Identifying Fire Hazards in your Home

How Fire Safe Is Your Home?

Make fire safety a “family business” by involving the entire family in a fire safety inspection. Here’s a comprehensive checklist to use as a guide.

Fire Hazards:  Check for fire hazards in your home.  
Correct any problems NOW

Kitchen

• Matches stored out of reach of children.
• No overloaded outlets or extension cords.
• No curtains or towel racks close to the range.
• Flammable liquids (cleaning fluids, contact adhesives, etc.) or aerosols stored away from the range or other heat source.  (Remember, even a pilot light can set vapors on fire.)
• No attractive or frequently used items stored above the range where someone could get burned reaching for them (especially small children in search of cookies or other goodies).
• No worn or frayed appliance or extension cords.

Living Room, Family Room, Den, Bedrooms

• Matches and lighters stored out of reach of children.
• Matches and lighters stored out of reach of children.
• Use only large ashtrays (small ashtrays are too dangerous).
• Empty ashtrays frequently (when all signs of heat and burning are gone).
• Fireplace kept screened and cleaned regularly.
• Replace worn or frayed extension cords or other electrical cords.
• No extension cords run under rugs or carpets or looped over nails or other sharp objects that could cause them to fray.
• Heating equipment kept three feet away from curtains, furniture, and papers.
• No overloaded outlets or extension cords.

Basement, Garage, Storage Areas

• No newspapers or other rubbish stored near furnace, water heater, or other heat source.
• No oily, greasy rags stored, except when kept in labeled and sealed non-glass containers (preferably metal).
• No gasoline stored in the house or basement (It should be stored away from the house in an outbuilding and only in safety cans that have flame arresters and pressure-relief values.)
• No flammable liquids stored near workbench or pilot light or in anything other than labeled, sealed metal containers. (This includes varnish, paint remover, paint thinner, contact adhesives, cleaning fluids, etc.)
• No overloaded outlets or extension cords.
• All fuses of the correct size.

Dangerous Actions:

Do you allow unsafe habits?  These guidelines may help your family become more safety aware.

• Wear close-fitting sleeves while cooking. (No loose sleeves, shins, blouses or skirts that may catch fire.)
• Never leaving cooking unattended.
• Never play with matches or lighters.
• Never use gasoline to start a fire in the grill or add lighter fluid to an already started fire.
• No smoking in bed, or in a chair or on the sofa when tired, drinking, or taking medication.
• Never spray aerosols while smoking or near a space heater, range or other ignition source.
• No smoking while using a cleaning fluid, paint thinner or other flammable liquid.
• Never use a cigarette lighter after spilling flammable fluid on your hands or clothing.
• Never reach over a range or climb onto a range to get something stored above it.
• Never lean against a range for warmth or stand too close to a heater or fireplace.
• Never let a small child blow out a match.
• Never use a lighted match, lighter or candle to illuminate a dark area, such as a closet.

Safety Measures:  Do you have these safety items in your home?

• Working smoke detectors on all levels and outside sleeping areas (each story or wing, basement, etc.) Have you tested the detector in the last month? Changed the batteries within the last year?
• ABC fire extinguisher in the kitchen and/or workshop?
• Emergency exit plan with two ways out from each room and a meeting place outdoors?