The Value of Preparing for House Fires – What to Prepare & Plan

When it comes to challenging life events, there aren’t many events as draining than a fire that ruins your residence and personal possessions. Being a fire damage repair company, Paul Davis knows what a serious threat home fires are. Without notification, all it takes is two minutes before flames are blazing. A fire in your home is a horrible and emotionally draining event, whether it damages everything or not. But you can execute specified things to ensure that you are ready for when a fire happens.

Have Fire Escape Strategy at All Times in Place

Safety should be the number one priority when prepping for a home fire, and smoke alarms and fire extinguishers should be located throughout the house. Smoke alarms are crucial because a fire could spring out of nowhere and you need to do something as quickly as possible. Something else to think about with smoke alarms is purchasing ones that can recognize smoke produced by electrical fires. Lastly, any kids living in the home need to be taught about what a smoke alarm sounds like when it goes off and what to do when it happens.

Then have your emergency routes ready. Everyone in the house needs to know two ways to escape from every room and where to relocate outside when a fire happens. Additionally, ensure that all members of the household know how to call 911 in the incident of an emergency.

Something else you should do is protect your important things such as birth certificates, passports and photographs. You could create digital copies and store them into a cloud drive as a backup, and you can buy a fire safe box to keep the hard copies safe as well. Lastly, take inventory of all your personal possessions for insurance reasons in case they’re consumed by the flames.

Things to Keep in Mind to Lessen House Fire Risk

Here are a few aspects to keep in mind so you can decrease the risks and dangers that are commonly associated with home fires:

  • Portable Heaters: Not under any condition should you leave a space heater unattended, and keep flammable objects three feet away from the heater. It’s also imperative for your space heater to have the correct safety features. For instance, the heater turns off when it falls over.
  • Appliances and Electrical: Perform a habitual check on your appliances and make sure the plugs and cords are in good condition. If your light switches are hot to the touch, then it’s time to replace them.
  • Children: Store any lighters or matches in a location that is out of reach and out of sight from children to avoid their inquisitive nature from lighting a fire. Educate your children that fire is not something to play with as well.
  • Cooking: It’s important to be conscientious in the kitchen and to not leave cooking food unattended. Always have somebody there to keep an eye on what’s going on.
  • Smoking: Outdoor smoking is the finest way to avert a home fire from happening. It’s very important to not smoke inside if someone in the home is using oxygen because oxygen is very combustible. When you smoke inside, don’t smoke while lethargic or in bed and have ashtrays with tall walls.
  • Fireplaces: Creosote is highly combustible and it develops in your fireplace and chimney after it’s been used, so make sure to get your fireplace cleaned routinely. Getting a big, sturdy screen is also essential to prevent sparks from flying into the room and rolling logs.

Contact the Skillful Fire Damage Repair Experts from Paul Davis

When you have a home fire, don’t wait to reach out to Paul Davis. Our expert team has the experience you need with fire damage restoration services and we‘ll have your home back to a livable condition. Reach out to Paul at 888-473-7669 and a franchise near you will be ready to help.