Fire Damage Repair Professional Guide – Preparing for a Home Fire

When it comes to burdensome life events, there few events as draining than a fire that harms your home and personal possessions. As a fire damage restoration company, Paul Davis understands what a serious hazard home fires are. Without notification, all it takes is a couple of minutes before flames are blazing. A fire in your home is a terrible and emotionally exhausting event, even if it destroys everything or not. But you can execute individual things to ensure that you are ready for when a fire happens.

Have an Emergency Plan at All Times in Position

Safety should be the number one priority when getting ready for a home fire, and smoke alarms and fire extinguishers should be placed throughout the home. Smoke alarms are vital since a fire could spring out of the blue and you need to take action as fast as possible. Another thing to consider with smoke alarms is getting ones that can detect smoke caused from electrical fires. Finally, any kids residing in the home need to be instructed on how a smoke alarm sounds when it goes off and what to do when it occurs.

Some other safety procedures include planning fire escape routes in your home. Design a strategy and make sure everyone in the home understands the fire escape routes – there should be two exits for each room in the home. Also, it’s necessary to have a designated meeting place outside so you know who gets out of the home and who is absent.

Another thing you should do is secure your important items like birth certificates, passports and photographs. You could create digital replicas and store them into a cloud drive as a backup, and you can purchase a fire safe box to keep the real copies safe too. Finally, make a record of all your personal possessions for insurance reasons in the event they’re engulfed by the flames.

What to Think about to Minimize Home Fire Risk

Even though some fires aren’t avoidable, there are a few things you can do to decrease the possibilities of a fire from occurring in your home:

  • Portable Heaters: Make sure your space heater has a thermostat and a control mechanism, and it should turn off if it falls over.
  • Appliances and Electrical: Worn down cords and broken plugs could easily initiate a home fire, so make sure to examine your appliances regularly for any issues. Also, check up on your light switches since if they’re hot, they need to be replaced.
  • Children: Keep any lighters or matches in a location that is out of sight and out of reach from children to prevent their inquisitive nature from starting a fire. Teach your children that fire is not a toy too.
  • Cooking: The kitchen is one of the more common spots for a fire to develop. It’s vital to pay attention to what’s in the oven or on the stove, and if you need to leave, have someone keep an eye on it until you come back.
  • Smoking: Cigarettes and cigars are serious threats for fire, and taking your smoking outside is the perfect approach to avoid a home fire. If you smoke indoors, make sure you have deep ashtrays and that under any circumstance you don’t smoke in bed or while you’re drowsy. Additionally, never smoke indoors if someone in the home is using oxygen as this is very combustible.
  • Fireplaces: Creosote is very flammable and it builds up in your fireplace and chimney after it’s been in use, so make sure to get your fireplace cleaned consistently. Having a large, strong screen is also essential to avoid sparks from entering the room and rolling logs.

Call the Skillful Fire Damage Restoration Technicians at Paul Davis

If you have a home fire, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Paul Davis. Our professional team has the knowledge you need with fire damage repair services and we can have your property back to a good condition. Call us at 888-473-7669 and a local franchise near your location will be available to help.