Home Fire Prevention Tips

Like so many disasters in life, people think a home fire will never happen to them, it only happens to someone else, right? So it’s shocking when it does happen to them and they discover that it could have been prevented or they weren’t prepared when it did happen.

According to the Red Cross, they  respond to about 64,000 disasters yearly, the greatest majority of them are related to home fires. Further they have found that on the average…

• 7 people, mostly children and elderly adults, die daily from home fires.
• 36 people receive injuries daily from home fires.
• There is approximately $7,000,000,000 (7 billion, that’s a lot of zeroes) worth of damage that occurs each year from home fires.

Just in the month of February 2018, there were 3 home fires in Seattle, WA during a period of only 7 days:

• 2/12/18 – Seward Park house fire
• 2/16/18 – West Seattle residential fire
• 2/19/18 – Crown Hill house fire

House fires don’t just happen to the next guy…they can happen to you, and they should be taken seriously! So in order to keep your home and loved ones safe from fire…

Use these Home Fire Prevention Tips:

As you prepare your home and your family to help in preventing a home fire, you should be aware that it has been established that the leading causes of home fires and injuries are cooking equipment, electrical problems, candles, unsupervised children playing with fire and smoking.

1. Be sure you have working fire detectors installed and maintained, both smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms.
2. Have working and maintained fire extinguishers available in at least 2 or 3 convenient places. (See the video below demonstrating how to use one).
3. Fire safety in the kitchen:
   1. Keep loose clothing, and all other combustibles away from the stovetop.
   2.  Never leave the kitchen when you are in the process of boiling, frying or broiling food.
   3. If you have a cooking pan fire:
      1. If the fire is small enough, using an oven mitt, and cover the pan with a lid.
      2. Turn the stove off, leaving the pan covered until it’s totally cooled.
4. In some respects, children could be considered fire hazards…
   1. Don’t leave young children unattended in the kitchen while there is food on the stove.
   2. Keep all matches, cigarette lighters, and other lighting devices up and unavailable to children.
   3. Be a good example for your kids, and don’t play with fire…they love to imitate adults.
5. Never leave space heaters running unattended.
6. If your home has baseboard heaters, make sure there is at least 12 inches between them and any furniture, curtains or area rugs.
7. Make sure your fireplace is covered by a metal screen, and that you keep it cleaned out.
8. Use power strips whenever possible instead  of extension cords. If you need to use extension cords, don’t run them under rugs or across door thresholds.
9. Keep small appliances unplugged when not in use.
10. Have an escape plan, and hold fire drills periodically. Here is a great Home Fire Evacuation plan from the Seattle Fire Department, and a Home Fire Safety checklist from the National Safety Council.

City of Seattle – Fire Extinguishers from Video Unit on Vimeo.

For all of your Insurance questions or needs, Contact Whitcomb Insurance, we’d be happy to talk to you about your Homeowner’s Policy and make sure you have the right coverage.