How To Create A Firesafe Home

1. How To Create A Firesafe Home • With a little planning, you can save your home and family from fire by knowing how fires start and how to increase your home fire safety.

2. Common Ways Home Fires Start • Large appliances like clothes dryers or ovens, small appliances like hair dryers and toasters. • Overloaded electrical outlets, frayed or worn electrical cords, space heaters, and unattended fireplaces. • Candles, holiday decorations, and live Christmas trees.

3. How To Firesafe Your Kitchen • Unplug items when not in use, including your toaster, coffee maker, blender, and more. Inspect the electrical outlets for the stove, microwave, and dishwasher. • Keep towels, curtains, and paper products away from hot burners. • Never place metal in a microwave.

4. How To Firesafe Your Bedrooms • Turn off electric blankets, mattress pads,and space heaters before going to sleep. • Only use newer model space heaters with an automatic shut-off in case it overheats. Place space heaters away from curtains and other hazardous conditions. • Never smoke in bed or while lying on the couch to avoid the risk of falling asleep with a burning cigarette.

5. How To Firesafe Your Bathroom • Make sure all small appliances are unplugged when not in use. • Purchase bathroom appliances with an automatic shut-off in case you forget to turn them off. • Keep towels away from heaters and appliances that heat up.

6. How Fires Outside The Home Start • Wildfires • Gas line explosions • Improper trash or leaf burning • Careless storage of matches • Lightening strikes • And other natural causes

7. Firesafe Outside Your Home • Create a clear space of 30 feet around your home by removing all flammable vegetation and wood piles. • Create a "fuel reduction zone" by alternating the planting of tall and short plants. Remove the plants underneath tall trees to stop the rapid movement of a fire. • Remove dead branches, leaves, and pine needles from your trees, gutters, and roof, making sure you have a 10 foot clearance between tree limbs and your chimney.

8. Detectors And Extinguishers • Check your smoke alarms often and replace the batteries every six months. Place smoke detectors in living and sleeping areas. • Keep a fire extinguisher nearby to handle any small fires that pop up while cooking. Baking soda quickly extinguishes grease fires on top of the stove. • It is always a good idea to practice using a fire extinguisher before you actually need to.

9. Safeguard Your Valuable Papers • Keep important papers like birth and marriage certificates, insurance policies, and bank account information in a fire-safe box. • A bank safety deposit box also works, but you have limited access in a disaster during non-business hours.

10. Practice Makes Perfect • Practice 'stop, drop, and roll' so everyone knows what to do in case of fire. • Rehearse your exit plan from each room in your home. Purchase a fire escape ladder for two and three story homes. Designate a meeting spot far enough away to be clear of danger, like a neighbor's yard. • Show your children how to dial 911 so they are prepared in case of a fire or other emergency.