How to be ready for in home fire

6/23/2020 (Permalink)

There’s also the danger of fires starting in your home from electrical shorts or kitchen fires. The most common cause of in-home fires tends to start from cooking fires. 

According to The Red Cross, “If a fire starts in your home you may have as little as two minutes to escape. During a fire, early warning from a working smoke alarm plus a fire escape plan that has been practiced regularly can save lives.” Two minutes! That’s barely enough time to grab your pets and a couple of beloved belongings and escape. Not to mention dealing with the worry about your home due to fire damage because of fires in San Mateo, Burlingame, Hillsborough, and San Francisco.

Here are the top 7 ways to prepare for a home fire from redcross.org:

• Install the correct number of smoke alarms. Install a smoke detector inside each bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. On levels without bedrooms, install alarms in the living room (or den or family room) or near the stairway to the upper level, or in both locations. Test your smoke alarm or smoke detector once a month and replace the batteries at least once a year.
• Teach children what smoke alarms sound like, and teach them what to do when they hear one. Practice with them twice-yearly.
• Ensure that all household members know at least two ways to escape from every room of your home and that you determine a family meeting spot outside of your home in the case of a fire.
• Establish a family emergency communications plan and ensure that all household members know who to contact if they cannot find one another or cannot meet at the predetermined family meeting spot.
• Practice escaping from your home at least twice a year, and at random times. Press the smoke alarm test button or yell “Fire“ to alert everyone that they must get out.
• Make sure everyone knows how to call 9-1-1, no matter how young.
• Teach family members to STOP, DROP, and ROLL if their clothes should catch on fire.