If a fire breaks out in your ho
me, you may only have two minutes to escape before it quickly overtakes
your home. The most effective way to protect yourself, your family and
your home from a fire is prevention. Learn how to prevent fires at home with these fire prevention tips.
Smoke alarms
To prevent fires in your home, you must identify and remove fire hazards. House fire deaths often occur in homes with no working
smoke alarms. One of the first steps in fire prevention is to ensure that you have working smoke alarms in your home, which reduce the chances of dying in a fire by nearly 50 percent. Because they are such an integral part of staying safe, make sure they are in proper working order.
A smoke alarm should be installed on each level of your home and in every sleeping area. They should be loud enough to wake you if you're sleeping.
Children
Children are curious creatures who have a talent for finding things they shouldn't, including matches. Make it a habit to keep matches and lighters out of your child's reach.
You should also take the extra step to teach your children to never play with matches or lighters and to find an adult if they see a fire or smell smoke. For older children, make sure they know to call 9-1-1 if there is a fire and to get out of the home right away.
Fire escape plans
Along with your family emergency plans, you should also include a fire escape plan and make sure that everyone knows it. You can make it a fun activity for your children when you practice. Grab a stopwatch and time how long it takes everyone to escape. Create an alternate route if one of your paths to safety is blocked and practice it monthly! This could be the tip that saves your life.
- Make sure all household members know two ways to escape each room in the house
- Make sure everyone knows to meet outside in case of a fire
- Practice escaping from your home at least twice a year and at different times of the day
- Practice waking up to smoke alarms
- Practice low crawling, testing door knobs and meeting outside
- Teach everyone how to STOP, DROP and ROLL
- Make sure everyone knows how to call 9-1-1
Fire prevention when cooking
When you're cooking, make sure that you are always paying attention. A fire can easily break out in a kitchen due to cooking oils, excessive heat and the burners. Don't leave the stove unattended when you're cooking and make sure the area you're using is clean and free of anything that can burn. Not only could you end up starting a fire, but your meal might get burned as well.
You should also have a
fire extinguisher in your kitchen -- somewhere within easy reach that is best suited for kitchen fires.
Decorative items
For decorative items like candles and light fixtures, keep them away from anything that can burn. Loose and flowy curtains can easily catch fire if they are too close to a candle's open flame.
When plugging cords into your home's outlets, do not overload them. This could cause the circuit to overheat and a fast moving electrical fire could occur. Do not use extension cords with large appliances like refrigerators and only use surge protectors or power strips that have an internal overload protection.
Smoking
If you're a smoker and you smoke inside your home, make sure any ashes from your cigarette or cigar are completely out and that you never toss hot cigarette butts or ashes into a trash can. If you smoke outside, be sure not to toss any cigarette butts near dried leaves which can quickly act like kindling and start a fire. If you
host a party, be sure to check your couches and under cushions for cigarette butts -- both items can burn quickly.