Underwriter’s Laboratories Fire Resistive Rating Classification:

     The following is an explanation of the Underwriter’s Laboratories’ fire resistant container testing procedures on the class 350˚F, one hour and class 350˚F, two hour fire labels.  U.L Label/ Class 350˚F-one hour and Class 350˚F-two hour.  The safe will maintain an interior temperature less than 350˚F when exposed to fire for a period of one hour at 1700˚F or for a period of two hours at 1850˚F.  Safe must successfully undergo all other requirements for the Fire Endurance Test, Explosion Hazard Test and the Fire/Impact Test.

Fire Endurance Test:
      After heat sensors and paper are placed inside the safe, the unit is locked and exposed to a uniformly distributed fire.  The furnace is regulated to reach a maximum temperature of 1700˚F for a period of one hour, or 1850˚F for two hours, then allowed to cool without opening the furnace.  The interior temperature is recorded throughout the test and during the cooling period until a definite drop is shown and must never exceed 350˚F.  Once cooled , the unit is opened and examined for usability.  The units locking mechanisms and parts fastenings are examined for security and the interior examined for visible evidence of undue heat transmission.

Explosion Hazard Test:
     The safe is locked and placed into a furnace preheated to 2000˚F.  This temperature is maintained for 30 minutes(2 hour test is 45 minutes) and if no explosion results, the unit is allowed to cool without opened and examined for usability.  The units locking mechanisms and parts fastenings are examined for security and the interior examined for visible evidence of undue heat transmission.

Fire Impact Test:
       After the explosion hazard test the safe is removed from the furnace and within two minutes is dropped 30’ onto a riprap of brick on a heavy concrete base.  After impact the unit is examined for deformation, rupture of parts, damaged insulation and any other openings into the interior of the unit.  Once cooled, the unit is inverted and reheated to 1550˚ for a period of 30 minutes (2 hour test is 45 min. at 1638˚F).

        Once cooled, the unit is opened and examined for usability.  The units locking mechanisms and parts fastenings are examined for security and the interior examined for visible evidence of undue heat transmission.

So the fires are almost out, the floods are coming and where are we now? People are rushing to close the barn door after the horse has already escaped! Whoops, I’m showing my age. That’s an old saying which means that we don’t think something is going to happen until it does and then we try to fix it, instead of preparing for it to happen before it happens. I keep thinking about how we can let the people out there know that it is inevitable …. as long as we live in a desert like community and the weather offers the exact same contributing factors every year, how can we not prepare for what will one day most likely happen - a fire, a flood, a burglary.

 Get those precious pictures of the kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, etc. in a safe rated for fire. Get those cd disks or negatives, full of the years of memories into the proper safe so they will survive a fire. Putting them into a safe purchased from a box store or stationary outlet will not save them they are for the protection of paper which burns at 451 degrees. These safes will allow the interior of the safe to reach 350 degrees. Disks and negatives melt at about 200 degrees.

And they definitely will not keep the burglar out. If you put anything that a burglar would be happy to take to steal your identity into one of those safes, you are asking for trouble. Just think about it - you get in your car, you drive down to the nearest stationary outlet or big box store and you walk in. You pick out the safe you want, what you think will protect your valuables. You put it in the basket and you wheel it to the counter, pay for it and wheel it out to the car. You put it in the trunk, you take it home and carry it into the house. You put it in the closet, gather up all your valuables and put them inside. Everything’s safe, right?

You don’t bolt it down, you don’t make it hard for anyone who breaks into your house to pick it up and carry it out. Boy are they going to get a great holiday present when they open it up! Because of the nature of these safes small size, you wrap your valuables up in a nice neat package that a burglar can pick up and carry out.

And the saddest thing to me is that people out there always think “It won’t happen to me”. I was never a boyscout (since I’m a female) but I certainly agree with their catch phrase “Be Prepared”.

I 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.