Ways to Prevent Fire Damage Part 1

2/15/2019 (Permalink)

Soot covered walls after a Christmas Eve grease fire.

With the holidays behind us hopefully everyone has put up their Christmas decorations. As homeowners it is essential to be mindful of the presence of fire hazards and to minimize the possibility of them causing a structure fire. A good example is keeping around a severely dehydrated, and highly flammable Christmas tree too long. SERVPRO of Gateway has compiled the following prevention tips for some areas in your home to help keep you and your loved ones safe from possible fire hazards throughout the new year.

In the kitchen:

• Avoid leaving cooking food unattended. If a grease fire occurs, use baking soda to extinguish it. NEVER use water on a grease fire. You can smother the fire in the pan by starving it of oxygen by placing a lid over it. Always supervise children that are cooking and educate on the dangers of fire and cooking appliances.

• Be aware of where you leave pot holders, dish towels, aprons and any cooking utensils.

• Ensure that electrical appliances are far from sinks, flames or hot plates

• Invest in carbon monoxide detector if your home does not already have one if you use natural gas for heating and cooking.

In living areas & bedrooms:

• Make your home a smoke free environment if possible, or at least ensure that cigars, cigarettes, and pipes are properly extinguished prior to disposal as they may continue to burn and may reignite.

• Recycle and replace appliances with damaged electrical cords

• Avoid running electrical wires or cords under the weight of heavy furniture and rugs

• If you feel that you often have to unplug an appliance to plug in another because your outlet is overloaded, reconsider spacing out appliances to other outlets

• Be aware that clothing or draperies do not rest atop lighting such as desk lamps.

Take a moment from your day to check the areas in your home and see if there are any possible fire hazards.

Check out our next blog for fire safety prevention tips for your bathrooms and garage from SERVPRO of Gateway.