Follow these tips to help prevent and be prepared for fires.
Smoke Alarms:
- Smoke alarms save lives. Almost 3 of every 5 home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarm.
- They should be installed in every sleeping room and outside each separate sleeping area.
- Test your smoke alarms at least once a month. Press the “test” button to be sure the alarm is working.
Natural Christmas Tree:
- Natural Christmas trees dry out and become a significant fire hazard.
- Please remove and recycle your tree ASAP.
- Never place any candles near any decorations.
- A Christmas tree fire can engulf a room in just over one minute.
- Never overload electrical sockets. This is especially dangerous near Christmas trees and decorations. An overloaded outlet can spark and it takes one small spark to ignite a tree fire.
"Close before you Doze"
- Research has proven that a closed bedroom door can help save your life by slowing the spread of flames – and prevent heat/smoke and deadly gases from filling your room.
- Because of synthetic materials, furniture and construction, fire spreads faster than ever before. Closing doors helps stop the spread of fire.
- 40 years ago, you had an estimated 17 mins to safely escape a home fire. Now….you have 3 minutes. Synthetic materials cause fire to spread 7X faster.
Home Escape Plan:
- Every family member must know two ways out of your home in case one exit is blocked.
- Practice getting low (under the smoke) and moving to the exits.
- Choose a safe meeting place outside the home to ensure everyone made it out safely.
- Make a written home fire escape plan, with a diagram of your home, and practice it until everyone can escape in less than two minutes.
- For more information and resources on making your home fire escape plan, go to www.ready.gov.
