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How to prevent fires and prepare for emergencies
Waking up to smoke and flames is one of the worst things that can happen to your family and home. In 2019, Americans suffered more than a million fires that caused roughly $15 billion in losses and 3,704 deaths.
But most house fires are preventable -- anyone can create a fire escape plan and make sure your smoke detectors are working properly. Here are the top fire safety tips to learn and practice in your home.
How to prevent house fires
US fire departments respond to a house fire every 24 seconds. That's more than 3,000 fires each day. House fires can occur for a variety of reasons, but many are preventable. Unattended cooking is the leading cause of house fires, accounting for half of house fires in 2015, followed by heating equipment, electrical malfunction, intentional fires and smoking materials.
You can take necessary steps today to reduce your risk of house fires.
- Install and maintain smoke alarms on every floor of your home and within every bedroom. Roughly half of house fire deaths occur during the night, while people are sleeping.
- Never leave food cooking unattended, especially deep fryers and other frying equipment.
- Avoid using portable and fixed space heaters, as heating equipment is the second leading cause of house fire deaths.
- Create a fire plan that gets you out of your home in less than 2 minutes and practice it.
- Avoid smoking in the house.
CISM Chaplain Oscar Smith, Life & Fire Safety Expert, over 800 worldwide published articles.
