Our children’s safety is always our priority. We do everything we can to keep them safe. At home, we use safety gates, electrical plug covers and teach them not to touch the hot stove. But things happen. Is your home fire safe? If there is a fire, are your children prepared?
Many times house fires are started by seemingly trivial oversights in home fire safety. Because of these safety issues thousands of deaths and injuries are reported each year in the U.S. They cause billions of dollars in property damage (according to ready.gov.)
Following a few safety tips can ensure your family is safe in a fire situation.
Home Fire Prevention and Safety Essentials
- Smoke Alarms and Carbon Monoxide Detectors are essential to fire safety and should be treated as a matter of priority in the household. Units should be installed in every floor and room of your home. They should be tested monthly, and receive an annual battery change. Having a professionally monitored fire system sends the fire department immediately. This prevents delays in emergency personnell getting to the home.
- A Fire Escape Plan is the only way to ensure that every member of your household will be able to move quickly and decisively towards an escape route in the event of an emergency. House fires can spread deceptively quickly and can block main exits. A fire escape plan should be a comprehensive diagram of the home that includes all doors and windows. Ideally two exits should be plotted out of every room, and both should be practiced. A location outside of the home and far away enough from the structure to avoid debris should be designated as the reunion point. Click here for more safety tips on planning your fire escape.
- Kitchen Fires are the leading cause of house fires. Be safe in the kitchen:
- Stay in the kitchen when frying food or cooking with oil or grease.
- Never cook when you are tired.
- To put out a pan fire, slide a lid over the pan. Turn off the stove and let the pan cool.
- If you have a fire and it does not go out, get out of the home and call the fire department.
- Keep things that can burn away from the stove.
- Keep children at least three feet from the stove.
- Fire Extinguishers are ideal to have in multiple locations within your home. They should be located on every floor of the home and in plain sight. Placing a fire extinguisher in a closet or behind a curtain can make them inaccessible during a fire. Kitchens and garages are priority locations. The U.S. Fire Administration has labeled them the most frequent origins of household fires.
House fires can grow out of control in under a minute, and consume a home in just several more minutes. The speed and coordination to escape safely from a rapidly growing fire can only come with regular practice of an emergency escape plan and early fire detection. Taking essential steps towards home fire prevention and safety save countless lives on a yearly basis.
