Home Fire Safety Kitchen Fires Smoke Alarms Extinguishers Fireplaces - Candles

2. Kitchen Fires -- Data Three in ten home fires start in the kitchen, more than any other room in the house. In one year, there were an estimated 156,500 kitchen fires, which killed 331 people, injured nearly 5,000 others, and damaged $876 million worth of property. Cooking causes nearly 90% of all kitchen fires. The primary factor is unattended cooking.

3. Kitchen Fires – Do’s and Don’ts Don’t leave food that is cooking on the stovetop unattended, especially pans of hot grease when frying food. Grease fires can travel to curtains and cabinets, quickly producing a major fire. When frying or heating oil, make sure the pot or pan has a lid that the lid is handy. Cover a burning or overheated pan with a lid. Make sure the pilot lights always work. Clean up grease.

4. Kitchen Fires – Do’s and Don’ts Regularly clean or replace vent screens. If you have an electric stove, warn children that it stays hot after it has been turned off. Never leave a child alone when cooking or when an electrical appliance is within reach. Keep flammable objects (kitchen towels, cookbooks and curtains) at least three feet from the stove top.

5. Fire Extinguishers Use portable fire extinguishers for putting out small fires or containing them until firefighters arrive. For your home, buy a multi-purpose extinguisher, which you can use on all types of home fires. Read the instructions and get familiar with the parts and how to use it.

6. Fire Extinguishers -- Do’s and Don’ts Keep fire extinguishers close to an exit. Keep your back to an unblocked exit when using your extinguisher on a fire. You want to be able to escape easily if things get out of hand. If smoke fills the room, leave immediately.

7. Fire Extinguishers -- Do’s and Don’ts These conditions should exist before you use your fire extinguisher: The fire is confined to a small area and isn't spreading. Everyone else has left the house or building. Someone has called the fire department. The room isn't filled with smoke.

8. Fire Extinguishers -- Do’s and Don’ts To use a fire extinguisher, remember P-A-S-S: Pull the pin. Hold the extinguisher with the nozzle pointing away from you, and release the locking mechanism. Aim low. Point the extinguisher at the base of the fire. Squeeze the lever slowly and evenly. Sweep the nozzle from side-to-side.

9. Fireplaces -- Data More than one in three Americans use fireplaces, wood stoves and other fuel-burning appliances as the primary way to heat their homes. Heating fires account for 36% of residential home fires in rural areas every year. Often these fires are due to creosote buildup in chimneys and stovepipes.

10. Fireplaces -- Do’s and Don’ts Don't use gasoline to start a fire. Use paper, kindling and dry wood. Use a screen to keep sparks from popping out of the fire. Make sure that floor coverings and furniture are far enough away from the fireplace. Make sure your flue is clean and open, and that your damper works. Open the damper before starting a fire.

11. Fireplaces -- Do’s and Don’ts Make sure the fire is out before you leave it alone or go to bed. Dispose of ashes in a metal bucket or other metal container. Make sure they are cool. Don't use water to extinguish a fire. It can crack the bricks in your hearth. Let the fire burn itself out. When burning artificial logs, burn one at a time. They produce too much concentrated heat for some fireplaces.

12. Candles -- Data Candle fires occur most often in bedrooms (45%), followed by family rooms (18%) and bathrooms (11%).  16% of candle fires were caused by unattended candles. Candles cause an estimated 15,600 fires in residences, 150 deaths, 1,270 injuries, and $539 million in estimated direct property damage each year.

13. Candles -- Do’s and Don’ts Don’t leave a burning candle unattended. When you leave a room or go to bed, put out all candles. Don't put candles near things that burn: books, newspaper, tablecloths, clothing, wall hangings, pictures, curtains. Candle holders must be hard to tip over, made from a material that won't burn, and should be able to catch melted wax.

14. Candles -- Do’s and Don’ts Make sure that kids and pets can't get near candles. If the wick gets too long, it can produce a dangerously large flame. Trim wicks to ¼" prior to each use. Keep candles, matches and lighters in a high cabinet that children can't see or reach. When the power goes out, you can light candles but don't carry them around.

15. Smoke Alarms -- Data An estimated 890 lives could be saved each year if all homes had working smoke alarms. Sixty-five percent of home-fire deaths in a recent 5-year period were in homes that didn’t have smoke alarms or where the smoke alarms didn’t work. In about thirty percent of the fires in homes that have smoke alarms, the devices did not work--usually because the batteries are dead, missing or not connected.

16. Smoke Alarms – Do’s and Don’ts To be prepared when your smoke alarm starts to shriek, have a plan for escaping the fire. Your family should know the plan, and you should have all practiced it. You should have at least one smoke alarm on every floor of your home (including the basement). Experts recommend an alarm outside each bedroom, as well. Because smoke rises, mount your alarm near the top of the wall (about a foot from the ceiling) or on the ceiling (at least four inches from the nearest wall).

17. Smoke Alarms – Do’s and Don’ts Installing battery-powered smoke alarms is easy, requiring only a screw driver. Some brands are self-adhesive. Test your smoke alarms at least once a month. Pick a holiday or your birthday and replace the batteries each year on that day. Change the batteries in your smoke alarms at least once a year, even if they aren't chirping at you to warn you that the battery is getting low.