No one wants to ever enlist the help of fire restoration professionals. The only way to do this is to prevent a fire from starting in the first place. The process of fire restoration is long and tedious and will consume your life for months. Follow these quick tips to prevent a fire in your home so that you can avoid that time lost in your life.
First and most important have and test fire alarms in your home. This will prevent a fire from going unnoticed and hopefully prevent major damage if one does occur. Most professionals that deal with fire and fire safety insist on checking alarms at least twice a year. Do a practice a drill with your family to ensure that everyone in your home knows where they should be and what they should do in the event of a fire. Change the batteries twice a year also. It will alleviate the future 1AM wake up call of the alarm chirping for batteries and the search for them that follows.
Do not allow people to smoke in your home and don’t do it yourself. Many fires start from a smoker who has carelessly disposed of ashes and cigarettes improperly. If you do smoke and allow people to smoke in your home use common sense. Never leave a cigarette unattended. Properly dispose of the leftover ashes outside of your home in a container that is kept at a distance from your home.
Fireplaces are another area that is on the list of fire starters. Have a professional out to inspect your chimney and fireplace before the start of the fall season. Debris left in the flu can ignite causing a small fire to smolder and eventually cause a disaster. When removing the ash from the chimney ensure it has cooled. Never put a warm bucket of ashes on your deck thinking it will cool and be fine. My neighbor did this and came home to see smoke billowing out from all of their vents and the deck engulfed in flames. The bucket did nothing but conduct the heat causing the wood deck to catch on fire. Be careful with fireplaces and keep all matches high where children aren’t tempted to start a fire on their own.
Candles are another bid deal in preventing your home from catching fire. You should never leave candles unattended. Not even the ones inside glass containers. Be vigilant in extinguishing all lit flames in your home before you leave the room or go to bed. If you make this habit it is less likely you will ever accidently forget to blow a candle out before you leave you home.
Lint from your dryer vents needs to be regularly checked, cleaned and vacuumed out. It is recommended that the lint be removed after each load is finished and that you vacuum the dryer vent area out once a month to prevent a build up of lint.
When you are having a fire outside of your home it is important to make sure to keep the fire a safe distance from your home. When burning leaves or having a campfire it is important to make sure that the area is semi moist to alleviate the spreading of fire. It is important to keep brush and dry leaves cleared for your home. Dry brush will only help spread a fire if one happened to start. They are a perfect igniter.
Another biggie is that you never should leave the stove top unattended. Not only is it a fire hazard but it is also a safety hazard to children. When food is boiling it is easy for the pot to boil over. If anything in the pot is flammable and it boils over it will ignite a fire in your kitchen.
Keep space heaters away from curtains and at least three feet away from walls and other flammable materials. Make sure to turn off all space heaters when you leave the room or house. It is like a candle but instead of a flame you have a coil. I would recommend that space heaters not be used at all but if you have to use them be careful and use caution.
Last but not least I will leave you with this one final tip in preventing fires from destroying your home and your pocketbook. Use common sense whenever fire, flame and ashes are involved. Keep a fire extinguisher in your home just in case and be cautious at all times. Your home is one of the biggest investments you will ever make and fire can destroy it in minutes.