Fire Damage Restoration Expert Advice - Preparing for a Home Fire
The fire damage repair experts at Paul Davis understand how detrimental home fires are. Not only can home fires destroy your residence and personal possessions, but they are emotionally jarring and make you feel unsafe. Fires can occur without a moment's notice and can be generated by a number of things, so a lot of the time they're out of your control like your neighbor's house being on fire or natural disasters. But there are a few steps you can take to minimize the risk of a home fire in your residence.The Importance of Emergency Strategies
When it comes to house fires, not all of them are in your control and can't be stopped. That is why the most vital thing you can do is have safety strategies ready. Smoke alarms and fire extinguishers are a necessity, and always check that you have the proper amount to accommodate your home. But you should think about installing smoke alarms that can detect smoke from electrical fires, since faulty wiring can be a cause of home fires. If there are children in the house, you'll want to teach them on how the smoke alarm sounds and what to do when in the incident where one goes off. Create emergency plans for fire routes and ensure everybody is aware of them. There should be two exits from every room in the home. Also, you'll need to have a designated meeting spot outside of the home so that you're sure everybody gets out securely. Another thing you should do is secure your important items like passports, photographs and birth certificates. You can create digital copies and store them into a cloud drive as a backup, and you can get a fire safe box to keep the hard copies safe too. Finally, take inventory of all your personal possessions for insurance purposes in case they're consumed by the flames.Things to Keep in Mind to Minimize Home Fire Hazards
Though some fires are uncontrollable, here are some procedures you should take to prevent a home fire:- Fireplaces: Creosote is highly flammable and it builds up in your fireplace and chimney after it's been in use, so make sure to get your fireplace cleaned consistently. Having a large, durable screen is also important to prevent sparks from flying into the room and log rollovers.
- Portable Heaters: It is essential to relocate any combustible or flammable items at least three feet from a space heater. You'll also need your heater to have a control mechanism as well as other features for safety such as shutting off if it falls over.
- Smoking: Outdoor smoking is the a great method to counter a home fire from happening. Don't smoke indoors if someone in the house is using oxygen since oxygen is very combustible. If you smoke indoors, don't smoke while lethargic or in bed and have ashtrays with tall walls.
- Children: Store any matches or lighters in an area that is out of reach and out of sight from children to stop their curiosity from lighting a fire. Explain to your children that fire is not a toy too.
- Cooking: Remain in the kitchen at all times while food is in the oven or on the stove and don't leave it unattended. If you need to step out of the kitchen, get somebody to keep an eye on the food until you come back.
- Appliances and Electrical: Monitor your light switches to see if they need to be changed out. If you touch them and they're hot, that's a sign that they're faulty. Another thing you should do is check your electrical appliances for worn out cords and damaged plugs.
