The holiday season is slowly approaching, which is why you have probably started thinking about how you’ll decorate your home. But, you should know – the fire risk increases every year during the holidays, especially since people purchase and hang lights, they enjoy the smell of candles, they do a lot of holiday cooking, and they also light their furnaces.
And since the risks increase every year, you’ll need to ensure that you do everything in your power to prevent it from occurring in your home. Luckily, there is a wide range of tips that you can remember, all of which will help you with keeping your home safe. Let’s take a closer look at the 8 things you need to know and do:
1. Be Careful Where You Place The Candles
One of the leading causes of fires during the holiday season is candles. So, if you decide to purchase candles that you’ll light during the evening, you’ll need to be careful about you place them. You must keep them away from items that can catch flame quickly and easily.
Now, you might be wondering – what items should I keep it away from? Well, besides the items on the table, you should also be careful about placing them too close to your curtains, wrapped gifts, Christmas tree, and decorations such as garlands. Additionally, if you are planning on leaving your home and/or room, blow out the candles first.
2. Do Not Get Distracted When Preparing Food
When cooking for your family, you should never get distracted and leave the food in the oven or on the stove for too long. Hence, ensure that you always turn off the oven or stove if you know that you’ll be gone for more than 5 to 10 minutes, especially since the food can catch flame almost instantly.
If something starts burning, you should turn off the stove and immediately place a large lid over the pot or pan you are using. Also, it is quite dangerous if something in your oven starts burning, which is why you should never open it. Instead, turn it off and leave the door closed until it settles down.
3. A Real Tree = A Hazard
You might want to purchase a real Christmas tree, and if so, one of the biggest mistakes that you could make is letting it get completely dry. Why is this a hazard? Well, the needles will get dry and when they do, they can easily catch flame from a cable, furnace, or even a warm radiator!
On the other hand, if you buy a plastic tree, you should also keep it away from flames or other, warm things. Yes, the label might say that it is resistant to heat, but, it will still burn. All of this means that you must carefully think about where you’ll place it, especially since the flame can spread to the rest of your home extremely fast.
4. Smoke Detectors Are a Must!
If you do not have at least one smoke detector in your home, stop reading this article, and start browsing for a smoke detector such as the ones featured on x-sense.com. It will not only help you with learning that there is a fire in your house, but, it will also help you with keeping your family members, assets, and pets safe.
You should have at least one smoke detector on each floor or your house, and more specifically, you must install it in the kitchen, living room (if you have a furnace), and in the hallways. Do not forget – you need to check if they are working once a month and do not forget to replace the batteries at least once or twice a year.
5. Purchase an Extinguisher or Several of Them
Various experts recommend that you have at least one extinguisher on each floor, as well as the entrance, garage, and basement. By doing so, you can ensure that you can take care of small fires – if they occur – which means that you can prevent it from spreading to the rest of your house.
6. You Must Inspect Your Chimney And Furnace
A lot of people forget that the chimney and fireplace in the house need to be maintained, cleaned, inspected, and fixed once a year. Naturally, you probably won’t be able to do this by yourself, which is why you must choose to hire a professional and licensed business to do this.
This will certainly prevent any future fires, but, it will also be beneficial for other things. For instance, if you do not have it inspected, you won’t be able to use your insurance claim if you lose your home in a fire. Hence, it is quite important that you do this properly and at least once every year.
7. Ensure That You Have an Escape Plan
If there is one thing that you should take away from this article, it is that you need to ensure that you have an escape plan for you and your family. Hence, you should sit down with them, create a plan if a fire occurs in your residence, and then you must practice it in order for everyone to remember it. Additionally, you might want to practice to stay low on the floor, to quickly get wet towels around your nose, and do not forget to mention that they always need to check if the door handles are hot before touching them.
Conclusion
As you can see, there is a lot of ways that a fire can occur in your house during the holiday seasons. But, fortunately for all people, there are ways to prevent them from occurring, which is why you’ll certainly want to follow all of the tips mentioned in the article above, especially since it will keep your family, pets, assets, and house safe.
So, now that you know what you definitely must do, you should not waste any more time. Instead, focus on making your home a safe place by purchasing different gadgets, as well as thinking about where you’ll place specific things such as hanging lights, candles, and other decorations.
