Fire Safety Tips For The Home

Unfortunately, fires occur in homes all the time. It’s important that we know what to do if a fire breaks out in our home, but it’s also essential to know how to prevent a fire from happening in the first place.

Here are some tips to help keep you and your family safe.

• Talk to your family about creating an escape plan. If a fire was to break out in your home. Know where you will escape from and where you would all meet, once your family is out.
• Check that all of your smoke alarms are working. Over 60% of house fire deaths, the families did not have working smoke alarms.

Preventing a House Fire

• Keep flammables away from anything that gets hot or could cause a spark. 
• Never smoke in your home. 
• Ensure that your children know the dangers of a fire. Keep matches and lighters out of the reach of your children.
• Don’t leave candles unattended. 
• Make sure that you have smoke alarms on all levels of your home. A better option would be one in every room. 
• Teach your children about what a smoke alarm does and what it sounds like. Make sure that they know what to do when/if it were to ever go off.
• Test your smoke alarms once a month. If they don’t work, replace the batteries. 
• Practice escaping from your home at least twice a year. Practice waking up to smoke alarms and practice your low crawl to help prevent smoke inhalation. 
• Make sure that everyone knows how to dial 911 and what to tell them. (Address, name, and what the emergency is)
• Check that everyone knows what to do if they were to ever catch on fire. (Stop, drop, and roll)
• Have two ways out. If door handles are warm, do not open the door. This means that there is a fire directly on the other side. Try your other escape route. 
• If smoke, heat, or flames prevent you from escaping, place a wet towel underneath your door. This will prevent the fire from spreading into your room. Dial 911 and stay by a window. Signal for help from there too. 
• When escaping from your home, ensure that you’re being as quick as possible. Most times, you only have about two minutes to escape. Don’t stop for anything, items, or even pets. 

Cooking Safety

• Don’t leave the food you’re cooking on a stove unattended. If you do have to leave the kitchen, do not leave the food cooking; turn off the stove until you can come back and finish cooking. 
• Keep all flammables away from the stove. This includes oven mitts, hand towels, clothing, and plastic. 
• Keep your pets off of the stove and counters. This will help prevent anything from falling onto the burners and catching fire. 

Fires are very scary and cause a lot of damage. Remember to stay calm and call for help. Know how to stay safe if a fire ever happens within your home. It’s important that you know all of the safety tips so that you have the best chance of survival.