Without adequate protection and safety measures, a fire in your business office could be the most devastating tragedy you will ever experience. These days, business owners have come to realize that it is best to equip their offices with fire protective gadgets and devices such as fire alarms and fire exits.
Unfortunately, these safety measures are not capable of protecting your valuable possessions, since they would be set ablaze in such a disaster. Fireproof office safes are specifically designed to shield your most valuable possessions, documents, and other properties from fire. These fireproof office safes have special features that allow them to withstand the blazing heat of a fire.
Safes are used to hide or protect valuables such as jewelry, money, or important documents. As such, safes follow several parameters:
~Burglar-resistance
~Fire-resistance
~Environmental resistance (as protection from water or dust)
~Type of lock—it can either be a combination, time lock, or electronic lock.
~Location (e.g. wall safe, floor safe or hidden/diversion safe)
Fire resistant safes consist of self-contained devices that have insulated bodies, doors, drawers or lids, or non-rated multi-drawer devices with containers that contain one or more inner compartments for storage of records. A fireproof home safe can help keep your valuables away from thieves and protected from fires.
A safe is also called a strongbox or a coffer. It is a secure lockable box made of durable materials. It is used to store important documents or other valuables, to protect them from fire, damage, or burglary. Many homes and offices today have safes that meet their particular type of needs. There are many types of safes that are available in the market today.
Some types of safe are made with rotary locks. Others rely on pin codes that have been previously entered by the owner. A safe is usually a hollow cube or cylinder, with one face removable or hinged to make a door. The body and door may be made from a sturdy material such as steel, or formed out of plastic.
Three primary types of SAFES:
1. Fireproof Safes
2. Burglary Safes
3. Fire & Burglary Safes
Fireproof Safes
Fireproof Safes are designed to protect paper from catching fire. It is constructed with a thin metal double wall design which allows a fireproof insulating material to be put between the walls. When a fire occurs, the insulating material releases moisture which keeps the interior safe temperature below the burning point of paper. These safes are rated by the length of time they will protect their contents under extreme heat conditions. A 1/2-hour rating is used only for small fire-insulated boxes, (popular brand of this is Sentry) Most fireproof safes have 1-hour or 2-hour ratings. These are adequate for the protection of paper records in normal home and business fires. The 4-hour rating is only used for record rooms. If a safe is labeled as a fire resistant container, that label is usually provided by the Underwriters Laboratory (UL). However there are other testing agencies which test and label safes, such as Japan Institute of Standards (JIS) and Korea Safe Standards. These labels are equivalent to UL labels.
The burglary resistance of a fireproof safe is minimal. Any metal box with a combination lock is described as a Class 1 burglary resistant container.
Media Safes are designed to protect electronic media such as computer disks and video tapes. Like regular fireproof safes, media safes have UL ratings for protection times. Electronic media and data are more sensitive to heat and humidity than paper so a media data safes are differently constructed and much more heavily insulated than regular fireproof safes with the same rating.
Burglar Resistant Safes
The burglar-resistant safe is designed to contain valuables. It is constructed with solid metal walls and a heavy door resistant to attack by drilling, cutting or prying. Hardened and drill resistant metals are often used to slow down attempts to break in to this safe. These safes are rated in two ways:
1. The class rating (1-5) is based on a combination of door and wall thickness, and in the higher ratings (3-5), resistance to certain forms of attack such as drilling and cutting with a torch. Insurance companies use this rating to designate how much cash may be kept in the safe.
2. The UL rating is a system developed by Underwriters Laboratory which rates safes based on how long they will resist various forms of attack. The UL ratings start at 15 minutes and go to one hour. In addition they add the following letter designations: DR drill resistant, TL tool resistant, TR torch resistant, TRTL tool and torch resistant and finally the X6 designation is reserved for the very best bankers and jewelers safes. They would be designated : TRTL60X6. Please keep in mind that any UL designated burglary safe is of high quality and gives excellent protection.
There are two specialized burglary resistant safes that are commonly used for storage of cash, the in floor safe and the drop safe.
The in floor safe is a round or square tube with a heavily constructed lid which lifts out when unlocked. The tube is usually installed in a concrete floor or it can be installed on the floor surface in a concrete block which adds weight and protects the tube from attack. The main advantage of this safe is the low cost. Since the exposed lid is the only part that is heavily constructed, good protection can be achieved inexpensively.
The drop safe allows envelopes or bank bags to be inserted into the safe while the safe remains locked. The drop can be as simple as a slot in the lid of an in floor safe, or it can be an elaborate hopper or drawer designed to allow large items to be inserted. These safes are used where frequent cash deposits must be made to deter robbery. Often the manager is the only one with access to the “dropped” cash. These safes are never UL burglary rated and are not recommended for long term storage of cash. They are also quite light and should be bolted to the floor or counter to deter the smash-and-grab thief.
Fire & Burglary Safes
Fire & Burglary Safes are designed to give protection against both fire and burglary. It is usually designed as a burglary safe with a secondary wall constructed inside the safe which contains insulation. This safe can be UL rated for both burglary and fire protection.
Another type of combination fire and burglar resistant safe is one where a small burglary resistant container is installed in a larger fire-resistant container. In newer units the fire resistance is UL labeled but often the burglary container is not.
Older Safes
Most older safes are not labeled as either burglar or fire resistant. We can only guess at their true quality and in the case of the burglary containers rate them Class 1, 2, or 3 based on door and wall thickness, according to insurance classifications.
Another point to remember is that often insurance companies ask their clients to by a safe based on weight or to have the safe bolted to the floor if it isn’t heavy enough. Many of those clients come to us wanting to buy an inexpensive fire-resistant safe and have it bolted to the floor. Though this keeps the thief from picking it up and walking out with it, It doesn’t stop crow bars and other tools. So be carefull in this area. Because you can be penny wise and pound foolish. Best to get some good advise. Call our friends a Vault and Safe or visit their site.
Fireproof Safes feature review is in response to the regular phone calls we get. They all seem to start with “What kinda safe do I need?” Well thats what I’m here for.
I. Fireproof Home Safes. Typically last about a half hour to one hour in fireproofing. But check the tested time duration. Some are rated for 1 hour at 1250 degrees and some rated at 1700 degrees for one hour. Both will promise that the internal tempature will not rise above 350 degrees (above that paper catches fire) for that time period. However, the one tested at 1700 degrees will be substantially better. Though the average fire burns around 950 degrees so both safes should be up to the occasion.
II. Fireproof Burglary Safes. Are typically around 2 hours burn time and have much thicker bolts than the fireproof home safes mentioned above. You will want to pay attention to the tested degrees on the safe and the duration. Measure the bolt size and are the bolts also on the hinge side? What about the top and bottom section of the door? Import considerations. I know that Protex Safe makes a 30 minute fireproof safe with some really good bolts in their higher end models. However, I like a longer burn time then 30 minutes.
III. Fireproof Data and Media Safes. These fireproof safes are rated at the same external temps as above BUT guarentee the inside will stay at 125 degrees! Above that and media and data start to fade away and we don’t want that. This sounds really good until you look at the price. Which is normally much more expensive because of the material and you will not get much room inside that fireproof safe due to all the extra insulation.
IV. Fireproof High Security Safes. These start at 1 hour, 1 1/2 hour, 2 hour, and 3 hour fireproof. Fireking has a 3 hour data safe that is also a high security RSC Rated safe that is top of the line in quality and price. However, there are many that fit the more resonable price range such as Dyna Vault and Hayman Safe has several types from UL Listed RSC Safe, TL15, TL30 rated safes. Typically you don’t need too much fireproof on a TL rated safe because the contents are coins and jewelry. You will find these in coin shops, jewelry stores, or just ordinary paranoid peoples homes like mine! Hahahaha.
See the article below for up to date happening in our financial world. Lot of folks are turning to Safes as our faith is challanged in our current financial, political, and economic problems. (Get this, the Dow is down over 40%, housing is still going down and fast…and the the Fox news chanel is thinking we are not in a recession yet)
I know our friends at “Vault and Safe” are well stocked and shipping! Great article from Judy at the Star-Ledger.
With economy in the tank, people are banking on safes
by Judy DeHaven/The Star-Ledger
Thursday October 16, 2008, 9:00 PM
At Cy Drake Locksmiths in Morristown, one of the most popular models of safes these days is the AMSEC combination fire-burglar-gun safe.
It’s not that Morristown residents are buying more guns, said the store’s owner, Henry Printz. They’re finding the larger model necessary, he said, for all the cash, jewelry and other valuables they want to keep, well, safe.
It’s all part of the new economic age, when every day brings another stream of turbulence from Wall Street and everyone is nervous that their bank is going to be the next to fail.
Jim Pathe/The Star-LedgerJeff Baldwin of Cy Drake Locksmiths in Morristown shows off one of the shop’s burglary- and fire-resistant models“This time of year is usually a little slow,” Printz said. “But everybody’s scared. I’d say sales are up maybe 50 to 75 percent.”
While there are no formal statistics, safe manufacturers, online retailers and licensed locksmiths in New Jersey say sales of home safes have soared in recent weeks as people have grasped for some sense of security in these uncertain times.
“Nobody wants to admit it, but people are afraid the banks are going to crash,” said Dave C. Ribel, owner of Top Security Locksmiths in Point Pleasant, who has sold 15 safes in the last three weeks when his shop would typically sell three. “And they think people are going to turn to crime and break into their house and look for their stuff.”
The spike in retail sales has led to more orders for manufacturers. Sentry Safe, a manufacturer in Rochester, N.Y., said its sales have increased 20 percent to 50 percent over the last three to four weeks. And the Hayman Safe Co., another manufacturer from Ovido, Fla., said its sales are up 35 percent to 50 percent.
Zack Gilmore, an online retailer based in Corpus Christi, Texas, with two websites — valuesafes.com and vaultandsafe.com — said his internet sales are up 100 percent this year, and he is on track to see a 300 percent increase in the last month alone.
In addition, Gilmore said, some 200,000 people have Googled the word “safe,” in the last 30 days. That’s up from 136,000 for the same period last year.
“We’re getting a lot of folks here recently who are saying, ‘I’m pulling between $10,000 and $20,000 out of the bank,’” Gilmore said. “They’re not taking their life savings. But they’re taking an emergency fund.”
Earlier this week, Sovereign Bank, one of the nation’s largest thrifts, said customers pulled $4.2 billion, or almost 9 percent of deposits, in recent weeks, a trend seen by a number of other large banks since the start of the year.
Gilmore’s current best seller is a fireproof and burglary safe on sale for $539. Gilmore said that is a typical starter safe, which is 18 inches high and about 20 inches deep. But as people stop to think about what they can store in a safe, they often move up to the bigger models. Many are willing to spend several thousand dollars for a high-quality safe.
What about bank safety deposit boxes?
“People want the extra protection,” said Dick DiVittorio, vice president of the Hayman Safe Co. “They don’t know if a sticker is going to be on the door the next time they go to the bank.”
It is not unusual for safe sellers to see an increase in demand after catastrophic events or downturns in the economy. When forest fires ravage the west, sales of safes increase. Ditto for hurricanes in the south.
Likewise, safe sellers saw increases at the turn of the millennium with the Y2K scare and also after 9/11, said Sondra McFarlane, director of marketing and communications with Sentry Safe.
“Our products are the types of products people become aware of in times of peril and uncertainty,” McFarlane said.
While locksmiths and manufacturers said they have seen a surge in sales during the last three weeks, Gilmore, the safe retailer, has also seen more subtle trends.
He said his sales first increased back in January, when the price of gold hit historic highs.
“We started getting what I’d call the fringe of society,” Gilmore said. “I talked to this one guy who said, ‘I live on this island. And I want to keep all my gold bouillon on my island with me.’ We started getting those kinds of odd ones.”
Then, when Bear Stearns collapsed in the spring, Gilmore’s businesses experienced another increase from the “folks that remembered the Depression,” he said.
“Now,” he said, “it’s everybody.”
The last three weeks in particular have been a boon for safes, as huge swings in the stock market have become the norm and the government has struggled to implement a bailout plan and restore a sense of calm in the markets.
“Many people are frightened because of the economic situation at hand,” said McFarlane of Sentry Safe. “Unfortunately, it’s causing decisions to pull money out of financial institutions and put it in our safes.
“We are not condoning the practice of taking money out of financial institutions and putting them in our product,” she added. “But if people are going to take out their money, and they’re going to end up putting it in a mattress or the icebox or a drawer or someplace that’s not secure, then certainly our product is better.”
Safe sales are up across the world. The concern on banking security is on everyones mind. Many are choosing to remove doubt and take their money home. If you are wanting to be Safe and Secure. Check out the safes from our friends at www.VaultandSafe.com
Action Lock And Safe usually sells a few home safes on Friday and Saturday — total.
But with a struggling banking sector, the Gunn Highway business sold seven safes Friday and two Saturday.
“Security, food and shelter are the three important things when times are tough,” said Ed Jurewicz, the store’s owner. Some people don’t trust government and want to keep their money safe at home, he said.
“Last week, sales started picking up. I noticed it in the beginning of the week.”
Gary Cooper, whose Tampa Safe Exchange store on Causeway Boulevard sells gun safes, said he hasn’t seen much of a change in sales in his field.
The chief operating officer of an Odessa bank safe sales company, meanwhile, says his business is making a profit but that many similar ones are struggling or have gone out of business.
“I’ll be honest with you, with the economy the way it is, it should be negatively affecting us,” said Ray Scannapieco, chief executive officer of Collier Safe Co., whose Odessa business caters to financial institutions. “But we are doing more business this year than last year. I can assure you we’re not the norm in the industry.”
Many smaller manufacturers in Scannapieco’s field have folded or are struggling, he said.
Large banks such as Wachovia are facing hardships, and they are not spending much money right now, Scannapieco said.
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