Fireproof Your Family with Fire Safety

Every year thousands of families are affected by fires in the home, and sadly, many lives are lost. Simple knowledge and actions are all it takes to help prevent fires in the home, and keep your family safe if they ever have to face one. Use these tips to fireproof your family!

Prevention is powerful!

Many fires can be prevented by using a little caution and common sense. Kitchen fires caused by grease splattering onto hot stove tops can be avoided by keeping the heat at a lower setting, and never leaving the hot oil unattended. It is very easy to get distracted while cooking and forget about the oil, and that is when a fire is most likely to happen. Make a point to turn off the stove or remove the oil if you have to leave the kitchen for even a moment.

Keep your dryer free from lint and dust, and never run the dryer while you are away from the house, or even while you are sleeping. Fires can form very easily in dryers that have lint in the machine, but by simply vacuuming the lint tray whenever you vacuum the carpets, all loose dust and debris will be cleared away.

Educate every family member, even the youngest.

As soon as children can understand and follow rules, teach them fire safety. Cover the basics, such as 'never hide from a fire', and have a plan of escape in case you ever need one. It's a good idea to draw a map of the house showing the best places to get out, and have a practice fire drill every couple of months to make sure everyone knows what to do and where to go in a fire emergency.

Keep smoke detectors outside every bedroom and on every floor of the home, and check them every 2-3 months to make sure they are working, don't wait until there is a fire to find out that the batteries are dead!

While worrying excessively won't necessarily prevent fires, arming yourself, and your family, with the knowledge they need, will help keep them safe from fires in the home.  Feld Fire has a great blog post about preventing fires in your home.  Click here to read it.