A safe is a container where people can put important things to protect them from fire, theft, or both. A safe is usually a box-shaped container with a lock. One that is designed to protect things from just fire may not have a lock or may have only a simple lock or padlock hasp. Some only open at the correct time of day. Safes are usually heavy and made of a strong substance such as steel. They are designed to be very difficult to open with crowbars, hammers, drills, lock picks, and other tools.
Safes are available in many different security levels. These range from ones made to protect from common burglars to those made to protect from professional thieves and spies. Fire ratings are usually based on how long the safe can be in a common structure fire before the inside of the safe reaches 175 degrees Celsius. This is the temperature at which paper and wood are destroyed. The fire rating usually ranges from 15 minutes up to 3 hours. Some safes are also waterproof, which protects the contents from flood and from getting wet when a fire is put out by firefighters. A large safe that is part of a building is called a vault. Vaults have usually one or more rooms.
