More than 3,400 people are killed in home fires each year, most of which are preventable.
In honor of national fire prevention week, let's have a discussion to raise awareness of this fact. The age old story is of a homeowner who leaves a candle burning and leaves the home. Or where a lit cigarette starts a small fire that ends up spreading to a neighbors house. In fact just this week Houston, someone was smoking a cigarette on their balcony of an apartment complex. When they went inside the cigarette was obviously still lit. By the time the fire department was able to get the fire under control, twelve units had been completely burned. And to think it was completely preventable...
So what can you do to minimize the risk of a fire in your home and protect your assets, starting with the obvious?
- Always blow out candles if you are going to sleep, leaving the home or cannot sit in the same room with it.
- Always make sure your cigarettes, when done, are in an ashtray and completely out. Pour some water on it to be sure.
- Make sure working smoke detectors are in every room.
- Keep fire extinguishers in your home where every family member has access to it and knows how to use it.
- Create an escape route for your family and practice it. If you have kids this can be an especially fun time to get them active while making sure they know what to do if there's a fire.
- Have your furnace inspected before every winter to ensure it is working properly.
- Have your water heater inspected every year to insure it's working properly.
- When cooking, be sure to wear tight fitting clothing that will not easily dangle into a fire or on a burner.
- Do not leave food on the stove or in the oven unattended.
- After lighting a match run it under cold water for five seconds to ensure it is no longer burning before disposing of it.
- Do not plug too many electrical wires into a single outlet at one time.
- Do not leave space heaters on overnight or when unattended.
If a fire is preventable, there is no reason we shouldn't do everything to do so. Ultimately an insurance policy will replace all your goods, but lives cannot be replaced. I encourage you to take every precaution moving forward and challenge you to sit down this weekend with your family to come up with a plan should a fire start.
Remember - Only you can prevent home fires.
Some information found via the following sources
http://www.firesafetytips.com
http://www.redcrossdelmarva.org/home_fires.pdf
http://www.usfa.fema.gov/citizens/home_fire_prev/
Photo curtesy of
http://www.hicaliber.biz/uncategorized/3611/
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