Home Fire Safety Guide

Make a home fire safety plan so your family can escape your house safely.

• Begin by making a diagram of the house or apartment building and identifying two escape routes from every room, such as by a door and by a window.
• Teach children what the smoke or carbon monoxide alarms sound like and how to react to them, especially if a fire breaks out in the middle of the night.
• During an evacuation, if you suspect a fire is on the other side of a closed door, feel the top, edge and doorknob for heat. If hot to the touch, do not open, but use the secondary exit. Never open a hot door during a fire.
• If you have to go through a smoky room or hallway, cover your nose and mouth and keep low to the ground to prevent smoke inhalation. The best air is 1 to 2 feet above the floor.
• Remember to stop, drop and roll if your clothes catch on fire.
• Include house pets in your escape plan.
• Make sure the escape plan includes a safe place for meeting outside the house, such as by the mailbox, and designate someone to call the emergency services.
• Once you’ve left a burning house, don’t go back in, just wait for the local fire department.
• Stage regular drills to ensure your family's emergency preparedness.
• Post the plan in a clearly visible place, such as the kitchen.

More than half of all residential fire fatalities occur in homes without smoke detectors, so make sure your home is properly equipped.

• Install smoke alarms on every floor of the house and in each bedroom.
• Smoke rises, so place smoke alarms high on walls or on ceilings.
• Change batteries every year or immediately when the low battery signal begins to chirp. Definitely do not disable a chirping alarm with the intention of replacing the new battery later: you might forget, placing your home in jeopardy.
• Choose a day every year for changing the smoke alarm batteries, such as the autumn day when Daylight Savings Time “falls back" and you reset your clocks.

Tip: Install carbon monoxide detectors in all of your home’s major rooms, between knee and chest height.

Keep a fire extinguisher in your kitchen and at least one for each floor of your home. Familiarize yourself with the rating system of home fire extinguishers before acquiring one:

• Fire extinguishers with a Class A rating are effective against paper, wood, textiles and plastics.
• Fire extinguishers with a Class B rating are effective against flammable liquid fires that may involve cooking oil, gasoline, paint or other substances.
• Fire extinguishers with a Class C rating are effective against “live” electrical equipment.

To properly operate a fire extinguisher, remember the acronym “PASS” for:

• Pull the pin to release the lock, pointing the nozzle away from you.
• Aim the extinguisher low, at the base of the fire.
• Squeeze the lever slowly and carefully.
• Sweep the nozzle from side to side.

Tip: Mount fire extinguishers 4 to 5 feet from the floor to be in easy reach. Do not store a fire extinguisher close to the stove.

An important home fire safety tip for those with more than one story is to have a fire escape ladder in each top-story room.

• Store the ladders next to windows for easy access and make sure young people, the elderly and people with disabilities can use them or have a contingency plan.
• Make sure that windows and screens open easily and are not painted shut.

House fire prevention starts with eliminating the risks. Inspect your entire home for potential fire hazards.

• Make sure electrical outlets are not overloaded or exceed the safe number of plugs in use (especially at Christmas or other holidays).
• Make sure power cords, extension cords and other wiring is not frayed, damaged or improperly placed.
• Dryer ducts should be cleaned annually to avoid the accumulation of flammable lint.
• Gasoline and other flammable liquids should be stored in containers such as gas cans and only in appropriate areas.
• Chimneys should be inspected annually and cleaned regularly to avoid buildup of flammable creosote.
• Make sure that space heaters are used according to instructions.
• Store matches, lighters, cigarettes and other smoking accessories out of reach of children.