You can’t go back in time to safeguard your building from fires, so it’s pointless dwelling on the past. If you want to limit the damage a fire can cause you’ll have to look at all the options available to you now. At the moment the hottest option seems to be retrofitting your building with Insuliner.
The reason it’s so popular is because of its fire ratings. It’s the perfect choice if you have a class 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9b building, which are generally those used for professional or commercial purposes. The classes are official and have been set out by the Building Code of Australia.
The Ways in Which Fire Can Spread
Lots of people don’t really know how a fire spreads. All they know is that when one starts it will make its way through a building until there is nothing left. Let’s look at the ways it actually happens:
- Conduction
- Convection
- Radiation
- Direct Burning
Conduction
Conduction is when heat passes through different materials. In other words, if a fire was to reach your walls or roof it would be able to spread easily. If you retrofit Insuliner the fire isn’t going to be able to spread destroying everything in its path.
Convection
Convection refers to heat transmission in relation to liquids and gases. When they expand and become lighter gases will float upwards, which is dangerous if you’re in an enclosed room. Insuliner will be able to reduce the likelihood of superheating, which will cause a tremendous amount of damage.
Radiation
Radiation is when heat passes through the air as waves you’ll not be able to see, but that heat will eventually hit other flammable materials. Obviously, those with Insuliner on their walls and roofs won’t end up with any materials behind it suddenly catching on fire.
Direct Burning
There isn’t much you can do about fire spreading from wooden table to plastic chair inside a building. Fortunately, it’s only going to spread until it reaches the end of the room. That is where your Insuliner will stop it from spreading ever further and causing more destruction.
The Different Classes of Fire
If you’ve ever taken a fire safety course you’ll know there are different classes of fire. The way in which you deal with them will depend on which kind of fire you’re facing. For example, you could have water, foam, or powder inside the extinguisher sitting on your wall.
Dig a little deeper and you’ll realise there are even more specific ways to contain a fire once it’s started. These include smothering, cooling, inhabiting, and starving it. Unfortunately, no matter what type of fire you have there is only so much you can do.
Insuliner is Your Backup Plan
In most cases, you won’t be able to contain a fire of any kind on your own, especially if it’s grown too big. The only thing you can do is hope the emergency services reach you as quickly as possible. Insuliner is your backup plan to ensure the damage is kept to a minimum.
If you don’t retrofit it now you’ll be fine… for a while. The day could easily come when you do draw the short straw and you’ll be glad you had it. Don’t make the mistake of waiting until it’s too late to protect your building from fires.