Protecting Valuables from Southern California Fire Storms
October 23rd, 2007I was watching KNBC 4 news this morning and Matt Lauer from the Today show was interviewing a couple from the fire ravaged San Diego County fire. They had lost their home and possessions and they spoke about walking through the burned out remains of their home and recalling that they recently purchased a safe to protect their valuables.
I watched as they talked about where the safe would have fallen from the second floor into the first. The gentleman knew right where it should have fallen and in going to that area they had found it, and they had dragged the safe out of just where they expected it to be. They showed the safe charred and dented, and the door was fused shut from the heat of the fire.
Being in the safe industry for about 10 years, I could identify the brand and the type of safe just from seeing it. It was a safe that was adequate for protecting papers and documents from fire (but not from burglary). This is a safe that you would find at a big box store or a stationary store. No one was there to tell them what it would be good for, or whether it was adequate for protecting his valuables.
I cringed when they mentioned that besides the usual documents inside the safe, they had had CDs and DVDs. I imaged what they would find. You see, these safes when manufactured are made to keep the interior of the safe at 350 degrees (paper burns at 451 degrees). CDs and DVDs melt at about 200 degrees. So there was a strong chance that any media kept in the safe would melt and probably destroy anything around it.
Whenever I see a catastrophe, like what we are having here in Southern California with the fires, I want to shout to the world that preparation is the most important thing. Don’t think “It can’t happen to me”. In a moment it could and you could lose all that is important to you
Educate yourself.. We have been in the safe business for over 30 years and we carry many safe manufacturers so that we can bring to our customers the best in the industry. We take the time to educate our customers because we believe an educated customer can make the right choice when it comes to protecting their valuables.
I am extremely grateful that this man, his wife and a relative got out of the fire alive, but it is heartbreaking, to know that most likely what he thought was going to help protect his valuables, may not have done a tremendous job.
