Home Safety

You are your own best insurance against fire and burn injury. With a few simple steps, you can help prevent home fires.

• Insist on careful smoking. Provide large, deep ashtrays for smokers to use. Empty ashtrays in a safe place such as a metal can. Always check upholstered furniture for dropped cigarettes before leaving home or going to bed. Make it a rule never to smoke while in bed, when drowsy or when taking medication that makes you sleepy.
• Space heaters need space. To be warm and safe, give all space heaters at least 36 inches of clear air on all sides.
• Wear tight-fitting sleeves when cooking. Loose sleeves, flowing robes or frilly aprons might touch the burner and catch fire.
• Stay in the kitchen when frying foods. If you have to leave the kitchen, set the timer or carry a potholder with you as a reminder to turn the burner off.
• Check electrical appliances. Check the plugs and cords of all electrical appliances for wear. Replace worn appliances.
• Use smoke detectors. Most fatal fires at home happen while people sleep. Properly maintained smoke detectors, though, are always on the alert. Make sure you have a smoke detector near every sleeping area and on every level of your home. Test your smoke detector according to the manufacturer’s directions.
• Know how to escape to safety. Recognize the sound of the smoke detector or other fire alarm. Fire grows with amazing speed, so get outside right away whenever the detector or alarm sounds. Know two ways out of every room, just in case smoke or flames block one way out. Remember, more breathable air will be near the ground, under the smoke. Crawl on your hands and knees or stoop low under smoke.
• Don’t leave a fireplace or wood stove fire unattended. Keep the glass doors or fire screen closed to keep logs in place and to prevent sparks from flying out.
• Make sure you use seasoned wood, and don’t burn treated lumber. When treated lumber is burned, the chemicals in it can create vapors that aren’t good for your health. Take care if you use wood-wax fireplace logs, especially in metal fireplaces. These logs burn much hotter than normal wood because of the wax, and can warp your chimney system. Follow package directions and use only one log at a time.
• When you clean the fireplace, put ashes in a metal container with a lid. Embers can burn for weeks and have been known to cause fires when placed in a garbage can with other trash. Have your chimney and fireplace checked every fall or winter before you use it.