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Fires wreak unspeakable damage on property and human life every year.
The very prospect of being caught up in one is enough to send shivers down your spine.
Unfortunately, the likelihood of them happening is fairly high. Every year, fire departments respond to over 350,000 house-fires. Those fires, according to the same source, cause billions of dollars in damage and lead to over 2,500 fatalities.
As you can see, house-fires are no joke.
Homeowners would do well to take the threat of them seriously and learn how to prevent house fires in the first place. Don’t, and the aforementioned statistics reveal what’s at stake.
Are you looking for a guide on avoiding the calamitous impact of house fires? We want to help.
Keep reading for 7 essential ways to prevent fire in the home.
Read Also:
- How to Clean Up After Fire Damage and Get Rid of the Smoke Smell in Your Home
- A Guide to Fire Rated Shutters With Their Features and Specifications
- Home Fire Safety Tips That Save Lives: How to Keep Your Home Safe
- Wireline Services: Why Instant Fire Damage Recovery Is Essential?
- Types of Fire Protection Equipment to Choose From
- 4 Tips to Boost Your Home’s Fire Safety
Install and Test Smoke Alarms
As they say, where there’s smoke there’s fire.
Which is why you need to install smoke alarms throughout your property. This is fire-damage prevention 101. The sirens that ring out when they sense smoke can (and do) save lives.
They let everybody in your house know, unequivocally, that there’s a problem. You can then evacuate the property, call the fire brigade, and/or take steps to tackle the fire early on.
Just as important, though, is the need to test your alarms throughout the year. After all, having smoke alarms is pointless if they don’t work! Make a point of pressing the button and checking they function as intended.
You might find they need a new battery, or that there’s a faulty connection. That realization might just save a life.
Have Fire-Extinguishers and Blankets
Having fire suppression systems in your house is crucial too.
Be it a sprinkler system, fire blanket, or portable fire extinguisher, you need something in your house to put out blazes that occur.
Having the right tools in place can suppress a flame before it becomes a raging inferno.
Make sure you know how to use them thought! Fires get out of hand in an instant. That means you don’t have time to read the instructions from back to front. There can be no dilly-dally, you have to suppress a blaze ASAP.
Keep Your Kitchen Clean
A build-up of dirt and grime on kitchen stove isn’t just an aesthetic issue.
It’s a fire hazard too.
Whether it’s on the hob or in the oven, any food that gathers can catch fire as it heats up. You can be cooking the evening meal and, before you know it, you’ve got an uncontrollable blaze on your hands.
You can avoid that terrifying fate by keeping everything clean.
Clear up properly after every meal, and be rigorous when cleaning the inside of your oven! We know, it’s a time-consuming, unpleasant task. But again, it might just save a life.
Don’t Leave Your Cooking Unattended
All too many fires start when someone wanders off while their meal’s cooking.
Imagine that you’ve got some pasta bubbling away nicely in a pot on the stove.
Rather than waiting around doing nothing, you decide to phone a friend in the living room or respond to emails in the office. Before long you get taken up with what you’re doing and forget about the pasta.
The next thing you know, a fire’s broken out and your house is filling with smoke.
The best way to stop that happening? Not leaving the cooking unattended!
You never know what’s happening in the kitchen unless you’re there keeping an eye on proceedings.
You would have seen the pasta boil over, observed the water boil away, watched the pasta burn to a crisp, and seen the pot catch fire. In other words, you would have averted disaster. And, again, you might have saved a life.
Be Exceedingly Careful with Candles
Candles are another common source of house fires.
Everybody loves them. They’re calming, reassuring, and send a beautiful low light over the room. They might even smell nice too.
But what starts as a dream can soon become a nightmare. Candles are the menace of the fire-fighting world! There are all too many ways they can cause trouble.
Oftentimes, people leave the room, the candle falls over and it sets fire to the carpet, upholstery or curtains. Bits of ember might break away and fall onto flammable materials. Unruly kids can play with them and set fire to something by mistake.
People seem to forget that candles are on fire! Always be safe and sensible with them. Put them on a stable, inflammable surface, and never leave them unattended.
Be Sensible with Storage
Your house is a melting pot of flammable goods.
Think about it.
You’ve probably got deodorant, hair-spray, cosmetics, and household cleaners in various places throughout the home. Each one of those items can pose a significant fire hazard in the wrong circumstances.
Your deodorant canister could get too close to the candle, for instance. In moments you could have a ball of fire bursting forth in the bedroom.
That’s why it’s vital that you follow the storage instructions on the back. Always keep flammable goods in cool, dark, and dry places. This minimizes the fire danger involved and should help provide some peace of mind as well.
Upgrade Old Appliances
Erring on the side of frugality is all well and good.
But when your appliances get so old that their electrical systems become a fire hazard, it’s time for a change. Keep an eye on your goods to see how they’re holding up.
Loose connections and wires, for example, are a bad sign. It’s best to replace them with newer and safer products.
Know-How to Prevent House Fires
Have you been wondering how to prevent house fires?
Awesome!
You’re one step closer to taking sensible precautions against the immeasurable damage they can cause. Hopefully, the tips in this post will help (and compel) you to put steps in place that protect both your property and family.
Stay hooked to our blog for more tips and advice.
