You can never do too much when it comes to keeping yourself and your family safe. 33% of accidents occur at home and preventing them should be your number one priority. One of the accidents that may occur is a fire. House fires take away 2500 lives annually and cause more than $7 billion worth of damage. Still, if you are fully prepared you will be able to deal with it even if the fire actually starts. In order to make sure you and your family are ready to act in such situation, make sure you do all of the following things.
Two-thirds of all house fire deaths occur either from not having a smoke detector or having a not-working one. A proper-working smoke detector is actually a number one life-saver when it comes to house fires. A house fire seems unlikely to occur and many people easily overlook the smoke detectors, leaving them broken or without batteries. Have in mind that batteries should be changed once a year. If you already have one, make sure it is working properly. You can easily check it out by yourself. This should be done on monthly basis.
If your house has more than a single story, having one of these may be a real life-saver in case of fire. If you there are more levels in your home make sure you get the ladders with standoffs that keep the ladders a bit away from the house. This allows you to stay stable while getting down to the ground. Install them near the potential escape windows and make sure they are tested for the proper amount of load.
Fire extinguishers are one of the most important things when it comes to fire safety. It is also necessary to know how to use them. Even if smoke detector turns on, you should try to minimize the fire as much as you can. Not to mention that these should be used if a person gets trapped in a room while the house is burning. Fire extinguishers are also useful when fires of smaller proportions occur. Make sure there is one of these on every level of your home. The best places to keep them are the rooms where the fire is most likely to occur, like kitchen or garage.
In the case of fire, you will also need to have a well-rehearsed escape plan for everyone in the house. When the fire starts you may have around 30 seconds to get out of the house and you do not want to waste a single one on figuring where should you run and where should you meet your family. 42% of the homes do not have a designed escape plan. If you are among them, make sure you do this as soon as possible. Once the plan is finished, have all of the family members study it. Rehearsing it may not be a bad idea as well.
Not nearly important as saving yourself and your family, you should also have in mind all the valuable documentation you might possess. Especially after a fire, many papers will be needed for the insurance purposes. Instead of chasing each of the papers one by one, you can keep them in am fireproof safe and have them with you when it is the time to deal with that. Because of this, do not throw away the receipts of any big purchases you have made and make sure they are fireproofed.
Only if you have done all of this will be ready to face a fire. Still, in the best scenario there will be no fires at your home and all of these things will remain untouched. Always check your stove and other appliances before you leave the house. If you are going on a vacation, make sure each of them is plugged out.
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