The fire protection market in Colombia

With technological advances and the country’s industrial acceleration, it is also necessary to evolve the way in which buildings are constructed. This, in order to reduce the possibilities of any type of fire, mitigate the losses generated by these fires, and protect people in any type of building.

Fire statistics in Colombia

The Ministry of the Interior reports that so far this year there have been 5,489 forest fires affecting 267 municipalities in 29 departments of the country. In addition, there have been 1,026 structural fires and 434 vehicle fires.

Although firefighters are fulfilling their mission and doing an excellent job in dealing with these emergencies, the ideal is to have fire prevention systems that reduce the possibility of fires to a minimum. And if they do occur, to mitigate economic and human losses as much as possible.

Fire protection market

According to the Colombian Fire Protection Association (ANRACI) and the EAN University, the fire protection sector in the country is made up of 180 companies, 93.9% of which are located in Colombia, mainly in Bogotá, Medellín and Cali.

The study also mentions that of the 180 companies mentioned, 70 of them install fire protection systems, 58 design fire prevention systems, and 128 of them import technologies relevant to the sector. In other words, these companies have the potential to mobilise the country’s economy on a large scale, with services designed in Colombia and strategic imports for their implementation.

It is also revealed that more than 3 million dollars in fire sprinklers were imported in 2018. Finally, and as one of the major findings of the study, the fire protection market is estimated to be valued at USD $57,300,750, a fairly high figure for the region.

Regional opportunities

Thanks to the ANRACI aggregation have begun to create spaces to work on improving the fire sector in the country that have had an impact at the regional level.

According to the newspaper Las2Orillas, international experts from Mexico, the United States and Brazil have had the opportunity to contribute “the experience of their countries in terms of design and implementation of fire protection systems in spaces with high levels of risk”.

Renowned speakers such as David Caipa, Mexican specialist, and Felipe Melo, representative of FM Global Brazil, agree on the need for fire risk prevention systems in buildings. Melo states that buildings with optimal fire protection systems lose 7 to 10 times less in the event of a fire compared to those without such a system.

The fire prevention sector in Colombia is growing, ensuring that all citizens have access to structures with well-designed and maintained fire prevention systems.