Nothing can be as distressing for a family as a house fire. Wildly spreading fires leave nothing behind, sweeping your home, memories associated with it, and all your personal belonging down into ashes. The good news is that most of the time house fires are completely preventable, if the occupant or the homeowner had only noticed the warning signs and the dangers before the house went up in flames. In order to ensure the safety of your home and family, it is indispensable to start your home fire prevention safety inspection with this checklist to look out for obvious safety hazards:
- Lighters and Matches: Especially for those living with children, never leave any means of starting a fire within their easy reach.
- Electrical outlets: One outlet should never be overloaded with appliances and adapters. When an outlet uses too much power, it could overheat or even start a fire. Space heaters should always be plugged in to a separate outlet.
- Paint and Gasoline: Always store flammable liquids in tightly sealed containers, preferably in buildings far from living areas. The garage over the basement is a viable choice.
- Electrical Cords: Plugs and extension cords, especially which run beneath the rugs, are a serious hazard. If the wire of a cord is exposed and the rubber worn off, it can all too easily cause a fire underneath the rug.
- Fireplace: Creosote soot builds up in chimneys, which is prone to catching fire. If you have a fire place installed at home, have it inspected and maintenance annually.
- Stove top: Boiling oil and hot burners can easily cause napkins or oven mitts to ignite. These items should be kept away from the stove top. Furthermore, water should never be used to put out a grease fire as it can lead to perilous flames. Always keep your kitchen equipped with a suitable fire extinguisher
- Dryer duct: Since lint is highly flammable, it is a good practice to clean out your dryer ducts annually.
Sound the Alarm
Functional smoke alarms, installed at the proper places within your home, can seriously mitigate the risk of life threatening fires to half. Alarms should be strategically placed in hallways on each level of the house, especially in the higher risk areas like the garage, kitchen, and the laundry room. Place them high up on the wall or on the ceilings, and check their battery levels regularly. Inspect the working of your smoke alarms periodically to ensure that they are in top-notch shape.
In addition, Carbon monoxide detectors are a great investment, as this odorless gas can be quite fatal and is hard to detect otherwise. These days, CO and smoke alarms can be easily hardwired into your home’s electricity, so that when one alarm rings, the other alarms will relay in sync.
Put It Out
In addition to preventing a fire from erupting, necessary precautions should also be taken to put it out if an incident happens. This is why fire extinguishers should be a vital part of your fire safety measures. Not to mention they are the safest way of putting out a grease fire. Fire extinguishers can be mounted on the stairs to your basement, in your kitchen, in your garage, and at your back door exit.
