed by 1 inch of 2,300-degree ceramic wool and 2 inches of 1,000-degree high-temp glass compressed by a 14-gauge steel inner liner.
10. HEAT-EXPANDING DOOR SEALS
An effective safe should also have a heat-expanding door seal placed around the door frame. Palusol is the industry standard. It can expand up to nine times its original size during a fire to block out heat and smoke.
Palusol gaskets should be custom fit to each safe to ensure there are no air gaps. What’s important to remember is that the less gap, the better for keeping out heat and smoke, and to prevent prying.
- Photos show a Champion safe that was in a house fire. As you can see even though this safe was in a severe fire the contents of the safe not only survived they were not damaged. http://www.agunsafe.com/
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