With people spending more time at home during due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Deerfield Township Fire and EMS Department wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some at home fire safety rules and considerations. This information is being shared from the website boldfacenews.com. A PDF copy of the information is available here.

10 Basic Home Fire Safety Rules and Considerations

By Sandra Turner, Head Writer at Bold Face News

One of the biggest tragedies you could experience is losing a home to a fire. No one should have to experience a tragedy such as this, fortunately there are ways that you can mitigate the risk of a fire. The best thing you can do is understand and follow the basic home fire safety rules.

If you have family members or roommates in your home, it is not enough for solely you to know about fire safety. Everyone in your home should be aware of what to do in a fire emergency too.

Below is a list of the top ten fire safety rules that you should execute in your home. Once you know these fire safety rules, you can have fun in your home without stressing about a potential fire emergency!

Rule 1: Know the Common Causes of Fires

The most common sources of fires in homes is cooking, smoking, appliance use and candles. If you use these things in your home, which you likely do, be sure that you use them responsibly. Take the time to educate others in your home too so they’re aware as well!

Rule 2: Always Have a Fire Extinguisher in your Home

Having a fire extinguisher on premises is a good home fire safety rule. You may not always be able to prevent a fire, but you can always be prepared if one starts. The best way to be prepared is having a fire extinguisher in your home. Be sure to research how to use one too!

Rule 3: Test Smoke Alarms Regularly

If a smoke alarm isn’t working, it’s not going to help you if an actual fire occurs! For this reason, you should test smoke alarms regularly, usually every month is ideal.

There is a test button on smoke alarms that you can use to determine if your alarm is working. If the sound is weak or non-existent, it is time to replace the batteries. Also, usually if the batteries die you’ll know because the smoke alarm will beep… loudly.

Rule 4: Don’t Play with Fire

This should be obvious, if you don’t want a fire to start, don’t play with fire! Fire is absolutely a useful tool for cooking and home renovation projects among other things.

Just because it is a useful tool does not mean that you should tamper or play with it. Use fire responsibly in your home to prevent fires from starting.

Rule 5: Stop, Drop and Roll

Everyone in your household should know the words “stop, drop and roll” like the back of their hand. In the event that one’s clothes catch on fire, stopping, dropping and rolling is how you can put them out. This one will be fun to practice with your family!

Rule 6: Evaluate Your Home

Every now and then, perform an evaluation of your home by looking for fire hazards. Anything that is highly flammable, such as old papers or magazines, should be disposed of if you don’t need them. These materials are very flammable and could start and feed a fire rapidly.

Rule 7: Plan a Fire Escape

You probably remember practicing fire escape routes when you were in school. You should be doing the same in your home, especially if you have young children. Figure out two routes to escape the house in the event of a fire and practice at least once a year.

Part of your fire escape planning should be teaching young children, elders and others what fire alarms sound like. They should be familiar with the sound (even though the loud sound is hard to miss!) and know exactly what to do when they hear it. Also, teach everyone in your household how to call for help if they don’t already know how.

Rule 8: Install Smoke Alarms on All Levels of Your Home

It is important to have smoke alarms on all levels of your home so that any fire won’t go undetected. Having them in bedrooms is ideal too, but not absolutely necessary. If you have one floor in your home, you only have one fire alarm to worry about!

Rule 9: Emergency Kit for Fire Emergencies

For a fire emergency, or any other emergency for that matter, you should be prepared with an emergency kit. In your kit, you should have a first aid kit, flashlight, duct tape, copies of important documents and a fire extinguisher. For more advanced kits, you should also be equipped with fire blankets, fire sleeves, and other heat resistant materials too.

The kit should be stored in a convenient, close and accessible location for you to grab it in an emergency. It may seem silly to have a kit ready, although, you’d be surprised, it can make a bad situation better!

Rule 10: If a Fire Occurs, Protect Yourself First

If a fire happens in your home, get out and stay out. This can be challenging because people often want to save their personal belongings or others in the house. However, if you go back into a burning home, you’re risking your own safety.

What you can do is call for help immediately. Professional firefighters can be trusted to put out a fire, get others out safely and salvage your personal belongs.

Source:

Turner, Sandra. “10 Basic Home Fire Safety Rules and Considerations.” Boldfacenews.com, February 24, 2019. http://www.boldfacenews.com/10-basic-home-fire-safety-rules-and-considerations/.