Fireproofing Important Documents and Valuables

1/4/2021 (Permalink)

Prevent irreversible damage to your important documents.

HOUSES do not burn down often – but when they do the impact can be devastating. 

Even assuming everyone is safe and sound, the task of rebuilding can be overwhelming – especially if all your key information was also lost in the fire.

Insurance information, birth certificates, passports, property deeds – they can be retrieved and reestablished but not without extensive time, research, and costs. And any sentimental archives would probably be lost forever.

But with a little bit of preparation, you can minimize this risk for very little cost and effort, giving yourself a much better springboard to rebuild as quickly as possible should the worst happen.

Fireproofing your essential documents and valuables is a surprisingly simple process. In today’s world, many documents are electronic to start with, and can be stored in any number of cloud platforms – and a quick picture of any other essential paper documents can simply be uploaded for safety too, and accessed anywhere should you need to. Do make sure the digital location and password are known by those key family members that may need it, or the information will exist but be lost.

For physical documents, fire bags or a small fireproof safe are ideal and not expensive. The bags come in various sizes and can hold up to 500 sheets of paper, or small valuables, and are resistant to temperatures up to 2,500F.

A fireproof safe can also be bought for very little at any superstore or office supply store, and again come in a range of sizes. Not only can you keep important documents under lock and key, but should a fire break out, they will be in a good place to survive the flames. They are also much more convenient than paying for a deposit box at a bank.

For larger quantities of documents that may not be quite as vital, there are chemical flame retardants that can be sprayed on paper and cardboard storage boxes cheaply and quickly. They will not hold up as well as a safe but will help keep flames at bay as the chemicals provide a char resistant layer of protection and buy vital time for fire crews to do their work. There are also homemade solutions that will make your paper harder to catch light by soaking your documents in Borax solution or coating them in wax. Again, neither will be fireproof but both will make it harder for the paper to actually catch alight.

For a professional opinion on fireproofing, and for an efficient cleanup should a fire affect your home or business, call SERVPRO today.