The Importance of Preparing for Home Fires - What to Prepare & Plan
As far as detrimental emergencies go there are few things as staggering as a fire that damages your home and possessions. A fire in your house is a harrowing and an intensely exhausting situation, whether it damages everything or not. Yet, there are some precautions you can take to lessen the chances of a fire from occurring in your home. The fire damage restoration team at Paul Davis understands the severe situation of house fires and that's why it's crucial to know how to prepare your property and what to do when a fire occurs.Form and Implement a Fire Escape Plan for Your Residence
Safety should be the first concern when getting ready for a house fire, and smoke alarms and fire extinguishers should be placed throughout the home. Smoke alarms are essential because a fire could come out of the blue and you need to do something as fast as possible. Another thing to consider with smoke alarms is purchasing ones that can recognize smoke generated by electrical fires. Lastly, any children living in the house need to be taught about how a smoke alarm sounds when it goes off and what to do when it occurs. Execute plans for emergency fire routes and make sure everyone is informed of them. Always have two exits out of all rooms in the residence. Also, you'll want to have a designated meeting area outside of the residence so that you know everyone gets out safely. Taking inventory of your personal belongings is a good idea for insurance reasons in case all your stuff is destroyed by the flames. Additionally, you'll want to keep valuable documents like passports and birth certificates in a fire safe box, and you can create digital replicas and upload them to a cloud drive for back ups.What to Be Cognizant of to Minimize Home Fire Dangers
While some fires aren't preventable, there are some things you can do to decrease the possibilities of a fire from happening in your home:- Portable Heaters: Not under any circumstance should you leave a space heater unattended, and keep flammable or combustible items three feet away from it. It's also important for your portable heater to have the correct features for safety. For instance, it turning off when it falls over.
- Appliances and Electrical: Frayed cords and damaged plugs could easily produce a house fire, so make sure to check your appliances regularly for any issues. Additionally, keep an eye on the switches for your lights because if they're hot, they need to be changed.
- Children: Keep any lighters or matches in a place that is out of sight and out of reach from children to avoid their inquisitive nature from lighting a fire. Teach your children that fire is not a toy as well.
- Cooking: It's essential to be attentive in the kitchen and to not leave food being cooked alone. Without exception have someone there to watch everything going on.
- Smoking: Cigarettes and cigars are extreme threats for fire, and taking your smoking outside is the best approach to avoid a house fire. If you smoke inside, see that you have deep ashtrays and that you never smoke in bed or while you're drowsy. Additionally, not under any situation should you smoke inside if someone in the house is on oxygen as this is very combustible.
- Fireplaces: Creosote is highly combustible and it forms in your fireplace and chimney after it's been in use, so always get your fireplace cleaned and maintained regularly. Getting a big, sturdy screen is also fundamental to avoid sparks from flying into the room and log rollovers.
