home fire safety tips

What do you need to do to make your home fire-safe?

Mainly common sense: shutting off appliances after you've used them, keeping flammable items away from furnaces and space heaters, and making smoke detectors and fire extinguishers a part of your decor.

The best extinguisher is an easy-to-handle 2- or 5-pound (1 or 2.5kg) model designed to put out most household fires.

Place one in your kitchen and one in any other room where a fire might start.

Sleep With the Bedroom Doors Closed

A simple safety precaution your family can take is to sleep with bedroom doors closed. Closed doors can keep smoke from spreading into these rooms, allowing you more time to escape.

Install a fireplace screen, and have your fireplace chimney ad flue cleaned at least once a year. Maintain the kitchen stove in good working condition, and keep baking soda on hand to extinguish stove-top fires. 

In the garage, disconnect electrical tools and appliances when you're finished using them. Secure important papers in water- and fireproof strongboxes. Better yet: Put them in a safe deposit box off-site. 

Consider Escape Ladders for Top-Story Bedrooms

Consider purchasing escape ladders for top story bedrooms. And most important, practice fire drills with your family. 

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