We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn More \u203a<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n A fire is one of the scariest and most devastating things that can happen to your home or business. You can lose priceless heirlooms and important documents if they\u2019re not protected by a fireproof safe. But, it\u2019s important to realize that \u201cfireproof\u201d is not a guarantee and safes with that designation vary widely in their ability to protect your belongings.\u00a0<\/p>\n To find out the reality of fireproof safes, I talked to a professional safecracker who is often hired to open safes after a fire or attempted break in. His years of experience with safes of all makes and models helped guide the picks you\u2019ll see below. I also did an experiment where I put an inexpensive safe into a fire to see the protection it provided. Here are my picks for the best fireproof safes.<\/p>\n I interviewed safecracker Charlie Santore<\/a> of Santore & Son Lock & Safe, to get his perspective on safe security and fireproofing. Santore is the person people call when they\u2019re locked out of their safe, often after a criminal has tried breaking into it or after a fire. He has also worked with law enforcement to open safes after an attempted robbery. In addition to cracking safes he services them and has had hands-on experience with a lot of models. Here\u2019s what he had to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re expecting a thief to pick a lock or use gadgets to open your safe, you\u2019ve watched too heist movies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn the modern wave of burglary and crime, people don\u2019t run around manipulating safes open. Most burglaries right now are people using cutting wheels, abrasive tools, grinders, concrete saws, and that kind of stuff. So at the end of the day, a secure lock winds up being a very small part of a bigger problem,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n According to Santore, criminals are using cheap angle grinders with abrasive wheels to cut openings in safes. He says most consumer safes have walls made of drywall, for fire protection, sandwiched between thin steel, which can be cut through in minutes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n If you look at most safes you can buy at bix box stores, even the pricey ones, they\u2019re made of 12 to seven gauge steel. Consider that seven gauge steel is only 3\/16-inch thick and 14 gauge is even thinner at 5\/64-inch thick. So you can see how it wouldn\u2019t be difficult to cut through that and make a new door.\u00a0<\/p>\n Safes can receive a burglary rating, which is important for insurance and it means the safe has gone through pretty rigorous testing. There\u2019s a lot of designations and varied testing protocols for each rating. You can read about them here<\/a>. Basically you want to avoid safes that have a B, C, or B\/C rating because no testing is required and they basically mean the safes have a lock. Look for safes with a UL RSC, TL-15, TL-30, TL-30X6, or TRTL-30X6 rating. Those ratings mean the safe has gone through actual testing and can protect your guns to a certain standard. Without going to a vault, the most secure is the TRTL-30X6, and those safes will run you $10,000 to $25,000. There is a used market for high-security safes, which can save you some money.\u00a0<\/p>\n Features of a Secure Safe<\/strong><\/p>\n Even if your dreams of stopping criminals with a safe have been dashed, you might still be holding out hope it will at least protect your belongings from fire. The reality is that it depends on the fire\u2019s duration and intensity.<\/p>\n Santore lives in California and is often hired to open safes that have been through devastating forest fires.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re in a place where there\u2019s a raging fire, and no one\u2019s gonna get out there for hours or half a day, I don\u2019t care whether the safe is rated for hours, it\u2019s just not going to make it out of there,\u201d Santore says. \u201cIf you\u2019re in a residential area, and the fire department gets there in 10 minutes, your stuff is probably going to be fine. There might be some smoke damage, but it\u2019s gonna be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t recommend a solid steel safe if you\u2019re concerned about fire. Look for a composite construction that has some type of fire retardant insulation. \u201cA lot of them use a fire activated door seal that, when it heats up, expands and seals it off from heat and smoke,\u201d he says. The seal also helps keep water and smoke out of the safe.\u00a0<\/p>\n You\u2019ll see safes listed with a fireproof rating for a specified temperature and amount of time. These ratings are either done by independent labs or two popular certification companies \u2014 Korea Industrial Standards and Underwriters Laboratories.<\/p>\n While the exact testing differs, the basic idea is that a safe is placed into a burn chamber where the temperature reaches 1,350 to 2,000 degrees. A temperature probe inside the safe measures how long it takes for the internal temperature to reach 350 degrees\u2014for perspective, paper will char at 387 degrees and combust at 450 degrees.<\/p>\n Korea Industrial Standards and Underwriters Laboratories go beyond fire endurance and include impact and explosion resistance tests. The UL test<\/a> is considered the most rigorous and I recommend looking for safes with their rating.\u00a0<\/p>\n UL has several rating scales but their 350 scale is the standard.\u00a0<\/p>\n Consider that a house fire typically burns at 1,100 to 2,000 degrees, and can reach over 1,000 degrees in just 4 minutes. So the tested temperatures are at the extreme end of a home fire.\u00a0<\/p>\n To learn more, rear our full story on how to choose a safe<\/a>. <\/p>\nHow to Choose a Fireproof Safe\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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What to Look for in a Fireproof Safe<\/h2>\n
Fireproof Ratings<\/h3>\n
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What to Look for in a Fireproof Safe<\/h3>\n
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The Best Fireproof Safes: Reviews and Recommendations <\/h2>\n
Best for Home: SentrySafe Waterproof and Fireproof Safe<\/a><\/h3>\n
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