Today California woke up and the state was on fire. Northern California, Southern California, dry weather and high winds lead to dangerous conditions across the state. NBC News reports at least 6 major blazes ongoing today and the aptly titled news aggregator site whereiscaliforniaonfire.com lists 5 major and 7 minor blazes at the time of writing. Wildfires are nothing new of course and there is a reason many in California have begun calling fall “fire season”, a combination of dry brush and high winds make times like this particularly hazardous.
whereiscaliforniaonfire.com was made in response to its trending predecessor iscaliforniaonfire.com
With these fires in mind, climate change, PG&E’s poor maintenance records, reduction in federal funds to manage California’s forests where 57% is federal land, and other increasing risk factors it is important to consider how fire may affect your business and if your documents are protected against fire.
According to to a 2018 report by FEMA from 2014 to 2016, an estimated 100,300 nonresidential building fires were reported each year which led to $2.4 billion in property losses each year. In their analysis stores & offices accounted for 18% of nonresidential fires and storage facilities 16%. 26% of all dollar losses were associated with nonresidential fires occurring in stores and offices.
While alarms and fire suppression systems are great at preventing loss of life in more cases than not, the water, foam, and chemicals typically used to fight fires are detrimental to many of the important documents stored there, that is if there are fire suppression systems at all, as the same FEMA report found that 80% of storage facilities lacked fire suppression and alert systems altogether.
The Best Protection for Data Loss is a Solid Backup Plan
Instead of storing your most important business documents in a filing cabinet or closet, you can have electronic copies instantly saved in an electronic archive. Document Scanning converts your physical paperwork into digital data, which you then can store in multiple remote locations, so no matter what Mother Nature throws your way, your important business document are safe and secure.
Having a solid backup plan is an article in itself but if you are interested in digitizing your documents TierFive is here to help.
TierFive Can Help
No matter what your existing document management system, or if you don’t have a document management system at all, TierFive can help. TierFive Imaging can help you digitize your existing backfile physical archives from those filing cabinets of paper, rolls of large format plans, to all kinds of microform, microfilm, microfiche, and everything in-between.
We can help you save time & space, access all your files securely, locally, or through the cloud, and help enable your remote workplace by putting all of your organization’s files at your fingertips with a simple online quote or call to +1 (888) 547-2267 for a free consultation and learn about how we can help you with your documents.