We've all seen the adverts about Fire Safety, checking your smoke alarms etc, the messages are out there and there is coverage on tv, but do you really know how you can help prevent a fire occurring in your home? Aside from the obvious things, you might not even realising certain things you're doing can be the trigger to a house fire! MoreThan have created an informative and powerful video to get you clued up on exactly what you can do to keep you and your family safe, as well as 5 other tips from around the web below!Turn off appliances! I'm now pretty obsessive about turning my straighteners off after i've finished using them, when I was about 15 I left mine on whilst we went out for dinner, I remember walking into my room when we came back and could smell burning, turns out i'd left my straighteners on and it had burnt the top of my chest of drawers slightly, that was just in the space of about 2 hours, could you imagine what would happen any longer than that?
Candles
I love candles s much as the next person, but you have have HAVE to remember to never leave them unattended, i'm more aware of this now I have Abbie because I have to keep her away from them too, but they can so easily become too hot in their little glass jars, or even start to burn the wallpaper that it's next to! So always always remember to blow them out before you leave the house or go to bed! Lights & Sockets Flickering lights, fuses that blow and circuit-breakers that trip unexpectedly, unusually hot plugs and scorch marks around sockets are all indications that that there may be something wrong with your wiring. Aging wires in particular can spark and cause fires, so make sure you always quickly replace any electrical cables that appear to be deteriorating. In addition, power cables should also be regularly checked – and take particular care to spot missing grounding prongs on plugs.Smoke Detectors Put smoke detectors on each level of your house and also outside each bedroom. It is best to have two types of detectors (ionization and photoelectric) as each works in a different way. Test all smoke detectors once a month and make sure they are all in working order! When we first moved into our place the smoke alarm was broken and kept going off during the night, so we headed out the next day and bought new ones which were all fitted the same day, DO NOT just take the battery out and leave it, that could be detrimental if a fire ever was to start in your home! Also make sure you check when your smoke detectors were put in, if it was over 10 years ago, they will need to be replaced!
Fire statistics in the UK between 2013-2014;
Fire and Rescue Services in Great Britain attended 212,500 fires in 2013-14, continuing the generally downward trend of the last 10 years. There was a 10% increase on 2012-13, but this previous year had been unusually low due to wet weather conditions.
The most common time for fires to be reported is in the hour of 8pm-9pm (with 9% of all fires). While only 11% of fires occurred between midnight and early morning (5am), these fires caused one fifth of all deaths in Great Britain in 2013- 14.
Over two thirds of fire-related deaths occurred in accidental dwelling fires and more than half of the victims were aged 65 years or older.
Dwellings with no smoke alarm accounted for 38% of deaths in home fires in Great Britain, and nearly one fifth of deaths occurred where no smoke alarm worked.
Smokers’ materials (e.g. cigarettes, cigars or pipe tobacco) caused the largest share of deaths in accidental dwelling fires (37%), while cooking appliances are the source of ignition in more than half of accidental fires
More than a third of fire deaths in non-domestic buildings were caused by smokers’ materials or cigarette lighters.
The risk of dying in a fire for people aged 80 and over is more than four times higher than average. People aged be- tween 65 and 79 also have a higher than average rate.
*stats from GOVUK
As well as the above, have a look through this informative Home Fire Safety Checklist from the Red Cross, you'd be surprised at how many triggers you could have in your house right now!
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*in collaboration with MoreThan
