Did you know that according to fire statistics, every year, the fire and rescue services attend to more than 600,000 fire incidents? That sure sounds like a lot, right? Listen to this; these fire incidents have resulted in around 800 deaths and 17,000 injuries. The worst part of it is that around 50,000 of these fire incidents start at home and are responsible for killing around 500 people.
No exaggeration in the paragraph above! Pure statistics! 500 people died in just home fires! So first thing first, if you haven’t already, please start securing your home and protect yourselves and your family.
Steps to Improve Fire Safety
1. Install Smoke Detectors in your House
Installing a smoke detector in your house will save you from these unseen fire accidents. You must install a smoke detector as soon as you can, as your life depends on it. Why do we say this? It is because you are more likely to die in a house fire without smoke detectors compared to the latter.
Smoke detectors are designed like an alarm system; as soon as they start detecting smoke, their alarm goes off, alerting you of the danger, as well as sending an automatic alert call to the fire station. As soon as the fire station gets an alert, a response team will be sent to your house as soon as possible.
In the meanwhile, all you have to do is get out of the house as soon as that smoke detector alarm goes off. So get a quality smoke detector that offers good battery life as well. Also, make sure when the battery runs out, you install some new batteries. Check out these smoke detectors that you can get today for your home.
2. Use Kitchen Appliances with Care
The majority of the time, a domestic fire happens due to kitchen fires. How? You might have left the stove on and forgotten about it? Or maybe forget about the food that was cooking until it was too late? Similarly, a lot of accidents happen in the kitchen that can cost people their lives.
So what can you do about this?
Here is a list of a few things that you need to take care of:
- Get yourself a gas safety certificate from the gas company for your house. The gas safety check cost isaffordable, so you don’t have to worry about breaking your bank account. Plus, life is more precious than a few dollars.
- Keep your stovetops, oven, hobs, and grills clean after each use. Even tiny pieces of grease or food particles can be the reason that causes a big fire accident.
- A lot of fire accidents happen when people are cooking when they are drunk. Don’t do that! If you are drunk or high or even under the effect of some medication, avoid cooking at all costs.
- Stop hanging clothes or any other fabric near the cooking area as it can quickly catch fire.
- Keep electrical gadgets aways from anything hazardous.
Even after all these safety measures, you see yourself in a situation where a fire accident is bound to happen; please don’t both tackling it yourself and don’t throw any water. Just take your family and leave the house and call for help. Lets the professionals who trained for such accidents handle it.
3. Keep an eye on your Electronics
Your electronics can turn out to be lethal if you do not care for them. It sounds weird, but even these electric gadgets need human attention from time to time. Otherwise, you will end up paying a high price. Listen to this, around 89% of electrical fires are caused by electrical products.
So how can you keep your electrical products safe?
Here is how:
- Get your house wires checked before moving into it.
- Turn off your TV or other electric equipment when you are not using them.
- Check the cable leads of your appliances to make sure they are not broken or loose etc.
- Don’t overload your plug socket.
- Don’t keep any cloth or fabric near your electronic devices
- Use bulbs of the watts that are suggested by the appliance.
4. Have a Fire Exit
Most of the homes have fire exits just for these particular situations. So as a homeowner, you need to have your escape route ready. So whether you are buying yourself a new home or remodeling an old one, you need to keep in mind that you have to plan for a fire escape route in times of such unforeseen incidents.
Every home has one normal way in and out of the out, but in case of a fire, this route may be blocked. So you need to figure out another escape route. This can be a window or through your backyard door etc.
All you need to do is make sure is that there are no obstacles in the way, especially if you have children.
5. Routine Check Every Night
Before you go to bed every night, you need to make it a habit to make sure no fire hazards are waiting to happen. The reason we say that you check things at night is that disasters are bound to happen when you are sleeping. So here is a checklist for you to do at night:
- Turn off and unplug all electrical appliances before calling it a day.
- Make sure all the gas appliances are turned off.
- Put out all the candles and cigarettes that can ignite a fire
- Keep all your exits clear should the need arise.
Conclusion
Fire is a natural disaster that you need to protect yourself from the best way you can. In this article, we have highlighted a few safety measures for you.
