We don't mess around with fire safety. Your home should always be a safe place. However if proper fire safety and fire protection precautions are not in place, you could find a vulnerability to you and your family’s safety whilst in your home, as well as to your home itself.

Fire Protection is not to be taken lightly, and neither is your safety. Don’t risk being unprotected, and make sure your property is fully fire safe. If you’re unsure of what is needed for your property, give us a call, and we will be able to advise you. At Glenco, yes we are electricians, but to ensure we can fully protect your property and cover all of your property’s needs, we are also equipped to deal with your fire protection services. The following is a list of the services we provide and can organise to be taken care of for you. Give us a call on 02 9700 9996 to organise your job. Here is everything we can do for fire prevention services:

• Emergency lighting - Test and Replacement of Emergency lighting
• Test and replacement of exit/evacuation lighting
• 240 volt smoke detectors
• Lithium battery smoke detectors
• Monitored smoke detector systems
• Fire safety audits
• Appliance and equipment testing and tagging
• WH&S certifications
• Maintenance contracts
• Fire pumps
• Fire doors
• Fire blankets
• Portable fire extinguishers
• Automatic fire detection systems
• Early Warning Intercommunication Systems (EWIS)
• Building maintenance programs
• Fire monitoring

Fire prevention can often be neglected in the home until it’s too late. Despite fire authorities and fire protection associations consistently urging us to keep smoke detectors and firefighting equipment in the home, it can take the advice of a fire prevention technician to point out where you should improve in regards to your home’s fire safety. Here are five ways that may prevent your home from being at risk of fire;

1. Smoke detectors

At Glenco, we have installed tens of thousands of smoke alarms across Sydney over our many years working in fire safety. Often smoke detectors fail, not because of a technical malfunction, but because those in the home do not realise the batteries have run out, or because of irritating false alarms causing individuals to disconnect the alarms. Lithium battery powered smoke detectors can last up to 10 years.

Ionisation or photoelectric smoke alarms?

• Lithium smoke detectors come in two types – ionisation and photoelectric. Photoelectric smoke alarms are considered the fastest. They work through a small beam of light in the alarm that is dispersed by any small amount of smoke. Ionisation smoke alarms are triggered by small specks of smoke produced by fires being detected, which means they can take more time to sense fires that take longer to reach a larger size. Ionisation smoke detectors are also more likely to cause nuisance tripping so you may be more inclined to disconnect them because of this annoyance. We recommend photoelectric alarms be installed, but ideally you could install both kinds.

2. Emergency lighting

Emergency lighting provides a guide if your home’s power and/or lighting has failed. At Glenco we provide all kinds of lighting services, including an array of emergency lighting. Similar to the lighting of the floor you find in an airplane, emergency lighting can direct you in situations where your home has been cast into darkness by smoke or a power failure. You may think you know your home’s layout well, however when panic takes hold this can change very quickly. Not to mention the smoke and threat of fire in these situations as well. Emergency lighting can be installed in your home that is triggered when your smoke detector activates, and runs off battery power. This lighting can also be triggered if your property experiences a blackout. If a fire in your home is caused by a faulty electrical appliance that has caused a blackout as well, emergency lighting could save lives when you are in the dark looking for a safe exit.

To help prevent fires caused by electrical faults, always have your home’s electrical system checked regularly by a qualified electrician (we recommend every 2 years at least) to ensure it is running safely and efficiently. This includes power boards and appliances which you should ensure are working safely before leaving them unattended.

3. Fire blankets

By now everyone should know not to throw water on an oil fire in the kitchen. But what do you do? The answer is to place a fire blanket over the flames to smother them. Even a small fire blanket hanging from a bracket near the stove can be the difference between a contained fire and a full conflagration. Statistics show that half of house fires start in the kitchen, so ask an emergency electrician to advise you on the purchase and installation of a fire blanket.

4. Emergency Warning and Intercommunication System (EWIS)

EWIS is an emergency warning system that uses alarm tones to alert residents to a fire threat. In large apartment complexes these are tested regularly and are incredibly loud – there is no way you would be able to sleep through one! Australia’s Building Code mandates compulsory EWIS in multi-storey buildings and schools, but they can also be installed in homes. Triggered by a smoke alarm, a network of speakers in every room immediately generates the alarm tone, alerting all occupants at once. This is a system that can save multiple lives. Make sure you get in contact with us and ask you Glenco fire specialists to find out more.

5. Safety audits

It is important to have a fire prevention specialist look over your home to identify potential problem areas – the absence of an adequate smoke detector or detectors, or fire blanket, for example.

In residential strata schemes and office buildings, the audit should comply with Australian Standards; however, the testing and maintenance of fire prevention and detection equipment at home should be performed on a regular basis and can be checked by a local electrician.

If you believe your home could benefit from an electrical or fire prevention check, contact Glenco and we can advise you on ways to improve your home’s safety.

These are just some of the ways in which you can ensure your property is fire safe. To have a full inspection of your property’s fire system, or to ask us for more information, give us a call and speak to one of our team directly.