Fire Safety Tips 

Keeping your home safe from fires is of paramount importance when it comes to safety in your residence, but it may not be something that is in the forefront of your mind.

First and foremost, do you have a home fire safety
evacuation plan?  Does every member of your family know what to do when there’s a fire?  Are there are two ways out of every room?  And does each member of the family know where they are?  Can all windows be easily opened?  Can the window screens be removed quickly?  Does everyone know how to check doors to see if they are hot, and if so, how to find another way out?  Fire safety experts recommend using towels if they are handy, for handling, touching or grabbing items to avoid burns, and also they can be used as a cover to protect faces and cover mouths.

If you have a second floor, do you have an escape (rope) ladder in a central location, near windows?  And does every family member know where it is, and how to use it if there is a fire?  Also, have you designated a meeting spot outside of the home where everyone can meet if there’s a fire?  Everyone needs to understand that once they exit the home, they can’t go back inside for any reason (even if there are pets inside).  Finally, do the adults have a plan to find and transport any pets in the home if there is a fire?

Another fire safety tip, while a bit more obvious, is to make sure all smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in your home are in full working order.  The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends that you change batteries in these devices at least once a year. If you have children or older individuals in your own, you may want to change these batteries twice a year.  Following a replacement schedule is the easiest way to remember to do this (ie, on New Year’s Day and on Fourth of July, every calendar year).

However, changing the batteries alone isn’t sufficient.  Setting a monthly schedule to test each detector is also critical.  (You can write it on your family calendar to remind yourself).  Oftentimes, fire departments discover that fires occur in homes with smoke detectors that weren’t operational, either because the battery wasn’t working, or because they were disconnected temporarily (ie, after a smoky cooking incident).

We hope you find these tips to be useful!

Contact Chris and Cheryl Park