With summer peaking, there’s no question that dry weather is a huge risk to your home. With many areas of the country already fighting off bad wildfires, it may be time to make sure your family’s fire safety system is in working order. For many, coming up with a fire safety kit and plan can be costly and thus keeps getting put off. However, if fire does strike in your area, you may be glad you took the time to get your supplies ready to go. These ten tips won’t just help you decide what’s mandatory for your home, but will also help you keep your fire safety supplies and preparations as frugal as possible to ensure your budget won’t suffer.
1. Maintain Fire Alarms
Whether you’re sleeping or awake, a smoke alarms can be your first line of defense against a fire. They alert you the moment smoke is present in the home, so you have the time to put out the fire or get your family out safely. A lot of people tend to take their fire alarms for granted though. Although they can last awhile without maintenance, this isn’t really a risk you should take. One way that people go wrong when it comes to fire alarms is not having enough in the home. It is best to have a minimum of one fire alarm per floor of an average sized home. However, you may want to aim to place them in each room and hallway to be safe. You must allow routinely check them to make sure they are working properly. This can generally be done once a month, so you don’t have to stress over it every single day. A fire alarm should be replaced every ten years as many will stop working with age. You should always keep fresh batteries in the alarms too. For convenience, you may want to switch them out whenever you do your monthly check.
2. Be Cautious in the Kitchen
The kitchen is where most fires occur, which means it’s always best to take precautions whenever and wherever you can. For starters, working with the stove means standing at the stove whenever it is on. It’s tempting to run to the next room to grab something or to lose your concentration by talking on the phone. However, sticking with the stove while it is on is very important, especially when there are children around. You should also always double check to make sure the electric or gas is off on the stove or oven. This will ensure no major problems can happen, which could become disastrous and it will help you save on your bills. If your kitchen has a lot of appliances in it, then it may be wise to unplug then whenever they’re not in use. This will help cut down on the amount of power they use and will prevent any sparks from occurring when you’re least expecting it. Last but not least, you should always know how to put out common kitchen fires. It is amazing how many kitchen fires begin when someone tries to put out a grease fire with water.
3. Inspect the Home
This is a very key element to ensuring your home isn’t going to catch fire when you least expect it to. A lot of the inspection you can do yourself, if you know what you’re doing. Basically, you should try to check out your radiators, behind the dryer and water heater as well as anywhere else that may be dusty and hazardous. Usually, if you contact your insurance company, they will be more than happy to send someone out to do an inspection because it saves them money in the long run. All the same, this hired service should check everything including the obvious areas, like the radiators, as well as your fireplace and areas you may not typically think to check.
4. Maintain Cords
You may not believe it, but cords can be a huge problem when it comes to fires in your home. We tend to over burden sockets, twist up the cords and hide them behind furniture, which are all ways to increase the chance of a fire due to cords. You can easily reduce the chance greatly by using a surge protector. This allows you to plug more items into one socket, while also controlling the way power flows through the items. You should try to avoid putting any pressure on cords as well. Especially when it comes to cords stored in areas in which you cannot carefully monitor them. Sometimes, the wires inside of the plastic casing become exposed, which could easily set an item of furniture alight. The best thing you can do is organize cords, which is simple to do with twist ties or other organizational items. Also, make sure to mend or throw out cords that are exposed and potentially dangerous.
5. Remove Clutter
If you’re a pack rat, or you simply like to collect magazines or other paper items, then you may be putting your home at risk. Clutter of any form can help make a fire go from distinguishable to unfixable in mere seconds. Clutter can be anything too! From clothes to books. The best thing you can do is make sure the collectibles you have are in an organized area. For instance, books on a shelf are less likely to be hazardous opposed to old newspapers that have been drying out in the attic for the past 2 decades. If you have noticed a lot of clutter in your area then you may want to try to sift through some of your possessions to find out what exactly is necessary and what isn’t. You may be surprised as to how many of your items hold no meaning to you now. If you find a whole lot of items that you don’t want them start a yard sale as you may make some money out of your fire prevention plan! Also, make sure to recycle any items you don’t want that can be recycled. It will do the environment an even bigger favor.
6. Clean the Yard
Your yard can be a huge factor in a fire too. Toys and other clutter in the yard can be a fire waiting to happen, if you’re not careful. Try to make a point to pick up loose items in the yard every day, especially during the dry summer months. Of course, this isn’t nearly as big of a culprit as over grown lawns. You should always make sure to keep weeds and grass cut down low so that it is much harder for a fire to begin or spread into your yard. One way to really help eliminate this problem is to tear up the grass in the yard and replace it with decorative rocks. This will especially come in handy in areas that suffer from severe drought. If you don’t like the look of a yard without plants then you can easily add in a few plants that survive with very little water. Of course, you could just leave the tilled earth alone until it is okay to regrow your grass again.
7. Be Mindful
It’s actually remarkably easy to start a fire, so it’s important to keep in mind what you’re doing so that you can avoid any potential hazards. Smokers must always be on top of their game because they are constantly dealing with an item that could easily begin a fire every time they light a cigarette. If you do smoke, try to do it away from dry grass as it will help prevent any accidental ashes from starting a fire. Also, try to douse your cigarette butt in water before you put it in the trashcan or carelessly toss it on the ground. This should completely prevent a fire from occurring. Candles are another big problem when it comes to fires. You should always make sure they are completely out before you leave the room. Electronics are also surprisingly prone to causing fires. If they overheat and break they may cause a spark that will allow a fire to begin. Finally, before you hop in your car, make sure nothing is dragging the ground, as a simple loose chain hanging from a truck can spark a fire.
8. Talk to Your Kids
Letting your kids know the ins and outs of fire safety is one of the best things you can do. This will not only help keep your home safe now, but it will show them how to maintain safety as they grow into adulthood and have kids of their own. Of course, you never know, a little fire safety could lead to your child saving lives. This doesn’t just mean teaching your kids to not play with matches and other common household rules. You should sit them down and teach them what to do if a fire does start. Using a fire extinguisher or blanket is important for anyone old enough to operate it. Also, calling the appropriate numbers is a big lesson that every child should know. Last but not least, your child should know where the fire kit is kept in the home and your whole family should practice a fire escape route to help everyone feel a little more confident about potential accidents.
9. Have a Safety Kit
No home is complete without a fire safety kit to ensure accidents don’t become tragic. One of the most important items to have is at least one fire extinguisher. This should be kept in the kitchen, but you may want to consider having another, especially if you live in a home with more than one story. Your fire extinguisher should be kept up to date to ensure safety if an accident does occur. A fire blanket is another must for a few reasons. For starters, it’s an easy way to smother a fire in a hurry, especially if the fire isn’t big. More importantly, the blanket will also come in handy if someone in the house catches on fire. The blanket is a safe way to get the fire out as soon as possible. If you live in a house of more than one story then it may be wise to keep a ladder that reaches the downstairs readily available. They sell these ladders at a reasonable price or if you’re comfortable with making your own DIY rope ladder that would also suffice. Finally, you should have medical supplies to deal with burns until medical help can be contacted.
10. Utilize Insurance
Your insurance company can play a major key in fire safety. Before you sign on with a plan, you should always make sure they cover fire damage as you don’t want to have to fight a company when you’ve lost all of your worldly possessions. Apart from this coverage, you may contact them to see if they offer free or reduced price household inspections. As mentioned before, this is a crucial step in keeping your home fire free. Finally, you should also contact your insurance to see if they will issue you a fire safety kit, specifically a fire extinguisher.
When it comes to fire safety, knowing how to take care of the problem is half the battle. These ten tips will offer you easy and frugal suggestions to keep your home ready for potential fires as well as to help you prevent them from happening in the first place.
