Fire Safety in the Home

Fire Safety at Home

This article outlines basic and inexpensive methods for preventing fires in your home. Do you test your smoke alarms regularly? Try to keep to one appliance per electrical socket? Or have an escape route prepared in the eventuality of fire? If you answered no to any of these questions then this article could help save your life and those around you.

The simplest step to prevent loss of life from fire is to ensure smoke alarms are fitted on each level of your home and that these are tested regularly. Ideally alarms should be tested once a week and have batteries changed annually, never remove them “a smoke alarm without batteries is worse than useless”.

Over 50% of fires in the home start as a result of accidents made whilst cooking, and could be prevented simply by taking more care especially cooking with hot oil. Never leave children unattended in the kitchen when the stove or oven is left on.

Another leading cause of fire is caused by faulty wiring or overloaded plug sockets. Try to keep to one appliance per socket and avoid using those with old wiring. During the winter months, appliances like electric blankets and heaters can be of great comfort; however they produce a lot of heat and pose a potential fire risk. Never leave heaters on overnight or dry your washing on them.

A well planned escape route can mean the difference between life and death, the best escape route is the usual entrance to your home, however if this route is blocked a second route should be included in your plan, hallways and exits on these routes should be free of clutter and obstructions that would prevent a speedy exit. Explain the plan to all members of the household; it often helps to walk through the route whilst explaining what to do and not to do in a fire. If there is a fire, do not attempt to put it out yourself, get out of the property and dial 999.

You can contact your local fire and rescue service for a free home fire safety visit. A trained professional will inspect your home, highlighting potential fire hazards and advising you on how to reduce the risk of fire to your property, they can also help you with your escape plan.

Home fire safety can be made simple by following the basic steps outlined above, for more information contact your local fire and rescue service.