Home fires occur frequently and can lead to devastating harm. According to the National Fire Protection Association, in 2011 there were hundreds of thousands of home fires in the US, resulting in close to 7 billion dollars in damage and thousands of deaths and injuries.
When it comes to improving the fire safety in your home, organize your strategy into three areas: prevention, alarm, and response.
Prevention
Check if there’s anything in your home that could lead to a fire, such as faulty wiring or a problematic appliance. Space heaters, for instance, are a major fire hazard; be extra careful about where you place them – not close to your clothes, curtains, bedding, or upholstered furniture.
Also remain vigilant about any behaviors that could increase the chances of a fire. Kitchen activities lead the way as a source of home fires; cooking unsafely, which involves anything from leaving stove burners on unattended or leaving young kids unsupervised in the kitchen, could easily result in a major fire in your home. There are other habits, too, of course, such as smoking, which is one of the leading causes of death during a home fire.
Alarm
Unfortunately, even with the best preventative efforts, you may experience a fire. As such, you need a state-of-the-art fire alarm system to kick in as soon as possible, giving you time to assess the situation and get out of your home. A sensitive, powerful smoke detector can also come with temperature sensors and the capability to notify outside authorities if certain hazardous conditions are met; even when you’re not at home, you’ll be assured that a serious problem won’t be unfolding undetected.
Response
Given how quickly fires can spread, a key part of improving fire safety is to work out in advance how you would exit your home. This means mapping escape routes, preferably multiple routes, from every room and practicing them in drills with your family, including when it’s dark and when you’d need to stay low to the floor when there’s excess smoke. You should also be knowledgeable about danger signs, such as hot doors and doorknobs, and of what to do if you’re stuck in a room with no good way to get out until the fire department arrives. If there’s anyone in your household with special needs, such as an elderly people, young children, or individuals with disabilities, you’ll need to figure out how to accommodate your household’s fire escape plan to meet their needs.
If you catch a fire when it’s still quite small, again don’t underestimate how quickly it may spread. Also learn how to respond safely to it. For instance, given that many home fires involve electricity, you could receive an electric shock when throwing water on a fire; the fire may also just become larger in response. In general, your best bet in the earliest stages of a fire before it’s spread is to use a strong, multipurpose fire extinguisher, aiming it at the base of the fire.
Would you like some more information about fire safety? Don’t hesitate to contact us to come up with fire safety solutions tailored to your home.
