The fire ratings on gun safes are not a measure of security or protection, they are a measure of how much drywall or filler is loaded in between the metal outside and the inside of your gun safe. The filler material does not effectively stop a burglar from cutting the safe, only the type of metal and the quality of the material does.
The time and number on the fire rating are how much time the safe can last at a specific temperature before the inside gets over 350 degrees Fahrenheit. So if you see 2 hours (120 minutes) at 2,000 then your safe will in theory protect the contents inside for up to two hours at a fire burning 2,000 degrees. And although this sounds great, it isn’t very relevant anymore.
If your home is on fire and it is hot enough to melt a safe, your guns will be warped and not salvageable. This was an issue in the early 1900’s when firefighters were not able to get to the home in a timely manner. That’s why two fire rating companies formed, there was a need back then. We go over this a bit later below.
In modern times, fire response teams are more efficient and the chances of your home burning to the ground or being on fire long enough to impact your gun safe are next to zero.
Home fires are still very common, but response times from the fire departments are fast. There are also a ton of products that you can purchase to put a fire out before it spreads which have reduced the amount of homes burning to the ground. Here’s a graph from the US Fire Administration showing recent declines from 2013 to 2022.
Still concerned? Don’t be, you can check your own risk levels.
Most cities and towns have a local website where you can find your fire department’s average response time to evaluate your risk. The goal set by The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) Standard 1710 is to have a full response time from call to arrival of 5 minutes and 20 seconds allowing for ample time to get your house fire extinguished. This in turn means your gun safe will likely be unaffected. And you can find ABC fire extinguishers on sale pretty inexpensively online if yours has expired.
That’s the bottom line and why the fire rating on a gun safe in many situations is irrelevant. You may want to do some digging when the fire rating seems too good to be true.
Gun safe ratings can be done by the manufacturer or by a third party, so it is important to not rely only on the rating, but who gave it.
Underwriters Laboratories and Intertek ETL are the two most trusted third parties when it comes to assigning firing ratings on gun safes. Both organizations are over a century old and have been a 3rd party resource for consumers like you.
There is no fireproof room in a home, but kitchens catch fire more often than others because you’re working with fire, heat, and flammables, and they’re followed by bedrooms and other spaces where electrical fires occur from overused and under maintained sockets. Kitchen fires are normally stopped, literally in the pot, before they can spread. It still counts statistically as a fire, but because they get under control quickly it does not spread.
If your gun safe is furthest away from these hazards, and the fire department can make it in time, the fire rating may save the day if the room only gets touched without heating up too much. But again, it is unlikely a higher fire rating will help because if the fire gets to the point protection is needed, chances are it is already too late.
Now you know the history of fire ratings and gun safes, what to look for, and that the ratings likely won’t help or hurt your guns as the chances of needing a safe that withstands intense heat are slim to none. But if you want that extra bit of assurance, check out our gun safes here at SecureIt. We have options that meet all your needs.