Tag Archives: fire

Fire Safety for the Home

by Nick Gromicko and Kate Tarasenko, InterNACHI
The U.S. Fire Administration reports that more than 403,000 home fires occurred in the U.S. in 2008, causing 2,780 deaths and more than 13,500 injuries.  Some fires are caused by issues related to the structure, such as lightning strikes, faulty wiring, furnace malfunctions, and other electrical and heating system-related mishaps.

But most home fires are preventable.  According to an April 2010 report by the National Fire Protection Association, adults over the age of 75 are almost three times more likely to die in a home fire than the rest of the general public.  The NFPA’s fire prevention program promotes the following eight tips that elderly people – and people of all ages – can use. Continue reading

Fire Safety Tips & Advice

  1. Install smoke alarms in each bedroom, outside of sleeping areas and rooms and on each level of your home.
  2. Practice an escape plan from every room in the house. Caution everyone to stay low to the floor when escaping from fire and never to open doors that are hot. Select a location where everyone can meet after escaping the house. Get out then call for help.
  3. When home fire sprinklers are used with working smoke alarms, your chances of surviving a fire are greatly increased. Sprinklers are affordable – they can increase property value and lower insurance rates.
  4. Test your smoke alarm each month and change the batteries at least once a year.
  5. Portable heaters need their space. Keep anything combustible at least three feet away.
  6. Install noncombustible 1/4 inch or smaller mesh screening on attic/soffit vents and around elevated wood decks to keep out embers. Install approved or listed spark arrestors on chimneys of solid fuel or liquid fuel burning appliances.
  7. Consider installing protective shutters or heavy fire-resistant drapes.
  8. Have a garden hose that is long enough to reach any area of the home and other structures on the property.
  9. Maintain a “defensible” space around your home by clearing all flammable vegetation a minimum of 30 feet around all structures. Clear dead leaves and branches to leave widely spaced ornamental shrubbery and trees.
  10. Plant fire prone trees and shrubs away from your home and far enough apart so they won’t ignite one another.