Every home should be equipped with the right safety and contingency measures in case an unexpected fire incident breaks out. This can catch many homeowners off guard and can cause panic if people aren’t prepared with the right procedures. Fire-proofing your home takes a bit of preparation, but you can ensure that your most valuable belongings are kept safe for future use by taking these steps.
Apart from securing valuables, such as credit cards, cash, and any expensive gadgets or items, you want to make sure that important documents aren’t lost to fire forever. These can be difficult to retrieve and re-process when they’re most needed. Investing in a fireproof safe is one sure way to keep your most valuable assets safe from harm in the event of a fire.
Here is a list of items to consider keeping in a fireproof safe:
- Birth Certificates, Passports, and Social Security Cards
These are some of the most important identification documents you have on hand and can be very difficult to replace if destroyed. By ensuring the safety of your family’s passports and birth certificates (both photocopies and certified original documents), you will have little to no issues to prove your identity if all your other IDs are lost in a fire.
You should also keep the original Social Security cards you were given in this safe because you never know when you’ll need it for aid.
- Insurance Policies
One of the first people you’ll contact after the aftermath of a fire is your agent to ensure that your home insurance policies are in effect.
- Financial Information
Any financial documents or information you have at home should be kept in your safe too. You must be able to access funds if there’s a house fire, and showing your papers can make the process of getting your credit and debit cards easier.
You should also consider keeping your retirement plans and investments safe, just in case. While it is better to have electronic copies of these documents, hanging onto the original copies will prove valuable during such an incident.
Don’t forget to include any documents that detail your outstanding debts, due dates, and information. Protecting your credit is especially important during a fire, so it’s important to keep these in high-quality fire and burglary safes.
- Legal Documents
These include living wills, power of attorney, and authorization documents. Losing them in a fire would necessitate a long process to recall your arrangements and detail them again on legal documents.
- Safety Deposit Box Keys
Valuables that you keep at the bank should be readily accessible to you at any time, especially after a house fire.
- Medical Information
Having a complete list of your family’s doctors, prescriptions, and contact information will be useful since you may need to resupply your essential medication after a fire.
- External Hard Drives for Digital Files and Photos
All important files that you have backed up from your computers should also be stored in an external hard drive and placed in the safe. These might also include your family photos, which are precious memories you don’t want to lose. Alternatively, you can regularly back these up using a cloud storage service that’s free of charge, but it doesn’t hurt to secure your files in more than one place.
Conclusion
Fires can start unexpectedly and leave disastrous results. It may take just a spark in a dry area of the woods or a plug left in its socket to lead to disaster. While many belongings can be replaced, preserving the most valuable ones in burglary safes that are also fireproof will make things easier in the face of a fire. Fireproofing doesn’t start after a fire has happened; it should begin now to ensure your safety.
The best safes for homes are both burglar-proof and fireproof. Allied Lock and Door is a locksmith company in Cincinnati that provides locksmith services, door repairs, servicing of safes, and access control. We also sell different kinds of safes, keys, and door locks. View our products and services today for your locksmith and safety needs!