To put an end to huge human and material losses to fire, Sagif Ventures Fire Prevention Company launched a new technology that prevents burning of doors during fire outbreak on Friday in Abuja.
Highpoint of the launch was a fire safety test on regular flush and upgraded fire doors.

The new technology makes upgraded doors to withstand fire for long, thereby giving enough time for evacuation of occupants and less or no damage to prop
An ordinary door was burnt in five minuteserty in the building.
An upgraded door was subjected to fire at 1,011 degrees celsius for one-and-a-half hours. Yet it was not consumed whereas a regular door was burnt in just five minutes.
Fire resistant doors are upgraded with intumescent materials.
Speaking at the end of the fire test, the Assistant Controller Fire, Federal Fire Service, Mr Taiwo Daramola confirmed that the fire door was rated for 90 minutes.
He explained, “We have four stages of fire – the incident stage, growth stage, developed stage and the decay stage.
“If you watched it very well, you would realise that the unrated door had already fallen decay on the ground. That’s to tell you that it was not rated for that purpose.
“What we need to know is how many hours or how many minutes it is rated for? So when the incident happens, the rated building elements will withstand stress for that period of rating.”
Viewpoint Housing News reports that fire ratings are done according to client’s specification.

The fire official said if it is 90 minutes, the door will not get to ignition stage within the 90 minutes of the fire whereas the unrated one will catch fire almost immediately.
He said his office has been spreading fire safety message to the public.
“We’ve been doing advocacy all over the country. We’ve been working with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria to know the materials imported into the country.
“If a building is subjected to a rating period of two hours, when fire starts, within two hours, it cannot get to the growth stage of the fire. So every occupant must have moved out to the muster point.
“If it’s not a rated environment, within 10-20 minutes, everything would have been engulfed with fire,” Daramola expressed.
He had a word for rent seekers and buyers of buildings: “Not only the developer, the occupant is supposed to know.
“When you want to rent a house, develop a house, you should know the elements put in the building – the glass, the doors, ceiling, can they withstand the rate?

“You should be given the fire rate. It should be part of what you are negotiating for when going into a building. It helps one to prepare,” he advised.
Similarly, the Managing Consultant of Sagif Ventures Fire Prevention Company, Mr Sam ‘O’ Ayadi, espoused passive fire prevention lamenting that billions of naira have been lost by government and individuals in buildings.
“We feel there is need to complement the effort of the Fire Service by introducing our passive fire prevention products.
“If you have passive fire prevention products put in place, it gives you the high level of confidence.
“You can go to sleep rather than ordinarily waiting on fire service because fire will never announce its arrival.
“So when you have passive fire prevention products installed in your place, of course you can go to sleep.
“We’ve been taking the awareness to the grassroots, to different parts of the country, making sure people know what passive fire prevention means.

“People complain of funding. We’ve brought the costing down. We’ve considered the financial constraints of individuals and corporations,” Ayadi stated.
He said it is important that fire materials are installed in every building – the kitchen in particular should not be without one.
An engineer who is former Head, Fire Service, Mr Mobolaji Jolaoso urged the general public to embrace passive fire prevention by using passive fire prevention materials.
Fire service officials as well as engineers, architects, builders attended the event.