Your Fire Protection System Needs Your Attention

Is your fire protection system really protecting you? How long has it been since your system was installed? How often, if at all, do you have your fire protection system inspected? Have you really given this any thought? It's easy to neglect such things when you are running a business.

Just the normal everyday routine tasks of running your business demand much of your attention, and when business activities don’t go according to plan, your attention is naturally diverted even further from such mundane issues as facilities maintenance. But you should set aside some time to review the status of your fire protection and monitoring systems.

You have a large investment in your building and its contents. What would happen if you had a fire and your automatic fire protection system didn't function as expected? Do you have important documents or expensive equipment, such as computers or production machines that could be damaged? Could they be replaced, at what cost, and how quickly? Could you afford to have production halted for a few days, weeks or months? Proper inspection and maintenance of your fire protection and monitoring systems is essential.

Your fire protection system is just like any other mechanical or electrical system that can fail to perform if it sits dormant for extended periods of time. Anything can fail, but systems that are maintained and tested regularly, are more likely to perform properly when needed. You should have regular inspections and maintenance performed by someone that is trained and qualified to work on such systems.

If it's been a long time since your fire protection system was installed, a review is in order to ensure that it is up to date with local codes. You should also check to see if your original alarm system only provides local warning, or is it connected to the appropriate monitoring service. It may be only local because it was not practical for remote monitoring at the time of installation. But now it is a simple and necessary procedure to set up remote monitoring.

You will also want to review the type of fire protection that you have installed. At one time, water fire sprinkler systems were the norm. Today there are reliable, waterless systems that might be more appropriate if you have irreplaceable documents or expensive equipment that could be damaged by water sprinklers.

You need to arrange for an inspection and a regular maintenance program. You can find a qualified Minneapolis fire protection system company by searching online.

Fire Safety on a Budget

You and your family's safety is nothing to take lightly, but there may be some circumstances where you can't spend a lot of money on top-of-the-line fire alarm and fire suppression systems. Don't worry -- there are still ways to keep your family protected in these situations, and you can do so without taking as big a hit to your wallet.

Smoke alarms are simple devices that offer big protection, at least in the warning stage. When a smoke detector catches a whiff of smoke, it emits a sound that is meant to get the attention of anyone who might be in your home. Some models will even flash a bright light to let those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing know that they should try to escape immediately.

Fire extinguishers are also very important tools to keep around. Should a fire start and should you be around while it's still in the beginning stages of formation, you can use a fire extinguisher to keep that small fire from becoming a large one. It's important to know which type of extinguisher is the best to use for which type of fire, however, as there are different types of extinguishers that can help suppress fires depending on their source type (paper, flammable liquids, electrical wiring, etc).

One of the best things you can do is develop a fire escape plan and practice it on a regular basis. The preparation will undoubtedly help in the event of a real emergency.

Ready to help protect your home or business from the dangers of a potential fire? Call Brother's Fire today for Iowa fire protection services at (763) 441-2290.

Sustainable Fire Protection

With many cities and municipalities experiencing financial crunches, innovative ways to keep costs low while still maintaining the services taxpayers are used to seems to be a priority. One of the highest-cost items for local governments is the cost of keeping a fire company. Firefighter pay sits just below a police force in terms of cost for these governments. Some fire departments, squeezed by budget cuts, are looking to a unique solution: student firefighters.

Fire companies that are stationed near colleges provide students with free housing and hourly pay in exchange for firefighting duties when the need arises. UA Fairbanks runs such a fire department, and when the students graduate or leave, they're replaced with incoming students. Costs are kept low, since students are paid a less-expensive hourly wage than professional firefighters, and because these students also don't accrue pensions, costs are also kept down going into the future.

This idea, of course, does not have to take place near a college campus, but having this be the case helps in the recruitment of younger adults. It's an innovative way to keep troubled fire departments afloat in times of economic strife.

Want to learn more about Brother's Fire and our Iowa fire protection services? Call us today at (800) 607-2767.

Fire Safety Tips from Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog

Need an adorable reminder to always put fire safety at the forefront of your fire protection strategy? If so, the Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation has just what you need -- regular visits from Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, who has his own dedicated blog that gets updated regularly with tips and advice from Sparkles and his friends. Here's a recent tip that went up today from Sparkles.

 Sparkles the fire safety dog, created by the Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation, was named USA Today's 2010 Most Heroic Dog.



Brothers Fire is a Iowa fire protection company that has been serving the region for over 10 years. You can learn more about Brothers Fire and the commercial and residential services we provide by visiting our website. You can also get in touch with us by calling (800) 607-2767.

Types of Fire Sprinkler Systems

When you think of a fire sprinkler system, you might think of the ceiling-mounted system that covers an area in water when it detects a fire. This is one system, called a wet pipe system, and it's automatic device that supplies pressurized water to the room or rooms a fire has been detected in.

Another type of fire sprinkler system is called a dry pipe system. This type of sprinkler system is used in buildings that are unheated, as well as in refrigerated coolers and other cooler areas. This system is the second most common, after the wet pipe system, but is more expensive to install and keep in good condition.

A third type of sprinkler system is known as a deluge system. With a deluge sprinkler system, the sprinklers are actually open, allowing a greater flow of water from the pipes to the affected area. This can help put out a larger area of fire than the previous two systems.

The pre-action system is meant to not only protect life and extinguish fires, but also protect property. These systems are used frequently in museums and in other places where rare or expensive materials are kept.

Interested in learning more about which type of sprinkler system is right for you? Get in touch with Brothers Fire, an experienced Iowa fire protection company with over 10 years of experience. You can reach us by phone at (800) 607-2767.

Fire Protection Technology from 3M used by NASCAR Drivers

Chemicals company 3M has long been a source of innovation, and for years, one of the areas they've done a lot of good work in has been the race car fire protection industry. Here, they've provided NASCAR drivers with the fire protection technology used in race cars, like its Novec 1230 Fire Protection Fluid. 

This fluid is now becoming more and more common in Iowa fire protection systems. When the need for fire protection is there but water or dry chemical suppression agents will damage important electrical systems, this can be used to help stop the spread of a fire, providing more time for those in a building to escape and protecting more property by the time the fire is extinguished.

Ready to learn more about Iowa fire protection company Brothers Fire? Call today at (800) 607-2767.

How Fire Protection Systems Work

The modern-day fire protection system is a far cry from the one that was available to Iowa businesses a few decades back. In the past, fire protection consisted of a fire alarm system and a suppression system that merely tried to control a fire long enough for firefighters to arrive and finish the job. Today's fire protection system also couples an alarm and suppression system, but nowadays, a suppression system has the potential to completely knock out a fire on its own.

The most common system used for suppression is the sprinkler system. This often utilizes water, though other types of suppression agents (such as foam or gas) can also be used. When a fire is detected, usually by the presence of smoke in the air, the fire alarm portion of the protection system is activated, and the suppression system attempts to control and extinguish the fire as quickly as possible.

Brothers Fire has been helping Iowa businesses with their fire protection needs for the past decade. Interested in learning more about how we can help? Get in touch today by visiting our website.