In recent years candles have become a staple of home décor providing not just light and a nice scent but contributing to the decorations of a room. There are candles that are designed to create more positive feelings or elevate someone’s mood. There are candles that are designed to fit in with any style of home design imaginable. But as people’s love for candles grows there is an added risk of fire as well. Statistics have show that fires caused by burning candles is increasing every year and that trend is likely to continue if homeowners don’t take precautionary measures. Simple carelessness can mean the difference between averting a fire or losing your home and possessions.

Of course many would say that the simplest solution is to simply never burn candles, but this is largely impractical since at some point one will get lit by someone. The best thing is to keep candles in a safe environment where the risk of fire is minimal anyway. You need to be very careful when handling night-lights or tea lights. These become very hot and can even melt plastic. A lot of people mistakenly believe that keeping a candle on a television is safe, but the materials in a television are not fire resistant. It is very important to have proper candleholders for all of your candles. A candleholder should be stable and be able to hold the candle upright securely. It should be made of a material that is not likely to heat up or melt, ceramic or glass are good choices.

Another thing that people tend to overlook is having candles near curtains or fabric-covered furniture. Curtains tend to move around in the breeze and this movement is impossible to predict. It is very easy for the curtains to stray over the flame and set the room on fire. The candle should also be out of easy reach of children and pets, a child leaning over a candle could easily catch fire to their hair and that would quickly be a tragic situation.

Don’t place candles underneath an overhanging shelf. The candle generates a lot of heat and if it all collects on the underside of a shelf it can cause a fire. There should be at least 3 feet above the candle that is obstacle free. If you are burning more than one candle they should be at least 4 inches apart from each other.

Votive and scented candles melt and become a liquid in order to release the scent. These must be placed in a glass or metal cup to catch the melted liquid. Also be sure that no foreign objects fall into the wax or it can catch fire. Snuff out the flame on these candles to reduce the risk of blowing hot wax onto something flammable.

Finally, a burning candle should never be left unattended. Never leave the room or go to sleep without extinguishing all candles. Double check just to be sure you didn’t miss any before leaving the room completely.

Many people these days are choosing to spend their vacations or even their entire retirement years in an RV, recreational vehicle. They are very popular for those who want to see the whole of the country but not pay for all that plane fare and hotel stays. But while more and more people are using RV’s not many people are considering how to keep that RV safe from accidental fires.Many are started with  RV furnace and RV heaters. Whether the RV is very small and basic or large with accessories galore there are still dangers that need to be considered. The good news is that all RV’s generally have very good safety equipment that is designed to keep all its passengers as safe as possible. All RV owners should know what that safety equipment is and how to use is and where to get RV parts if needed.

There are usually four types of fire extinguishers that are common on an RV. The fire extinguisher is assigned a letter, A, B, C, or D. This letter indicates what kind of fire the extinguisher is designed to fight. Although it is not unusual to find ratings for multiple kinds of fires like ABC or BC. Those ratings indicate that the extinguisher can be used to battle several kinds of fires. The extinguishers most common on an RV are those that battle fires caused by combustible liquids like gas, oil, and grease. The most common type of fire on an RV is type A, for fires caused by paper items. But since oil, grease, electrical, and paper items are all a fire danger then it is wise to keep several types of extinguisher on the vehicle.

But just keeping a fire extinguisher on the vehicle is not enough to protect from fires alone. The RV owner must know what the fire extinguishers are for and how to use them for them to be effective at all. Everyone who will be on the RV should be educated about what fire extinguisher to use for what type of fire and how it should be used. Before you start any journey it might be useful to put a small piece of paper that tells exactly what kind of fire it should be used for on the extinguisher. Just labeling the extinguisher with an A, B, C, or D could be confusing and useless in an emergency. But having a label that says specifically grease and oil is much harder to get confused.

Next is learning out to use the extinguisher properly. To remember the steps you need to remember the word PASS. This stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep. First you will the pin located at the top of the extinguisher. Then aim the nozzle at the base of the fire, not the flames themselves, just the base. Next you squeeze the handle while standing about eight feet away from the flames. Lastly you sweep the extinguisher across the fire until it is completely out. Wait and make sure it doesn’t re-ignite. And of course, call for the fire department once everyone is safely away from the fire.

According to reports by the U.S. Fire Administration, USFA, accidental fires in the home are the cause of thousands of injuries and deaths every year. Fire safety is not something that you want to take lightly and you need a plan for how to handle it if the worst should happen. One way that you can do this is by having a fire escape plan for your home. The best way to develop one of these is sit down with the entire family and have a discussion about fire safety and escaping the home in the event of an emergency. By having this discussion with everyone at once you can be sure that everyone is aware of the plan and has the exact same details as everyone else. Fires spread very quickly and it can be disastrous if one person has a completely different escape plan than everyone else.

During this discussion is should be determined what everyone’s responsibilities are going to be. For example, if there is a young child in the home who is responsible for making sure that child is safe and out of the home. You and the family should go through every room of the house and determine what are the two safest routes of escape from that room. Obvious routes are of course the door or the window. You need to establish a meeting place that is outside the home and a safe distance away where everyone will meet in the event of a fire. That way if a fire should break out and someone is missing from the meeting place, you can inform the fire department who is missing and where they likely are. Also be sure that everyone knows that during a fire is not the time to try and save your belongings. Leave them all behind and try to wake the rest of the family by shouting fire while you crawl to the nearest escape point.

If you live in a residential building where there is more than one family, like an apartment building, there will often be additional routes of escape during a fire. Many apartment buildings have fire escapes located outside the windows of the building. A lot of residential buildings will also have specially marked fire exits that you can use as well. When you move in it’s important to have the property manager point out these fire exits for you so that you can use that knowledge in your family safety plan. No matter where you live you should be practicing your fire safety escape plan as a family at least once a month.

The most important part of any fire safety plan is determining a way to notify the local fire department once you get outside the home. A lot of times a neighbor will call when they smell smoke or see flames but you should have a plan to do it yourself and not hope that the neighbors are awake. Including your neighbors in your fire safety plan is a good way to do this. Being able to knock on the neighbor’\s door and call the fire department from there is a great solution. But remember the most important step is getting everyone out of the house first and calling the fire department second. Write your safety plan down and keep it with emergency phone numbers so that everyone in the family can review it whenever they wish and keep it fresh in their minds.

Whether we are talking about your home or your office safety is a primary concern and concern about fire safety should be at the top of your list. As a society, we all look to certain equipment, tools, and procedures that will help keep us safe and our property protected from fire. Thousands of buildings fall prey to accidental fire every year so practicing proper safety and using the right equipment can help save your possessions from damage.

Any method of fire protection that you employ needs to be effective and efficient. You cannot protect yourself from an out of control blaze if you have to spend ten minutes figuring out how exactly you’re supposed to use this alien device. Fires can happen to everyone. Whether your home is a little one bedroom shack or a multi-million dollar estate, it can still happen to you.

To set up a scenario let’s think of a hard working individual who is just trying to make a decent living. He works a full time job and saves up his money so that one day he can get the home he’s always wanted. Eventually he is able to move his family into that dream home and can finally enjoy his hard work. One day the family goes to bed and a fire breaks out while everyone is asleep. In this scenario no one is alerted until it is too late to save the home because he didn’t have a simple smoke detector. This imaginary scenario is not quite so imaginary and happens to thousands of people every year.

Now is the time to make sure that this tragedy does not happen to you. You need to have working fire safety equipment in your house and practice how to use it in an emergency. The first tool that every home needs is smoke detectors and fire alarms. There should be one on every floor of your home and in fire prone places like the kitchen, bathroom, or basement. Test the batteries and the device monthly to make sure that everything is working properly. The fire alarm does no good if the batteries are dead when a fire breaks out.

The second piece of fire safety equipment that every home should have is a fire extinguisher. You should always have at least two in your home, one for the kitchen and one for every floor. You don’t want to store them in the basement where you can’t get to them, they need to be easily accessible. Practice how to use the fire extinguisher regularly so that everything will go smoothly in an emergency.

Just by taking these two simple steps you can greatly reduce the risk of losing your home to a fire. Not only will you be able to immediately know there is a fire in the home but have the means to attempt to control it until the fire department gets there.

A lot of people don’t really give insurance a second thought until they end up needing it. No one consciously wakes up and wonders about their health insurance. We really only care when we need to go to the doctor and need that insurance to be there. The same could be said of fire insurance, most people do not think about it. But if you wait until you actually need it then it could be too late. If you own a home then your property is your responsibility to insure against fire damage. And even if you rent an apartment and your neighbor starts the fire, it is still your responsibility to insure your own property.

If you rent a home or apartment you should seriously consider getting renter’s   insurance. The great thing about renter’s insurance is that most plans offer fire coverage and it costs just a little more than to get a pizza once a month. Be sure to have a talk with the insurance agents that you’re considering to decide what insurance plan provides the coverage that you need. Some insurance plans cover the cost only of your personal property and that could be best for those renting an apartment. Other plans will cover the value of the home as well so if you are renting an entire home this might be your best option.

When you do get any kind of fire insurance it is important to do an inventory of your possessions for the insurance company. Take pictures of your valuables and keep them in a safe, fireproof lock box. When a fire occurs the insurance company will have a lot of questions in order to file your claim appropriately and get you the money that you are owed. But while you are in a stressful and highly agitated situation you may not be able to remember just how many pieces of silverware that you had. Having a picture available to you can prevent all of that stress and give you quick and easy answers.

One thing to be aware of is how to get discounts on your fire insurance premiums. For example, if you keep the bushes and trees surrounding your home so that they do not present a fire danger can get you a reduction in your premium.

If a fire should occur you will have the peace of mind to know that you can restore the damages and get back the cost of your damaged property. But it is also important to know that your premiums will increase as well. So of course preventing the fire is much easier and more advisable than cleaning up the mess. Make sure that smoke detectors are installed in your home and tested regularly to ensure they work properly. Do not leave electrical appliances on while you are not home or when you are sleeping. Keep fire extinguishers on every floor of the home and make sure that every home has at least two ways to get out just in case one becomes blocked. Make a fire escape plan and make sure everyone in the family has practiced it until its second nature.

Fireplaces are a gorgeous addition to any home and can provide warmth, comfort, and wonderful memories on cold evenings. But they are also one of the biggest causes of house fires. Fireplaces do not cause house fires all by themselves, it is usually negligence or misinformation on the part of the homeowner. However there are precautions to take and a correct way to use the fireplace that will minimize the risk as much as possible and you should insure optimum safety practices when remodeling a fireplace . By following and adhering to these simple things you can protect your family and your possessions from an unintended house fire.

The very first thing you need to do is to remove any clutter or junk from around the fireplace. Everyone loves a warm fire but by placing anything flammable too close to the fireplace all it would take is one spark to turn your house into ruin. Even things that you intend to use for the fireplace need to be kept a safe distance away. Newspaper, kindling, firewood, and furniture should be at least a few feet away so that a stray spark does not cause a fire. One way to prevent embers and sparks from leaving the fireplace at all is to have a screen in front of the fireplace whenever it is in use. Just be sure that the holes in the screen are not too big or the embers will get through anyway.

The most common area of a fireplace to be neglected is the chimney. Many homeowners completely forget that a chimney needs to be maintained and tend to dismiss it as a fire hazard. But there are a lot of potential hazards in the chimney itself that need to be prevented. Make sure that the chimney is cleaned regularly, at least once yearly. Even if the chimney has not been used for months it is not unusual for birds to nest in the enclosed space and that can cause a fire. Also if the chimney is not cleaned regularly while in use then ash can build up on the sides of the chimney, which is also combustible.

Always be aware of how much wood you are using for a fire. Just because the fire looks small does not mean it will stay that way if you add a few extra pieces of firewood. Especially when the wood is dry it can quickly become a very big blaze within a few seconds. This makes it harder to control and more likely to cause a problem. It’s best to burn logs for an hour or two and let it become mostly ash before adding any more wood. Never use anything but wood or manufactured fire logs in your fireplace since you cannot predict how quickly or largely they will burn.

Have a fire extinguisher close at hand when using your fireplace. This is the best safety precaution since even the most cautious homeowner can have a fire get out of hand very quickly. Having the fire extinguisher around will help alleviate any worry and put the fire out before it gets out of control.

Finally, make sure that small children and pets are kept far away from the fireplace when in use. Never leave a fire burning unattended and make sure that nothing could go unnoticed by someone. By following these simple procedures you can make sure that your fireplace is enjoyable without being a hazard.

Safety for an Outdoor Fireplace

Having an outdoor fireplace is not nearly as popular with consumers as having a nice fireplace in the living room, but it still has its crowd of fans. As such there are a variety of sizes, styles, shapes, and designs of outdoor fireplaces and most anyone can find a wonderful fireplace to fit their budget. However, it is very easy to get caught up in which features and style of fireplace you want and not think about the safety of the fireplace. But this is an imperative thing to consider since it could save you money, property, and can even save your family’s lives.

There are some very specific safety points you will want to keep in mind while you are looking for an outdoor fireplace. A lot of fire safety experts recommend that outdoor fireplaces should have a chimney as opposed to a fire pit or elevated pit. A chimney keeps a fireplace safer because it provides better airflow and makes sure that less smoke is going to be crowding around the house or bothering any visitors. Fire pits can be a hazard all by themselves simply because there is a built in risk or it tipping over to the side, so a chimney is much safer. Always be careful with having combustible materials near the fireplace. Outdoor fireplaces need to have extra care taken because of the likelihood of wind that could cause sparks to suddenly go flying, and the last thing you want is to have something flammable right there when that happens.

It is always best to have a defensive fire plan in place just in case something should go wrong. Start with small fires so that it doesn’t get out of control and can slowly be built on in a safe manner. Try not to blow on the fire too much as this can cause a sudden increase in the size of the flames that you might not be prepared for. Of course there should be a fire extinguisher at the ready and everyone around the vicinity should know how to use it. When starting the fire or adding to the fire it is best to wear protective gloves since you cannot predict when a sudden wind will bring the flames out of your control for a moment and you want to be protected.

Keep the fireplace in a wide-open space and away from any plant life. And finally, never ever use an outdoor fireplace indoors because this is not its intended use. By following these simply safety precautions you can enjoy your outdoor fireplace for years to come with no worry of an accidental fire damaging your property.

The key to handling any emergency situation as calmly and safely as possible is by practicing your procedure beforehand. It is very easy to panic as soon as you see flames in your kitchen or hear the smoke detector go off. However,  if you have dedicated time to practicing safe habits and how you will handle an accidental fire than you can immediately jump to safe resolutions first. Having a checklist of things to do and check is a great way to start your fire safety regime.

Kitchens are one of the biggest fire threats to your home, and so should be first on your list:

•    Is there always an adult in the kitchen when food is being cooked on the stove?
•    Is the stovetop clean and not cluttered?
•    Are there always potholders within easy reach of the stove?
•    When you cook, do you make sure the handles of the pots are always turned inward and away from people?
•    Are there any curtains or loose fabrics near the stove?
•    Is there always a 3-foot radius around the stove that is childfree when cooking is being done?
•    Are the electrical appliances like the microwave, blenders, and coffee maker plugged into different outlets to prevent overloading a single outlet?

The next big threat to having an accidental fire in your home is the heating and electrical appliances. So it should be added to the list:

•    Are heaters always turned off when no one is home or when everyone is asleep?
•    Are the heaters always placed at least one meter away from anything flammable?
•    Does the fireplace have a screen to catch stray sparks?
•    Are the furnace and chimney properly cleaned and inspected at least once a year?
•    Has the family had a fire drill at home in the past few months?
•    If you have propane tanks, are they stored securely outside?
•    Do all members of the family know how to contact emergency services?
•    Are all extension cords safely secured to the floor and not lying across doorways or under carpeting?
•    Have you checked all the electrical cords to be sure they are in good condition recently?
•    Are electrical appliances unplugged when they are not being used?

Of course an important safety feature of any home is the smoke alarms and fire extinguishers. These should be on every floor of the house. But just having them there is not enough; there are other things to be added to the checklist as well:

Do you have smoke alarms on every floor of the house, including outside the kitchen, sleeping areas, the basement, and attic?
Do you test the smoke alarms to ensure the batteries are working at least once a month? And do you use the test button to test their functionality regularly?
Have you identified more than one exit from your home? Are these exits kept free of clutter and do you have an escape plan for all of these exits?
Do you have a meeting place outside the home that everyone in the family is aware of?

If you can confidently answer all of these questions in the affirmative then you are doing everything you can be ready in case of an accidental fire. If the answers are mostly yes then there are some things you need to work on but are mostly doing well. If less than half of these can be answered with yes then you need to seriously reconsider your home safety plan and get serious about fire safety.

No parent wants to sit their children down and frighten them with stories of the house burning down if they are not very careful about certain things. For parents is can be confounding about how to approach a situation like fire safety without making the kids scared to go to sleep at night. But if you want to teach you children about fire safety it is not necessary to get information from an expert or the library since there are no real rules. The key is to devise a system of fire safety for the home that is effective and easy for young children to grasp the concept of.

Children are very naturally very curious and eager to learn new things so educating them about hazardous things should not be that difficult. It’s important for parents to point out things like lighters and matches and explain that they are for adults to use only and they could be dangerous for kids to play with. Make a point to educate the children about the proper uses for those items and that they are not toys. But also be sure to point out that its not only kids playing with matches that cause fires, that adults can cause accidental fires too. Explain that the stove can be very dangerous for fires and the kids should not play around in there when someone is cooking.

A key point when teaching children about fire safety is informing them of what to do if they see a fire or smoke. They should know that if they see a lot of smoke they should crawl along the ground where the air will be clear and try to get to the exit point you have pointed out in a fire escape plan. If their clothes ever catch fire teach the kids how to drop to the ground and roll around until the fire is extinguished. While you are teaching the kids these things and practicing the fire safety steps to make sure you tell them not to panic. Make it fun and informative at the same time. See who can get out of the house in a safe manner the quickest. Or who has the best technique for the stop, drop, and roll.

Teaching children about fire safety is an ongoing process and most of the responsibility is the parent’s. Even if your home is thoroughly child proofed there is still a possibility that accidental fires may occur. Anything that you think will make the children less likely to panic in an emergency is a good thing to teach. You can even get smoke alarms that have a voice command so that you can record instructions when they go off instead of a shrill piercing noise that could scare a sleeping child. Your children’s safety is in your hands and keeping them informed and calm is the best way to do that.

Statistics show that every year more than seven thousand people get injured by fires that start in the kitchen. Nearly two-thirds of accidental home fires are started while cooking. Year after year the statistics show that the kitchen is the biggest fire hazard in a home. The good news is that the reasons for these fires are always similar and always preventable. By identifying and preventing these causes the safety of the entire home is increased greatly.

First the kitchen must be an organized and safe place to cook. Things placed on the kitchen countertop should be in good order and shouldn’t be cluttered and scattered around. Never ever trail electrical leads around, behind, or on top of other electrical devices. Also be sure that all electrical wiring is kept very far away from water to prevent sparks. Keeping plants away from electrical wires is a good idea as well since they are flammable. Cloths or towels should never be left on the microwave or stove. Also be sure that the oven and grill are kept clean since food buildup causes a very real fire danger.

While it may seem like common sense, never place anything metal in the microwave. This can cause a fire very rapidly and creates sparks a lot of the time. Some homeowners try to dry towels in the microwave but this is very dangerous and should be avoided as well. Be sure that any kind of plastic that you put in the microwave is certified as microwave safe or the melted plastic can easily cause a fire.

Be sure not to overload the electrical sockets in the kitchen, or anywhere in the home either. It is a good rule to only have one plug per socket, even if this means unplugging one appliance in order to use another. Any electrical appliance should be maintained at least one a year, especially if they are frequently used. Before leaving the kitchen all appliances should be turned off and the unnecessary ones unplugged.

When cooking it is important to keep all pan handles from sticking out otherwise anyone walking by could tip them over and off the stove. If the stove is a gas cooker then be sure to provide proper ventilation. Improper ventilation can quickly lead to a gas leak and a house fire. Keeping a smoke alarm in the kitchen is another great way of preventing fires from spreading. Be sure there is a fire extinguisher nearby and a fire blanket as well just in case. And most importantly when in the kitchen avoid distraction at all costs. Even turning away for a moment can be enough time for an accident to happen.

People in our society tend to rush to and from everything that they do. You wake up and rush to work, you rush to lunch, you rush home and then rush to bed. With this kind of hurried mindset it is easy to forget tiny things that turn into big disasters. It is not uncommon to turn away from a cooking job to answer the door and forget that the stove is still on. Only until the smoke detector goes off do you remember that you may have left something on the burner. If you’re home then it is a quickly remedied situation, but if no one was home then the entire house could be engulfed in flames before anyone notices the smoke.

The kitchen is the primary place in a home that is prone to accidental fires, but it was one place to practice good home fire prevention rules. There are a variety of types of kitchen fire that all require a different method of controlling it and extinguishing it. The most common kind of kitchen is called a dry kitchen fire. This is the kind of fire that results when a pan boils over and catches fire on the burner or when food residue in the oven catches fire. Dry kitchen fires generally burn out quickly on their own, but the heat produced can catch the area around it on fire and the smoke hangs around for a long time. Keeping the stovetop and the oven clean of all food residues is the best way to prevent these kinds of fires.

The other most common type of kitchen fire is a grease fire. These fires are extremely dangerous and can be very difficult to extinguish. Flames of a grease fire are generally very large and so the fire can jump from one area to another rapidly. Grease fires are a threat to the entire home because they spread so quickly. If the fire is manageable then the first step is to try and cut the fire off from oxygen. Turn off the stove and place a metal lid over the fire until the fire is out. If you don’t have a lid that will cover the fire then pour large amounts of baking soda on the flames. Baking soda is a great fire extinguisher

The third kind of fire takes place in the oven and is usually very easy to manage. Ovens are constructed to handle high amounts of heat and they have poor oxygen flow. These fires can usually be put out simply by turning off the oven and closing the door.

Of course you should always keep a fire extinguisher handy to keep your kitchen as safe as possible. If the fire ever becomes too big for you to safely manage by yourself then evacuate the building immediately and call the fire department. There is no reason to risk your own safety when professional fire fighters are just a phone call away.