Prevent Fire Loss at Your Facility
Fire can take a destructive toll on your self-storage facility. It is one of the costliest causes of the most expensive losses for property owners and insurance carriers. The devastation of a fire can includes costly repairs and lost income. The visual impact of a damaged building can cause problems when trying to rent to potential customers.
Take California for example, last year’s wildfires were the most expensive in CA for history. CA incurred a total of 12 Billion in damages related to fire, which destroyed 19,000 buildings. This ever-increasing risk of destruction due to fires is making it more difficult and costly to obtain insurance. The insurance department has begun collecting data from policy non-renewals to access the patterns more accurately pinpoint the locations and patterns of these fires.
What are some steps to take to help prevent the unthinkable from happening?
Rental Agreements:
Make sure your rental lease has specific wording prohibiting the storage of flammable materials. It is also very helpful for the managers to point out the prohibitions and communicate them to the tenant clearly.
Education & Training
Educate your employees on speaking up when hazardous conditions or situations are notice around your facility. Make sure you have a solid emergency plan checklist in place. Let you employees know the closest emergency exits are in case of a fire, post fire department emergency numbers near telephones. See the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA): https://www.nfpa.org/
Post No Smoking Signs Signage – No smoking signs have an important role restricting smokers from smoking on your facility property. Smokers dropping cigarette butts all over your facility is a dangerous fire hazard as well as creating an unsightly and smelly environment for your tenants.
Sprinklered
Did you know that facilities with only low-hazard contents or those protected with an automatic sprinkler system do not require a fire alarm system to be installed? However, Facilities that exceed 100,000 square feet and house ordinary or high hazard contents are required to have a fire alarm system installed. See the code finder link for the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) below. This will help you find answers to state code questions regarding fire protection at your facility: https://codefinder.nfpa.org/?country=United%20States%20of%20America&state=Texas&agency=Texas%20Commission%20on%20Fire%20Protection
Bill Reminders
When you send out bill reminders by mail or email, include brief educational messages about fire safety.
Hazard Reporting Hotline
Create a toll free Hazard hotline for tenants to contact if they notice anything out of the ordinary or hazardous on or around your facility. If a tenant notices a wildfire and reports that to your hotline, that could be mean possibly save your facility from a fire big loss.
Recommend the use of Fire-proof boxes to your tenants
These fireproof boxes are a great recommendation to tenants storing any type of valuable/irreplaceable items that may be flammable. These can purchase just about anywhere including at the local home improvement store.
Those with questions or concerns about their facility should contact StorInsure today to discuss with an agent.
