A Sentry fire safe is a must for keeping your important documents safe in case of a fire. ABC News in America wanted to test out whether these safes will do what they claim to do – remain fire and waterproof in the case of a house fire or flood. This video shows you their conclusions…

Click here to view the embedded video.

I am a girl with an eye for a fabulous new product. One of the advantages of writing this blog is that I get to look into such things, and then tell you lovely readers all about it. So, I was looking through the new products that Fire Protection Online are selling, when I came across a Firetext Smoke Alarm.

Now, hopefully we are all familiar with smoke alarms. These nifty devices can detect smoke in the air in your house or business premises, and will then sound an alarm to alert you to the potential fire – as the saying goes, there’s no smoke without fire! This is how a traditional smoke alarm would function, and is all fine and dandy providing that you are in the vicinity in order to hear the alarm.

However, what if you were not there to hear it? Or, if you look after someone with special needs, or a disability, or an elderly person that requires extra care? What if you are away on holiday? Or you have responsibility for vacant premises – small business units, or an outbuilding, a holiday home, a caravan…the possibilities are endless. Well, in these cases, it wouldn’t be much use having just an alarm sounding, as no-one would be there to hear it, thus defeating the object of the exercise.

This is where the Firetext smoke alarm comes into play. This device has a patented, built-in SIM card which will send a text message to up to four mobile phone numbers to alert you that smoke has been detected . Pretty nifty, don’t you think? The SIM card is provided with the alarm, and all you need to do is to top it up with a minimum of £10 credit. The texts are sent using the O2 network, and are charged at 10 pence each – a bit of a bargain for such a useful service.

The smoke alarm has a photo-electrical optical smoke detector – which makes it less sensitive to toasters! – and comes with a two year guarantee. The development of this item is supported by the Alzheimer’s Society and Hertfordshire Fire & Rescue Services, and it even won an award from Barclays Bank.

Personally, I think this is a really good idea – giving you peace of mind wherever you are. It can also reassure vulnerable people that someone will know if their smoke detector goes off, and will be able to help them if needed. Top marks to the creators of this device – and hurrah for new FPO products!!

My MIL and husband applying the spray in my back garden

My mother-in-law came to stay with us this weekend. Now, before you launch off into the clichéd opinions about mother-in-laws which launched a thousand jokes, let me say it now. I get on really well with my MIL. Really. She’s lovely, and I really look forward to her coming to stay with us. In fact, this weekend she helped us put up a greenhouse – but more on that in another blog post!

So, MIL came down on Friday, and over the course of the weekend, she happened to mention that she had recently made her debut purchase using Fire Protection Online. So, my ears pricked up when I heard this, and I then grilled her in a hugely unsubtle way about what she had procured from this fine company.

It turns out that it was a fire retardant spray. She works in a private clinic, and they were renovating one of their treatment rooms. MIL had bought some curtains to hang in the room, and her colleague pointed out that they ought to be fire retardant. So, MIL made some enquiries, and to have them professionally treated would have cost over £180!!!! Needless to say, she then started looking into some alternatives, and came across FPO’s site.

The fire retardant spray comes in a spray bottle a bit like bathroom cleaner. You get 750ml of the spray, which should cover 10-12 square metres. It can be used on a variety on surfaces (not just curtains!) including fabric, cardboard, foam, paper, hessian and untreated wood. So, it’s a very versatile product, and the coating should last the lifetime of the material – you only need to re-apply it if it gets wet.

The spray works by creating an invisible layer on top of the material. When this layer is exposed to heat, it creates a carbonized shield, which will then deflect heat. Simples.

So, yesterday we applied said product to the curtains – using the washing line to hold the curtains up! The spray is easy peasy to use, and is non-toxic and odourless. All you do is spray it on and allow it to dry.

MIL said she was very impressed with FPO’s service – she received the spray the following day, and the price was the best that she found. So, all in all a bit of an all-round success – I shall make sure I recommend FPO to all my family members from now on!

Fire escape ladders are a brilliant invention that allow you to safely exit upper floors of a building. Often in a fire, there is no way to get downstairs in order to get to safety. Having a fire escape ladder allows you to get out of an upstairs window, and descend to the floor in safety.

I came across a new version of the classic rope ladder idea today. This one is permanently attached to the wall, which means you always know where it is located, and don’t spend precious minutes scrabbling around to find it.

This video tells you all about it…worth considering I reckon.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Are you going on holiday this summer? Have you spent ages planning the perfect summer getaway? Do you spend your time counting down the days, hours and minutes until you jet off into the sunset? Well, if this sounds like you, then consider what I am about to say before you seal your suitcase ready for departure.

Hotel rooms, holidays homes, apartments and caravans are all potentially unsafe when it comes to carbon monoxide levels. Exposure to high levels of this gas causes more than 50 deaths every year in England and Wales, and also a number of deaths overseas.

In small spaces such as hotel rooms, boats and caravans, levels of carbon monoxide produced by faulty, poorly maintained or poorly ventilated fossil fuel appliances can build up very quickly, and high levels can kill.

In one high-profile case in October 2006, seven year old Christi Shepherd, and her six-year-old brother Robert, died of carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Corfu, Greece. Their father Neil, who survived, suffered permanent brain damage resulting in short-term memory loss.

The children, their father and his partner Ruth Beatson – who also survived – were staying in a bungalow at a hotel when they were overcome by fumes from a faulty gas-fired water heater.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is produced when fossil fuels burn without enough air, usually as a result of poor maintenance of central heating boilers and appliances such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas, or kerosene-powered fridges, heaters or cookers. It also becomes a major problem when flues become blocked.

Carbon monoxide poisoning reduces the ability of blood to carry oxygen, and as a result starves vital organs of oxygen. The symptoms worsen as more carbon monoxide is breathed in and CO concentrations in the blood increase.

The thing with carbon monoxide is that it is odourless and colourless, so you’re unlikely to know that you’re breathing it in. So, a carbon monoxide detector is recommended for you to take on your holidays with you. They are cheap to buy, small and portable, and can give you and your family peace of mind while you’re staying in your holiday accommodation. You can also use it when you get home to keep an eye on levels in your house too – excellent.

So, before you go and fill up all your suitcase space with bikinis and sunscreen, make a little bit of space for a little detector – you never know, it might just save your life.

Since I started writing for this blog, I am definitely more aware of fire safety, and the various pieces of equipment that I write about. I notice extinguishers in restaurants, public buildings, petrol stations, even on lorries and trucks.

Now it never really occurred to me that one would need a fire extinguisher on a lorry. But, having thought about it, it really does make sense. Vehicles contain a lovely mix of flammable liquids and potentially flame-inducing electrics etc. In fact, the internal combustion engine is all about making small fires in order to make the vehicle move. So, it’s a pretty heady combination, and as such can lead to fires.

Now, most fires start off pretty small and get bigger. So, carrying a fire extinguisher can mean the difference between a small amount of fire damage and a completely written off, burnt-out shell of a vehicle. And anyone who has ever had to go without their much-needed vehicle for a few days will tell what a huge inconvenience it is, let alone a rather expensive issue too.

So, carrying an extinguisher sounds like a good plan. But where to put it? If you leave it rolling about in your car, truck or lorry it will get battered about and dented, and possibly wedged underneath a seat, making it very difficult to retrieve. Fire extinguishers, being rounded, are rather good at rolling away if not secured, so a fire extinguisher bracket is a very useful device. This will allow you to fix your extinguisher to your vehicle, making sure it remains bump-free, and is always where you left it too. No more scrabbling around under piles of junk to find it.

The important thing to remember is that you should really only go about attempting to tackle fires if they are small. Your safety is paramount, and there are times when things are best left to the professionals. However, if you are happy with the situation and can ensure your safety, then using your trusty extinguisher could save a lot of expense, as well as someone’s life.

I work in a school. Not only that, but it is a boarding school. Therefore, as staff and teachers, we are responsible for the students 24 hours a day. Which means we need to look after them in the same way as a parent would. But whereas a parent would look after maybe two or three children, as a school we are looking after about 650 of them!

So, there are lots of things we do to look after the students, one of which is fire safety. There is a fire alarm for the whole school at least once a term, to make sure that we know what to do in an emergency. There is also a fire alarm in the middle of the night in the boarding houses every so often, again to make sure that all the staff and students know what to do in case of a real fire.

It is the summer holidays at the moment. While our school isn’t being used as a school, it is used as a conference centre. So during the holidays at Easter and in the summer, we have various different groups come and stay here and use the facilities. Now, last week, the fire alarm went off. Now this is very unusual in the holidays, as there are no fire drills. So when that fire alarm bell started sounding, we all looked slightly confused. Was it a drill? Was it a real fire? Do we still go to the same place as we normally would during term time? What is going on?!?!?

As it turned out, there was a slight toast-burning issue in the kitchens, however, it highlighted the fact that when situations are different to normal, things can start to go wrong. So, if you have similar situations at work, it might be worth having a look at your fire procedures. What happens when a lot of your staff are away – around Christmas for example. Do people know what they are supposed to do even when situations are slightly different to normal?

Hopefully this will help you to have a think about how you deal with situations when things are not as they normally are. And make sure you keep toasters away from people who are prone to burning things too!

Did you know that according to HSE (Health and Safety Executive) statistics, around 20 people a year die from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by gas appliances and flues that have not been properly installed, maintained or that are poorly ventilated. Quite a scary thought. Even scarier to think that even if this carbon monoxide poisoning isn’t fatal, levels that do not kill you, can still cause serious harm to your health if you are breathing them in over a long period of time. In fact, in extreme cases CO poisoning can cause paralysis and brain damage.

So, what can you do about this? Well, any work that is carried out to gas appliances in domestic or commercial premises, should be undertaken by a Gas Safe Registered engineer.  Gas Safe was formerly known as Corgi registered, and means that the person is certified as being competent in that area of work. You should also make sure that any gas appliances or flues are serviced regularly by a Gas Safe Registered engineer.

Whichever room your gas appliance is located in should have a good supply of fresh air, and any chimney, flue or vent should be uncovered and not blocked up. If you have a chimney in your house, you should get it swept at least once a year, by a qualified chimney sweep.

And, to give you proper peace of mind, you should also install a carbon monoxide detector. These devices work in a similar way to smoke detectors, and will alert you to a rise in carbon monoxide levels by emitting a loud beeping sound. This gives you plenty of time to open the windows and evacuate the affected area.

Installing a CO detector gives you peace of mind and is a very simple step to take to ensure that you are protecting the health and safety of a building’s inhabitants. You should also make sure that any work involving gas appliances is carried out by a properly trained Gas Safe engineer. If only everything was as easy as this!

So, last month I was telling you all about fire extinguishers that you can use in your car. Or your van. Or Lorry. Or boat. Or even in your multi-million pound luxury yacht. Now this is all well and good, but fire extinguishers are heavy things. And if you lay them on their sides, they are rounded. When rounded things are laid down in vehicles that move about, chances are that they will move around too. And if you have spent your hard earned cash on buying a fire extinguisher, you want to protect it and make sure it doesn’t end up covered in dents and dings, caused by sculling around on the floor of your van. Or your lorry. Or your boat. Or your multi-million pound luxury yacht.

So, I have highlighted a problem, and once again I shall give you a solution to it. May I present the fire extinguisher bracket. This simple little device will prevent your fire extinguisher from rock and rolling all over the place, keeping it safe, secure and dent-free.

A standard bracket will fix securely to your vehicle, and will keep a firm hold on any 3, 4, 6, 9 or 12kg/litre extinguisher. The standard bracket is suitable for use on powder, water and foam extinguishers. When and if you need to use the extinguisher, you simply release the securing buckle and use the extinguisher. Easy peasey.

Now if you are a farmer, and spend your days roaming around in a tractor, then a heavy duty bracket might be better suited to your needs. This has two loops of strong webbing which will hold on to your extinguisher nice and tightly, and cope with all the extra bumps and blows that you may encounter.

You may have noticed that CO₂ extinguishers were not included in the section above. This is because you can get a special CO₂ transport bracket, which is perfectly suited to securing this type of extinguisher.

So, there you are. A simple solution to a problem. For more details on any of these products, as always the FPO website has a gigantic wealth of information for you.

Now, I like science. I think it is cool and groovy, and you can do lots of things with it. In fact, I use hundreds of scientific advancements every single day.

Now, science tells us how to fight fires, and the theory behind it. So, with that in mind, we should be able to make our own fire extinguishers – right? Well, have a peek at this video…

Click here to view the embedded video.

So, there you have it! However, if you think that maybe for your home and office safety, something a little more robust and high-tech is in order, then FPO have lots of different fire extinguishers for sale, so I think I’d recommend getting one from them rather than making your own! Cool experiment though…