The Best Fire Rated Safes: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)

RBE top pick

Gardall FB2013

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The FB2013 is one of the few safes at this size that Gardall lists with both a U.L. 1 hour fire label and a U.L. RSC burglary label, so the fire claim and the theft claim are both third party. The STW123GTC gives up that verifiability but adds a longer rated duration, a published water rating and a 128.2 lb weight that you can place without a safe dealer.

Almost every safe sold today says "fire rated" somewhere on the box, and almost none of those words mean the same thing. A UL 72 Class 350 label is a specific furnace test with a specific interior temperature ceiling. "ETL Verified" is a third party confirming a claim the manufacturer wrote. And a brand's own "verified" badge is the brand testing itself. We picked four currently sold safes that sit in four different spots on that ladder, and judged them on the rating language their own makers publish.

RBE top pick

Gardall

FB2013 Fire/Burglary Safe

Buy it

One of the few home-office-sized safes whose maker names a U.L. 1 hour fire label and a U.L. RSC burglary label on the specific model.

Best for: Someone who wants the fire rating and the burglary rating to both come from UL, and has a ground floor or slab to bolt it to.

$$$ · premium

Why we like it

• Gardall's own series page lists a U.L. 1 hour fire label for the FB2013 by model number, not as a family-wide claim
• Also carries a U.L. RSC burglary label, so the theft claim is third party too
• Center bolt-down hardware included, and a 2 inch door and 3 inch body in composite construction

Know before buying

• Gardall does not list a water rating for the FB series, so sprinkler and hose water is on you
• Its heavy composite body makes placement a job for a dealer or a team
• No impact rating is listed, so an upper-floor install has no tested fall protection
• Typically sold through safe dealers rather than general retail, which makes it harder to buy on impulse

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SentrySafe

STW123GTC Digital Fire/Water Safe

Buy it

The value pick: a UL Classified 2 hour fire rating plus an ETL Verified water claim, in a box you can place without a safe dealer.

Best for: A home office that wants a long rated duration and a real water rating without paying dealer prices or moving a dealer-delivered safe.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• SentrySafe states UL Classified protection for 2 hours in up to 1850 degrees F, which SentrySafe calls its longest lasting fire protection
• ETL Verified water resistance in up to 8 inches of water for up to 24 hours, which most fire safes do not claim at all
• 128.2 lb with bolt-down hardware included and four 1 inch live-locking bolts

Know before buying

• SentrySafe publishes the duration and furnace temperature but not the UL class number, so you cannot read the interior ceiling off the listing
• The listing promotes storage of drives, memory cards and phones without a separate media class rating
• Some owners report problems with the digital keypad, so keep the backup key somewhere you can reach
• 1.19 cu ft fills up fast once binders and a document box go in

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Hollon

HDS-500E Data Safe

It depends

Built around a 125 degree F interior instead of 350, which is the only reason to buy it and the only reason it costs what it does.

Best for: Someone whose irreplaceable data lives on drives, cards or tapes and who has no usable offsite backup.

$$$ · premium

Why we like it

• Hollon rates it to hold a 125 degree F interior for one hour with 1850 degrees F outside, the threshold that matters for drives and cards
• Hollon lists 30 foot impact protection, which covers a fall through a burned floor
• Hollon lists protection against sprinklers, water and humidity, not just heat

Know before buying

• Hollon cites a KSG certification rather than a UL 72 Class 125 label, so the number is right but the issuing body is not UL
• Published interior is 11.25 by 4.75 by 7.25 inches, a very small usable space for 141 lb of safe
• Hollon's data safe feature list states no center bolt-down hole
• Paper documents do not need this much insulation, so most of the cost is wasted if drives are not the point

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We'd skip it

FireKing

1-Hour Fire-Rated Safe (KF0915-1WHE)

Skip it

A capable steel box from a serious records brand, sold with a fire rating that FireKing's own ratings page files under "Manufacturer's Ratings".

Best for: Almost nobody at this price. If you want FireKing's insulation and after-fire guarantee, its UL Class 350 file cabinets carry the label this safe does not.

$$ · mid-range

Why we like it

• Heavy steel body and bolt work, 125 lb, with live bolts and deadbolts rather than a privacy latch
• Covered by FireKing's free after-fire replacement guarantee, which is unusual at this size
• 0.97 cu ft, and a four-user programmable lock with manager override

Know before buying

• FireKing's product listing badges it "FireKing Verified 1-Hour Fire Rated", and the page says only that the safes were "tested to meet a UL 1-hour fire rating", with no lab named and no UL class line, while the brand's Turtle file cabinets are sold as 1-Hour UL
• FireKing's ratings page defines a separate "Manufacturer's Ratings" tier alongside its UL and Intertek ETL tiers, and describes its own water resistance as "designed to prevent water damage from sprinklers" rather than tested
• The published spec sheet lists no UL class, no impact rating and no interior temperature
• You are paying near the price of a UL-labeled unit for a rating with no named outside issuer

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How we judged the field

Five things decide whether a fire rating is worth anything. First, who issued it: UL and Intertek are outside labs, and a brand’s own badge is the brand grading its own homework. Second, the class number, because that is the interior temperature ceiling and it is the only part of the rating that tells you what survives. Third, the duration, which comes with a furnace temperature attached: FireKing publishes up to 1550 F for a half hour, 1700 F for an hour and 1850 F for two hours on its UL 350 ratings. Fourth, whether there is an impact rating, because UL’s fire and impact test drops a heated unit 30 feet onto brick and concrete and then reheats it, which is the only test that models a safe falling through a burned floor. Fifth, water, because the fire gets put out with water and heat ratings say nothing about that.

The field splits cleanly along the first of those. At the top are units where the maker names a UL label against a specific model number, which is rarer than the marketing suggests. Below that are units with a UL Classified fire claim and an ETL Verified water claim, where a lab was involved but the class number is not printed. Then there are media safes, which chase a 125 or 150 degree interior instead of 350 and cost accordingly. At the bottom are safes rated by the company that built them. We took one of each: a Gardall FB2013, a SentrySafe STW123GTC, a Hollon HDS-500E and a FireKing KF0915-1WHE.

Gardall’s FB series page does something most safe listings avoid: it names which models carry which label. The text reads that all the safes carry a U.L. RSC burglary label and a one hour K.S. fire label, and that models FB1212 and FB2013 additionally carry a U.L. one hour fire label. That is the sentence you are paying for. It means an outside lab ran the furnace test, and separately that the box passed a UL tool-attack test. The FB series has a 2 inch door and 3 inch composite body, a glass re-locking system, a UL listed Group II combination lock and a center bolt-down hole with hardware. What it does not have is a published water rating or an impact rating. For a ground-floor office where the fire claim has to hold up, it is the honest choice.

The STW123GTC is the sensible answer for people who are not going to have a safe delivered by a dealer. SentrySafe states UL Classified protection for 2 hours in up to 1850 degrees F, which SentrySafe calls its longest lasting fire protection, and ETL Verified water resistance in up to 8 inches of water for up to 24 hours. That water rating is the part most fire safes cannot match, and it addresses the failure mode that actually ruins documents. It is 17.8 by 16.3 by 19.3 inches, 1.19 cu ft inside, 128.2 lb, with four 1 inch live-locking bolts, a pry-resistant hinge bar, a dual digital and key lock, and bolt-down hardware in the box. The gap is that SentrySafe publishes the time and the furnace temperature but not the UL class, so you cannot read the interior ceiling off the page, and the listing markets drive and phone storage without a media class behind it. Buy it for the duration and the water rating, not for the digital media wording.

The HDS-500E exists for one reason: a 125 degree F interior. Hollon rates it to hold that for a full hour with 1850 F outside, and lists 30 foot impact protection plus resistance to sprinklers, water and humidity. If what you are protecting is a drive, a card or a tape, that is the number that matters, because those fail long before paper chars. The caveat is who says so. Hollon cites a KSG certification, not a UL 72 Class 125 label, so the target is right and the issuing body is not the one most buyers assume. The physical trade-off is steep as well: 141 lb and a 19.75 by 13.75 by 16.75 inch footprint buy you a published interior of 11.25 by 4.75 by 7.25 inches, and Hollon’s data safe feature list states no center bolt-down hole. It is the right safe for a narrow problem and the wrong safe for documents.

This is a well-built box, and that is what makes it worth flagging. The KF0915-1WHE is 125 lb of steel with live bolts and deadbolts, 0.97 cu ft, a four-user programmable lock and FireKing’s free after-fire replacement guarantee. The problem is the rating. FireKing’s ratings page lists three tiers side by side: UL Ratings, Intertek ETL Ratings, and Manufacturer’s Ratings, the last of which reads simply that the device was tested to maintain an interior temperature below 350 F for one hour, with no lab named. On the storefront the Turtle file cabinets are badged “Rating UL Class 350” and the Safe-in-a-File is badged “Rating ETL Verified”, while this safe is badged “FireKing Verified 1-Hour Fire Rated” with no rating line, and the page copy says only that the safes were “tested to meet a UL 1-hour fire rating” without naming a lab. Its spec sheet lists no UL class, no impact rating and no interior temperature. The brand is telling you which tier this sits in, and it is not the one you want at this price.

Gardall FB2013 Fire/Burglary Safe vs SentrySafe STW123GTC Digital Fire/Water Safe: which should you buy?

These two answer different questions. The Gardall FB2013 is the one to buy if you want the claim to be checkable: Gardall names a U.L. one hour fire label and a U.L. RSC burglary label against this model number, so both halves of what a safe is supposed to do have an outside signature on them. That verifiability costs you a heavy composite safe, a dealer purchase, and no published water or impact rating. The SentrySafe STW123GTC trades away the printed class number for a longer rated duration, a real ETL Verified water claim, and a 128.2 lb weight that does not need a safe dealer to place.

Choose on where the safe will live and what you are afraid of. Ground floor, slab underneath, documents that a lawyer or an insurer will want intact, and a willingness to deal with a safe dealer: buy the Gardall. Second floor apartment, sprinklers overhead, a burst pipe as likely as a fire, and a need to put it in place this weekend: buy the SentrySafe and accept that the class number is not published. If you find yourself splitting the difference by buying a heavier safe with a vaguer rating, you have bought the worst of both.

What to look for

• Read who issued the rating first: “UL Class 350” and “ETL Verified” name an outside lab, while “fire resistant”, “fire rated” and any brand-name “verified” badge can be the manufacturer’s own test.
• Look for the class number, not just the hour: the class is the interior temperature ceiling in degrees Fahrenheit, so a rating with a duration but no class tells you how long and not how hot inside.
• Match the class to the contents: Class 350 is for paper, and UL 72 has Class 150 and Class 125 because media, film and disks fail far lower and need a humidity limit as well.
• Treat water as a separate purchase: heat ratings say nothing about the hose, the sprinkler or the burst pipe, and a water claim like 8 inches for 24 hours only counts if a lab verified it.
• Check for an impact rating if the safe goes above a basement: UL’s fire and impact test drops a heated unit 30 feet onto brick and concrete and reheats it, which is the only part of the standard that models a floor collapse.
• Assume one fire and register the warranty: the insulation is consumed by the burn, which is why FireKing offers after-fire replacement rather than expecting you to reuse the unit.

Our final take

Buy the Gardall FB2013 if you want a fire rating with an outside signature on it, and accept that you will be arranging delivery and anchoring a heavy safe. Buy the SentrySafe STW123GTC if you want a long rated duration and a verified water claim you can place without a dealer, knowing the class number is not printed. The Hollon HDS-500E only makes sense if drives and cards are the point, because a 125 degree interior is a different product from a 350 degree one. Skip the FireKing KF safe: the brand publishes three rating tiers and puts this one in the tier it tests itself. Whatever you choose, back up anything digital somewhere else entirely.

Deciding between the top two? See our head-to-head: Gardall FB2013 Fire/Burglary Safe vs SentrySafe STW123GTC Digital Fire/Water Safe.

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