Fire Safety Inside Your Home
Take an active approach to your homes fire safety. It is important that your family is prepared in the event of a house fire. Of all house fires that involved an actual fire related death, only 23% of those homes had working smoke detectors. There are dozens of contributing factors that can be potential fire risks; undersized extension cords, exposed wire connections, unattended cooking, dirty dryer vents, disconnected b-vents, etc. The standard home owner is not prepared or qualified to inspect or determine if there homes components are with-in the fire safety guidelines. We cant rely on the fire department, especially today when budgets are being cut and fire fighters are being spread thin. Fire safety is our responsibility and should be taken seriously. 81% of fires result in fire related deaths. 93% percent of all of those fires were in homes that had smoke detectors, but only 23 percent of those smoke detectors were working properly.
Some of the most basic types of fire safety equipment in which your home should have are:
- Smoke alarms: A mix between ionization and photo electric should be in each home.
- Carbon Monoxide alarms: Carbon Monoxide poisoning is a real problem. Carbon monoxide as well as Smoke detectors should be placed a minimum of 15' away from heating devices.
- Fire Plan: Fire plans should be made and a plan should be practiced a minimum of bi-annually.
- Fire Extinguishers: It is important that the fire extinguisher you choose is rated for the type of fire that is most likely at the area where the extinguisher is stored. It is also important to maintain the extinguisher.
- Escape Ladder: Today's home are more likely to be a two story home and your family should be prepared to escape from the second floor of the home.
- Emergency Lighting: Candle in the event of black outs are a leading cause of home fires. Have a number of readily available flashlights with replacement batteries.
- First Aid Kits: Chances are as family members are rushing out windows, someone will get injured and you should be prepared to react appropriately.
Part of our fire inspection we will review cooking, electrical devices, storage issues, dryer venting, hot water heater, smoke detector, gas grills, etc.
We at CRI Home Inspection Services, provide fire safety inspections at an additional charge.
