So this weekend it was 350 years since the Great Fire of London started, an event that’s had a massive impact on modern home fire safety.
The fire was recorded as having resulted in only 6 fatalities – which would be a miracle statistic, if it were true.
Other estimates venture into the thousands, probably because the poorer people of the City weren’t recorded in the death toll.
Modern fire safety owes a lot to this tragedy, with the first ever fire brigade being formed as a direct result. Today, there are over 1,600 fire stations across England, with 6,000 uniformed operational staff in London alone.
A lack of dedicated Fire Brigades wasn’t the only problem in 1666. The buildings were built too close together, and being made from wood and thatched rooves, went up in flames incredibly quickly.
In just three short days the fire had destroyed over 10,000 buildings.
While the lessons from this tragedy were learnt and buildings are now built further apart to stop fire spreading, London is still an incredibly compact city. Building fire control regulations are just about keeping up too, for example London homes aren’t entirely made from wood, phew!
Yet, you can’t rely on the build quality alone to safeguard your home and one of the most important fire safety features in any house is still the humble smoke detector.
The quicker you can alert the authorities of a fire, the quicker it can be stopped.
Monitored Alarm Systems & Fire Safety
These days, alarm receiving centres can monitor your home burglary alarm system, which can be connected to your smoke detectors and in turn result in a fire brigade response.
An operator can check to see what has caused the alarm and call your designated key holder to alert them. If they can’t get through, then they can call the fire brigade on your behalf – just seconds after the alarm has been raised.
This system can mean the difference between life and death.
If your family is unconscious because of smoke inhalation, then you can’t call the fire brigade. Without a monitored system, if you’re incapacitated or not at home you’ll be hoping that a neighbour or passer-by will alert the emergency services, which isn’t terribly reliable.
London Home Fire Safety With Monitored Alarms
Protecting your home with these systems starts with one step; getting an accredited company to survey your home.
The security company you choose needs to have a police recommended accreditation, such as NSI Gold (you can check for accreditations here). Without it, you won’t be able to receive automatic emergency service contact.
Get A Free Home Survey
At Spy, our expert surveyors will assess your home and devise a quote for you for free, so you can have a home security package that’s tailored to your specific needs.
