Basic Fire Safety Tips for your Home

Fire Prevention and Safety is an important part of your home environment. I have had the honor of serving as a volunteer firefighter for over 12 years and have seen first hand the devastation that can result from a fire.
While most of the tips may appear as gemon sense, it is these easy to do things that are most often overlooked and ignored.
The biggest and most important thing is to stress to children and young adults to NEVER play with matches or lighters. Also remind the adults to never leave their matches or lighters within reach of young hands. This is probably the single biggest preventative measure any family can take.
Second is make sure that you have plenty of smoke detectors - at least one per floor. Smoke detectors should have their batteries checked every three months and changed every 6 months. It doesno good to have smoke detectors present if the batteries are dead or taken out to put in a toy.
Do not overload any electrical outlets or extension cords.
Keep flammable liquids and hazardous materials locked up or out of reach of children.
Never smoke in bed. A cigarette can ingnite a mattress and sheets and within 2 minutes the entire room could be engulfed in flames.
Keep emergency fire extinguishers in the kitchen, garage, laundry room and bedroom.
Have a family meeting to determine an ESCAPE PLAN. Each member of the family needs to know how to effectively escape each room of the house. This could be through a door or window. Have an emergency escape ladder for upstairs rooms.
Once out of the house, the whole family needs to meet in a specific spot. This way everyone will know that each other is safe and make it easier for rescue personel to account for everyone.
Once you leave a house that is on fire NEVER go back in. With all the plastics and chemicals used in building materials, furnitureand products smoke is very toxic and without the proper equipment you could begee a victim in just a few seconds.
Make sure everyone in your family knows the house address and how to call for emergency help, either through 911 or any other local emergency number.
Teach your children what to do if they catch on fire. Stop, Drop and Roll. If their clothes catch on fire, the first thing to do is to stop running (as running will increase the oxygen and make the fire burn faster), drop to the ground and cover their face with their hands, roll side to side to smother and extinguish the fire.
When exiting a house that is on fire, make sure that you feel any closed doors with the back of your hand before you open them. If the door is too hot to touch, then you do not want to open the door into the fire. If the door is not overly hot, open the door slowly to look out to see that it is safe to exit.
If there is smoke present, make sure to KEEP LOW AND GO. Crawling on your hands and knees will help keep you from breathing the toxic smoke and since heat rises it will be slightly cooler near the floor also.
Have a family meeting several times a year to make sure that everyone remembers what to do in case of a fire. Review and practice will help ensure that your family remains safe.
I hope that you and your family never have to experience the devastation and horrors of a fire, but if you do that everyone is educated enough to stay safe. Remember, a house and property can always be replaced, but each and every life is precious and sacred.