Seven Tips for Fire Safety

Its easy to think a house fire wont happen to you. But dont be fooledhouse fires are more common than youd think. All it takes is a spark, a flammable substance, and some oxygen to cause a tragedy. Dont let yourself be caught unpreparedfollow these safety tips to prevent fires in your home, and get out safely if one occurs.

Keep your fire alarms in working order. Make sure you have working fire alarms on every floor of the houseespecially the kitchen and near your bedroom. You should change the batteries twice a year. Dont ever turn off or remove your fire alarms for any reason. People most often do this when theyre cooking and creating a lot of smokethat fire alarm can get annoying when it keeps going off while youre trying to cook. Dont smash the alarm with a broom handle, tempting as it isdont even turn it off. Its easy to forget to turn it back on. Instead, open the windows and turn on the kitchen fan before you start cooking. Its also best not to trust that your fire alarms work, even if they have fresh batteriestest them by lighting a match underneath.

Have a just-in-case plan. Make sure your kids know what to do if the fire alarm goes off. They should hold hands and stay together, and one parent should be in charge of leading them out to a safe place. They should know how to get in formation and follow orders, even when half asleep. They should understand that they cannot be allowed to stop to find their favorite toy or pet. Pick a prominent place safely away from the houseunder a certain tree, by the swing-set, or at the end of the driveway, for examplewhere the family will meet in case of a fire alarm. You should keep a strong flashlight by your bed in case your power fails, as it often will during a fire. Rehearse your escape plan several times a year.

Know how to get out. If youre upstairs and the fire gets to your stairway before you do, you could be in serious troubleif you dont have an escape plan. Be sure all your windows open easily, and keep some escape ladders in your upper floors. Make sure both spouses and older children know how to unfold, safely attach, and use the ladders. Practice escaping from any upper floors of the house a few times a year.

Keep fire extinguishers in the house. Most guides will suggest that you have one on each floor in your house, especially in the kitchen and in the basement near the furnace and water heater. Be sure that all your fire extinguishers will work for wood, chemical, and electrical firesnot all brands do. Make sure both spouses and all older children know how to use the fire extinguishers.

Remove obvious fuels. Keep dry leaves and other detritus at least thirty feet away from your homethey are very flammable. If you have a fireplace or wood stove, store the wood in a wood shed at least thirty feet from your house. If you have a wood shop, make sure sawdust is not allowed to build upits extremely flammable and can ignite with enough force to blow a hole through a wall!

Get a fireproof safe. Its extremely important never to run back into a burning building, for any reasonit could be a death sentence. If theres something you really dont want to losevaluable documents or jewelry, for examplebuy a fireproof safe or cabinet to keep it in. That way, you wont worry about leaving something important inside the house, and you wont be tempted to run back inespecially if the fire doesnt look that bad yet. Even if it doesnt look that bad, it can still kill you. Keeping your most important belongings in a fireproof safe or cabinet could save your life.

Do a routine fire safety check. There are a lot of little things you can do to lessen your risk of a fire. Never leave a candle burning when you leave a room. Check your electrical wires and extension cords for signs of wearand never let them lie under rugs or furniture. Never leave anything that could catch fire near a heat source, like an oven, a radiator, or a portable heater. Regularly clean the lint from your dryers lint trap and tubing. Empty ashes from fireplaces, wood stoves, and ashtrays into a metal container, not a plastic garbage bin. Never smoke in bed.

You can protect yourself from fires just by making a few safety checks part of your routine, and being aware of fire safety in the home. Dont be caught unawarescheck in with your local fire station for their advice on how to fireproof your home, and follow these simple tips to make sure a fire never happens to you.

Anthony Neary works for online company http://www.thesafeshop.co.uk the UKs premier supplier of home and office safes. For more information on fire safes visit http://www.thesafeshop.co.uk/Categories/fire_document_safes/.Ardis Blog87870
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