It’s almost time to celebrate Halloween and we’re getting in the spirit here at FireAvert! We’ve been picking out costumes, going to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin, and buying plenty candy, of course. We’ve also been leaning into the spooky side of Halloween, so today we want to share a scary story we received from one of our customers. Don’t worry—there aren’t any ghosts, goblins, or ghouls in it—but it’s scary nonetheless! (Those easily frightened may want to read this in the daylight.)
A few months ago, we received a message from a customer who had installed FireAvert in multiple properties he manages. Within the span of a few weeks, his properties experienced three separate fires at three different locations—a frightening turn of events indeed!
At the first property, the customer said “a resident was using the stove top when a phone call was received. After the call, the resident left her apartment and failed to turn off the stovetop. The food on the stove began to burn, which caused the smoke alarm to sound.” Luckily, this apartment had a FireAvert installed, which activated and shut off the stove immediately. Because of this, the only damage caused was the result of the smoke, no one was injured, and the cost of the repair was less than $500.
As the second property, “something was left on the stove top when the stove was turned on. The food on the stove began to burn, which caused the alarm to sound.” Like the property before it, a FireAvert had been installed here and immediately cut power to the stove at the sound of the alarm. And in similar fashion, no one was hurt, the only damage to the apartment was from smoke, and the repair cost was less than $300.
But at the third property, FireAvert had not yet been installed. One day, when a resident was using the stove top, the entire property lost power. “In a normal reaction”, our customer said, “she left the apartment to see what had happened, without turning off the stove top, or removing what she was cooking.” She learned that the power would not be back for three days, so she decided to go stay with her family while the power was out, and that food left on the stove would come back to haunt her.
“When the power was restored, the stove turned back on, and the food began to cook, and eventually burn. Smoke became fire and the kitchen area started to burn.” Sprinklers turned on until the fire department arrived and put out the fire. Thankfully no one was injured as a result of the fire, but the apartment “was badly burned with extensive smoke and water damage” and the apartments below it on the second and first floors also received extensive water damage. Our customer then told us the scariest part of the story by far:
The cost to repair this damage was expected to exceed $75,000!
We don’t know about you, but this is one of the scariest stories we’ve ever heard! The simple omission of a FireAvert in the last property resulted in a loss of thousands of dollars, while the other properties where FireAvert was installed resulted in a loss of less than $1,000 combined. The reality of it is that cooking fires are more prevalent than you may realize, and you never know when one might happen at your home or properties. So, this Halloween, keep the scary relegated to your favorite movies and haunted houses and out of your future by installing FireAvert in the kitchens of your apartment complexes!
If you’d like to learn more about how you can do this, click here to request more information.