Fire Safety In The Home

You may be wondering why there is such a push on fire safety in the home. 

Let me give you a few numbers from 2008

Almost 2 million fires, over 11 billion dollars in damages.

The numbers that are very scary are over 4000 deaths and almost 20 000 injuries.

These are staggering numbers that continue to go up on a yearly basis.  Over 80% of these numbers were as a result of fires in the home.

Another thing that is scary is that almost all fires are preventable in one way or another.  There is the odd exception that nothing would have prevented it but in almost all cases if we practiced fire safety in the home things would be looking a whole lot better.

A little bit of safety and being pro active could be the difference in a close call or going to a funeral.

There are many reasons to question fire safety in the home. Below I will list a few to keep you on your toes and keep you thinking.

Electrical short circuiting in a home is a huge cause. Its important to use equipment properly rated plus make sure any plug in utensils are the right voltage. Keep all cords away from carpets. When not using an appliance make sure you  unplug it. Replace any appliances that are too old and create a safety problem.

The last few years fire safety in the home has been compromised because of electric heaters. Keep the heaters away from all combustibles or combustible materials. The nice thing is the newer heaters have automatic shut offs.

If the heater gets too hot, overloads or gets tipped over it will automatically shut off. This, however doesn't mean you shouldn't still be careful. Remember the heater is still man made and the fail safes could fail.

Now fire places are one of the biggest concerns when fire safety in the home is being talked about. If a fire place is not used or maintained properly so many things could go wrong in a hurry. Again, don't keep combustibles close by, use a good screen and don't over pile the fire so you don't get any sudden out bursts. One thing you absolutely need to do at least once a year is clean your fire place. Many insurance companies wont even offer insurance if you don't show proof of cleaning.

When it comes to fire safety in the home you can never be too prepared.  A good idea is an escape plan.  This should be a detailed plan that includes escape from every room.  Just having a plan isn't good enough though.  From time to time you need to practice the plan.  You want to try and better your time every time you run a practice.

Its very important to keep your children educated with the fire plan and as to how dangerous fire is.  We all know most children just love fire.  In fact over 100 000 house fires were started last year as a result of kids playing with fire in some sort of way.

It is important that you never let your guard down or relax when it comes to fire safety in the home.  As soon as you do let things drop is when you will get nailed.  It doesn't matter what time of the year or what you are doing.  As long as fire safety in the home is on your mind then you stand a good chance of never having one.