Do Fire Families need fire prevention tips?
Of course we do! Our children and families are not exempt from the possibility of fire. It’s Fire Safety Week and we should all be aware of the dangers, fire family or not!
I think we all know the basics but did you know in 2013 a house fire was reported every 85 SECONDS? 85 seconds! If you do the math that is over 1000 per DAY. We want to list a few tips to prevent this from happening to you or someone you love. Sometimes there are freak accidents, like THIS post about how a mirror and light burned a hole in Lori’s couch! But, sometimes there are fires and fire related deaths that were 100% preventable but weren’t.
Take a look at some of the most common fire starters.
Clothes Dryer Safety
I know I’ve gotten in trouble with my husband for leaving the house with the dryer running. Good safety would be turning your dryer off when you leave or go to bed, using the appropriate electric/gas hookups, cleaning out lint traps and not putting any clothing that have been contaminated with anything flammable. The leading cause of dryer fires is failure to clean them. Lint is highly flammable and you wouldn’t believe how much stays inside your dryer, even when you regularly clean out the lint trap!
Kitchen Safety
Unattended cooking food is the leading cause of kitchen fires and most of those include the stove top. If you are cooking foods for a length of time on low heat, you should check on these foods frequently. Never leave the room if frying food. When cooking with children in your home, keep them at least three feet away from the stove or hot items while cook. This also prevents scalding accidents.
Candle Saftey
How many firefighters refuse to have candles in their homes? I bet some wives were glad when the flameless candles made their first appearance! Did you know that December is the peak month for candle fires. A few ways to prevent candle related fires… Never leave children alone in a room with a lit candle, lighters or matches. Keep candles on sturdy surfaces away from edges and all objects. Extinguish candles when leaving the room, leaving your home or going to bed. If you use candles in your bed room, be extremely cautious. One third of candle fires start in bedrooms. Flameless sound a lot better!
Heating and Electric Safety
During the coldest days there are multiple house fires caused by people trying to stay warm. People sleeping too close to heat sources or using appliances inappropriately. Keep all objects three feet away from all sides of your heating source. Keep your fireplace inspected and use a screen to prevent embers from coming inside the home. Only use fuel burning heaters specified for indoor use and use the appropriate fuels. If you use natural gas powered heat, CO detectors should also be used to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Playing With Fire
Last but not least, a very important fire prevention tip… Keep lighters and matches away from tiny hands. Kids are curious. Very curious, it’s how they learn. I know both of my fire kids are curious about matches, lighters and fire and we’ve had the same discussions a few times over the years about why it isn’t ok to touch or play with these items. My preschooler loves for candles to be lit just to blow them out. Starting with them at very early ages is important. They need to know the dangers of playing with matches, lighters, cooking equipment and other things that could potentially burn them or start a fire.
If you want to see a complete list of fire safety fact sheets from the source we’ve used above, click HERE. We hope whether you’re a fire family reading this or if someone shared this information with you that you take the time to make sure you’re practicing safety when it comes to potential fires.
Reproduced from NFPA's Fire Prevention Week website, www.firepreventionweek.org - ©2014 NFPA
Jessie -
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