Fire Safety Tips

Smoke detectors are time machines – they give you time to escape by warning you early when a fire is present. Install them outside sleeping areas and on each level of your home. Test them often (weekly), keep them clean and dust free, and give them a new battery once a year. A chirping noise from your detector means your battery is low.

Portable space heaters have become a popular way to supplement central heating or heat one room. If you plan to use portable electric space heaters, make sure to follow these tips and recommendations:

SAFETY TIPS

• Purchase a heater with the seal of a qualified testing laboratory.
• Keep the heater at least 3 feet away from anything that can burn, including people.
• Choose a heater with a thermostat and overheat protection.
• Place the heater on a solid, flat surface.
• Make sure your heater has an auto shut-off to turn the heater off if it tips over.
• Keep space heaters out of the way of foot traffic. Never block an exit.
• Keep children away from the space heater.
• Plug the heater directly into the wall outlet. Never use an extension cord.
• Space heaters should be turned off and unplugged when you leave the room or go to bed.

Plan Ahead! If a fire breaks out in your home, you may have only a few minutes to get out safely once the smoke alarm sounds. Everyone needs to know what to do and where to go if there is a fire.

SAFETY TIPS

• Draw a map of your home. Show all doors and windows.
• Visit each room. Find two ways out.
• All windows and doors should open easily. You should be able to use them to get outside.
• Make sure your home has smoke alarms. Push the test button to make sure each alarm is working.
• Pick a meeting place outside. It should be in front of your home.
• Everyone will meet at the meeting place.
• Make sure your house or building number can be seen from the street.
• Talk about your plan with everyone in your home.
• Make sure everyone in your home knows how to dial 911 or your local emergency number.
• Practice your home fire drill!
  

It is important for smokers to know the steps they can take to keep themselves and their families safe from fire.

SAFETY TIPS

• Smoke outside.
• Extinguish cigarettes completely.
• Don’t leave lit cigarettes unattended.
• Do not smoke after taking medicine that makes you tired.
• Avoid smoking near medical oxygen.
• Never smoke in bed.
• Use stable ashtrays with sand.
• Do not charge your e-cigarette with a phone or tablet charger.
• Replace e-cigarette batteries if they get wet or damaged.
• Do not charge your e-cigarette overnight.
• Protect your e-cigarette from extreme temperatures.
• Store loose batteries for your e-cigarette in a case.
• Keep e-cigarette away from metal objects.

Matches and lighters can get hot. Children should be taught safe actions if they find these items: Tell an adult and never touch. Young children playing with matches and lighters cause many fires, deaths, and injuries each year. Matches and lighters should be locked in a cabinet, out of the reach of children.

SAFETY TIPS

• Keep matches, lighters, and novelty lighters up high out of the reach of children, in a locked cabinet.
• Purchase and use only child-resistant lighters.
• Lighters that look like toys can confuse children and cause fires, injuries, and death. Do not buy or use them.
• Teach young children to tell a grownup when they find matches or lighters and to never touch matches or lighters.

Stop, Drop and Roll

SAFETY TIP

• Stop!
• Drop to the ground, and cover your face with your hands.
• Roll over and over or back and forth until the fire is out.

For some at-risk groups, like children, older adults and people with disabilities, a burn or scald can be a devastating injury. Every 60 seconds someone in the United States sustains a burn injury serious enough to require treatment.

SAFETY TIPS

• Treat a burn right away by putting it in cool water for 3 to 5 minutes.
• Cover the burn with a clean, dry cloth. Do not apply creams, ointments, sprays or other home remedies.
• Remove all clothing, diapers, jewelry and metal from the burned area. These can hide underlying burns and retain heat, which can increase skin damage.
• See your doctor or call 911 if the burn is larger than your palm.

Routine actions like flipping a switch, plugging in a coffeemaker, and charging a laptop are effortless. Electricity simplifies our lives, but caution and safety are essential.

SAFETY TIPS

• Hire a qualified electrician for all work.
• Inspect homes with a qualified inspector during buying or remodeling.
• Use only one heat-producing appliance in an outlet.
• Plug major appliances directly into wall outlets; avoid extension cords.
• Install Arc-fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs) for safety; consider for home.
• Use ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) in bathrooms, kitchens, garages; protect outdoor outlets.
• Monthly AFCI and GFCI testing is crucial.
• Avoid fire risks: proper cord placement, no extension cords.
• Add more outlets with a qualified electrician; limit extension cord use.
• Use light bulbs with the correct wattage indicated on the sticker.

Cooking brings family and friends together, provides an outlet for creativity and can be relaxing. But did you know that cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home injuries? By following a few safety tips you can prevent these fires.

SAFETY TIPS

• Avoid using the stove when sleepy or after alcohol consumption.\
• Stay in the kitchen when frying, boiling, grilling, or broiling; turn off stove if leaving.
• Regularly check simmering, baking, or roasting food; use a timer.
• Keep flammable items away from the stovetop.
• Smother stovetop flames with a lid; turn off the burner. Leave covered until cool.
• For an oven fire, turn off heat; keep the door closed.

If the alarm sounds…

SAFETY TIPS

• If the smoke alarm sounds, GET OUT AND STAY OUT.
• Never go back inside for people or pets.
• If you have to escape through smoke, GET LOW AND GO under the smoke to your way out.
• Call 9-1-1 from outside your home.