Imagine coming home from the store to find your whole house gone or being woken up by the harsh sound of your fire alarm at 3 am. A scary thought, but a reality for all too many Americans. The National Fire Prevention Association reported an estimated 367,500 home fires in 2014, many of them preventable.
Have you ever run your dryer when you went to the store? Put a pot on the stove and left the room? Left a candle burning too close to a napkin? Common everyday occurrences can result in devastating consequences.
There are many easy things to do to prevent fires from occurring.
1. Clean out your lint trap in the dryer after every use.
- This prevents a buildup of lint, lowering your risk of it catching fire.
2. Don’t leave the house when using the dryer and other appliances.
3. Don’t over fill outlets and power strips
- Electrical fires are the most dangerous because they are the most difficult to put out. Putting water on an electrical fire can make it worse.=
4. Be sure to unplug chargers and other devices that run the risk of overheating
5. Don’t leave the kitchen unattended when cooking.
6. Smother a grease fire, DO NOT throw water on it.
- If a pan does catch fire, stay calm and cover the fire with a lid .
7. Don’t wear loose fitting clothes and sleeves that can easily catch fire while cooking.
8. Keep stove tops and ovens clean
- Buildup on these surfaces gives something for the fire to catch to.
Visit NFPA.org for more fire safety tips. If you do need help after fire damage, call the professionals at ServiceMaster by Gilmore at 800-783-0552.
