So the cooler weather is upon us and out come the heaters, candles and cooking appliances ... but wait, have you taken the necessary fire precautions to protect your family?
I just moved out of a home that had a third floor and my gift to the new owners were portable step ladders for their two daughters who will be sleeping on that level. Oh sure, I could have left a gift basket of chocolate and cookies that they could eat right away but I decided to give them something that hopefully they will never have to use. With this in mind, I thought I would write about fire prevention for you and your family. Pass it around and share it and hopefully they too will never have to use their emergency resources when a fire decides to rear it's ugly head.
"It could never happen to me"... that's what I thought when I was alone in my home with my newborn baby in an isolated area on the lake up north. There was a terrible storm outside and my husband was in the city. I always liked to look out the window and watch the raindrops and wind dance and glide along the surface of the water. I'll never forget the thunderous "boom" as all the lights turned on in the home, the garage door went up and the smell of smoke started to permeate my surroundings. Outside the storm was still raging. Lightning bolts were all around and darkness had encircled my once safe abode. I knew I had to get out. I carefully wrapped my child in a blanket and start knocking on nearby doors. Terrified I ran in fear as the lightning and thunder surrounded me. By the fifth house I was able to find someone who was home and could call the fire department. Most of our electrical possessions were destroyed. Two bolts of lightening had hit the home at the same time and the damage blew through most of the electrical panel. The most important thing was that my baby and I were safe. This is just my example of an escape from fire, but what are other ways to protect and prevent a fire in your home. We can't always protect from mother nature but here is a list of a dozen ways you can protect yourself and your family.
#1. Have a 3 minute fire drill in your home for your family or home office staff. Make sure they know to crawl low under the smoke and have portable stepladders ready for the upper floors
#2. Throw out the old slow cooker or coffee maker that you've had for decades. Any appliance with at tattered cord or no ground on the plug should be retired
#3. Don't overload extension cords., Get the electrician in to add more outlets or add a new breaker to your electrical panel
#4. Have auto shut off appliances for your coffee maker, curling iron, clothes iron etc...
#5. Change your smoke detectors every 10 years and their batteries every year (I do it at Christmas, as part of my gifts for my family... I'm usually buying batteries anyway) While we're at it, also make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector and change those batteries as well
#6. Never leave a dryer or dishwasher on and go to bed or leave the house. Any fire respondent will tell you that many fires start in these two appliances.
#7. If you have old knob and tube wiring or are always blowing fuses or breakers, time to call the electrician. These old fashioned electrical methods were not made for our super energy fridges, stoves and other energy zapping appliances
#8. Never leave your old paints, rags, turpentine or other combustibles inside your home.
#9. I just threw out my old fire extinguishers in the move. They were old and past their prime... getting new ones for every level of my home today.
#10. Smoke outside... period
#11. Cook carefully. No robes with dangling sleeves for making breakfast and never leave any meal with oil or bacon unattended
#12. Buy the battery operated candles for those romantic evenings or just keep an eye on the real candles. I once saw a whole coffee table go up in flames because a bunch of tea candles decided to melt through their aluminum frames.
Lastly, pass the list on to someone you love..it could save their life
Have a happy and healthy season folks,
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