The Significance of Preparing for Home Fires - How to Prepare & Plan

When it comes to challenging scenarios, there are events as draining than a fire that ruins your house and personal belongings. Being a fire damage restoration company, Paul Davis understands what a severe hazard house fires are. Out of nowhere, all it takes is two minutes before a fire gets chaotic. A fire in your home is a terrible and emotionally exhausting situation, whether it destroys everything or not. Nevertheless, you can prepare individual things to make sure that you are all set for when a fire happens.

Process and Implement a Fire Escape Plan

One of the more essential things you can do to plan for a house fire is to have safety practices ready. Because not all fires are preventable, being safe is fundamental. All properties need the right amount of fire extinguishers and smoke alarms located around the property. You should also consider purchasing smoke alarms that identify smoke that is produced by electrical fires because damaged wiring is one of the primary culprits of house fires. Kids in the house should be taught what the smoke alarm sounds like when it's triggered and what to do when it does. Execute plans for emergency fire routes and ensure everybody knows about them. There should be two exits from all rooms in the house. Also, you'll need to have a planned meeting spot outside of the house so that you're sure everybody makes it out safely. Another thing you need to do is protect your important items such as birth certificates, passports and photographs. You can make digital replicas and place them into cloud storage for safe keeping, and you can purchase a strong box to keep the hard copies safe as well. Lastly, take inventory of all your personal possessions for insurance reasons in the event they're consumed by the flames.

To Decrease the Risks of a Fire in Your House Perform These Steps

Though some fires are uncontrollable, here are some precautions you need to implement to prevent a house fire:

  • Smoking: Indoor smoking makes your house exposed to house fires, so the best method to prevent a disaster is to smoke outside. When you do smoke inside, make sure you have suitable ashtrays to inhibit a cigarette or cigar from falling onto the ground. But if somebody in the house is on oxygen, do not smoke inside because oxygen is highly combustible.
  • Children: Store any lighters or matches in a location that is out of reach and out of sight from kids to avoid their curiosity from lighting a fire. Educate your kids that fire is not something to play with as well.
  • Fireplaces: Having a proper screen for your fireplace is integral for the safety of your house and everybody in it. Make sure it is strong enough to catch logs that roll and sparks. Also, you should clean and maintain your fireplace and chimney regularly to erase the extremely combustible creosote that develops.
  • Portable Heaters: It's critical to place any combustible items at least three feet away from a portable heater. {In addition,} you will need your heater to have a control mechanism too and other safety features such as shutting off when it falls over.
  • Appliances and Electrical: Test the switches for your lights to see if they need to be changed out. When they're hot to the touch, that's a clue that they're damaged. Another thing you should do is check your electrical appliances for torn cords and defective plugs.
  • Cooking: The kitchen is one of the more susceptible spots for a fire to happen. It's essential to be aware of what's on the stove or in the oven, and when you need to step out, have somebody keep an eye on it until you come back.

Get in Touch with the Fire Damage Restoration Technicians from Paul Davis

When you experience a house fire, don't wait to get in touch with Paul Davis. Our expert team has the knowledge you need with fire damage restoration services and we can have your residence back to a good condition. Reach out to us at 888-473-7669 and a franchise near you will be prepared to help.