Attached Garage Fire Safety
You may find, like myself, that you store many combustible items in your garage. Items like the gasoline for your lawn mower, old paint cans from your home, or the left over wood pile from all those home projects. For this reason, it is important that you have a proper fire separation barrier from your home if your garage is attached. I want to be clear that the fire separation barrier is not intended to stop the fire, but to restrict in long enough for you and your family to escape, as well as give the fire department time to arrive.
Walls and Ceilings
Every garage wall that is attached to the home should have a minimum of 1/2” drywall barrier that is tapped and mudded at all the edges and penetrations. If there is livable space above the garage, the ceiling should have a minimum 5/8” drywall barrier. If the garage has an attic access, the hatch cover must also be made of an approved fire rated material.
I often find holes in the walls or attic covers that are made of wood. Both of these items break the fire separation barriers and pose a potential risk to the residence of the home.
Doors
The ‘man’ door, or the door leading into your home from the garage, should also be fire-rated. Solid wood doors that are a minimum of 1 3/8” thick or an exterior steel door that has a 20 minute fire rating both meet this requirement. I often find interior hollow core doors installed at garages. These style doors would do nothing to slow down the fire into a home.
The man door should also have self closing hardware to ensure that the door is always closed. Many homeowners find this feature annoying and will disable the hardware. I see it often. If you decide to do this just be aware that even a slightly ajar door can allow a fire to spread quickly into your home.
Ducts
If you have HVAC ducts running through your garage, the best configuration is to have them surrounded with a drywall barrier. If they are bare it is important they are constructed with a minimum of No.26 steel sheeting to help slow down the fire into the home. An there should be absolutely NO registers present in the garage. This is an invitation for the fire to enter your home.
It is also not a good idea for dryer ducts to penetrate attached garage walls. The material of dryer ducts can melt quickly and will create a large breach in the fire separation barrier.
In summary, it is important to keep a proper fire barrier between your garage and your home. Below are some preventative measures that you can do keep fires from occurring in your garage, but if a fire does start having the right fire separation can protect you and your family.
- Keep your appliances elevated above the floor
- Keep all flammable materials away from heaters. Appliances, pilot lights, or other sources of heat
- Don’t store your propane tanks inside the garage
- Keep your garage floor clear of clutter like loose paper, matches, oily rags, etc.
- Use light bulbs with the proper wattage
- Do not overload the electrical outlets
