How to Protect Your Family from Fire

Top Tips for fire safety:

An ounce of prevention they say… and it is true. While that is in reference to heath, prevention of any sort is worth its weight in gold when it comes to protecting yourself, your family, your home and / or your business. There is no exception to this rule in any case really and especially when it comes to safety and preventative action with fire risk and security. 

While it is no steadfast guarantee that any preventative action will provide 100% safeguard, any action you take to guard against major damage is a step much closer to being in the clear all together. Many details or variables will not be in a person’s control but many similar or compatible actions will insulate potential damage to a home should a fire pass near or around your home. Here is a list of some of the Top Fire Safety Recommendations for homeowners:

  • Prevention- Exterior: It is crucial to safeguard against the potential threat of a fire outbreak. Being aware and responsible for your home’s exterior surroundings. Keeping dead and dry brush and plants cut back and / or fully removed especially after the summer months when the lack of rain and moisture in the environment is at its lowest. 
  • Prevention – Exterior: Always use extreme caution when storing flammable materials outdoors or in a shed. It is imperative that the storage location be well ventilated and away from the home but they must also be removed from any ignition source or removed from any equipment that may initiate a spark. 
  • Prevention – Interior: Portable heaters are the second leading cause of house fires. Never under any circumstances should a portable heater be left unattended or put into use in a very small, very restrictive position. 
  • Prevention – Interior: Constant and continual testing and maintenance of in home smoke detectors is top of the list for prevention. An action as simple as replacing the batteries or ensuring that batteries are never removed is absolutely necessary. 
  • Prevention – Both: Simply learn how to use a fire extinguisher and keep several strategically placed and easily accessible. This will come in handy indoors and outdoors and will put out a fire rapidly and with control. Maintaining calm, decisive action is important and knowing how to use a fire extinguisher will create exactly that. 
  • Prevention – Both: Stay on top of your home’s electrical wiring system. Be aware of any decaying or broken wiring in your home inside and outdoors. If wiring appears to be fraying, have a well qualified professional electrician repair the problem immediately. A leading cause of homes fires will be poorly maintained wiring especially when it has not been professionally installed or maintained. 

All tips will always involve awareness and decisive action. Some tasks can be put off but eventually the problem grows and becomes monumental and we all know this to be true. Truly an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and in the case of fire prevention that cure comes in the form of vast amounts of clean up. Fire damage is monumental in all areas and especially in fire prone areas such as California. Continual safety maintenance must be practiced all year round. These small actions may make the difference in catastrophic damage or not. 

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