How to Be Prepared for a House Fire
4/26/2022 (Permalink)
Fires in the United States
In the United States, there is an estimated 358,500 house fires occurring every year. About 50% of these fires occur in the kitchen, 7% begin in the bedroom, and 6% are caused by chimneys, 4% start in the living room, and 3% occur in the laundry room. Most fires that happen in the kitchen are from cooking, either from grease or from leaving a dish unaccompanied for too long. Other common causes are from heating equipment, faulty electrical distribution and lighting equipment, and smoking materials such as a cigarette.
Follow These Steps
- Ensure that the correct number of smoke alarms are installed and regularly checked.
- Teach your children what a smoke alarm sounds like and what they should do if they hear one.
- Make sure all household members know at least TWO ways to escape from every room in your home and where the meeting spot is outside of the home.
- Create a household emergency communication plan and confirm that all members know who to contact if they cannot find one another.
- Practice the escape plan twice a year, which would include pressing the smoke alarm test button and yelling “Fire” to alert everyone.
- Teach every household member to STOP, DROP, and ROLL if their clothing catches on fire.
- Check and ensure that everyone knows how to call 9-1-1 and that they know the address in case there is an emergency.
- Have a running log or inventory of the items you own, with photo or video documentation.
Safeguard Your Home
- Every level of your home needs to have smoke alarms, outside of every sleeping area.
- A carbon monoxide alarm in a central location, outside each sleeping area.
- Ensure that your house number is visible and readable from the street, especially at night.
- Make sure that the heating sources in your home are clean and properly functioning. This includes furnaces or stoves, chimneys with creosote buildup, or cracked or rusted furnace parts.
- Check electrical wiring of your home and avoid overloading outlets.
- Only use kerosene heaters if permitted by law and always refuel them outside, after they have cooled.
- Only purchase appliances and electrical devices that have the label of an independent testing laboratory.
- Always store combustible materials in open areas and away from heat sources, placing rags used to apply flammable household chemicals in metal containers with tight-fitting lids.
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