Thank you First Alert for sponsoring this post. October is Fire Prevention Month! Help ensure your home and family are ready for the unexpected by installing smoke & CO alarms and having fire extinguishers!
October is Fire Prevention Month which makes it the perfect time to gather your family and create a fire safety plan. From coming up with a fire evacuation plan to installing smoke and CO alarms, I have partnered with First Alert to share with you tips for creating your own fire safety plan and how to get kids involved.
Create a Fire Safety Checklist
Some of the most important things to add to your fire safety checklist include:
- Install reliable smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms. Remember that it’s important to install one in every level and every bedroom!
- Test your smoke and CO alarms regularly.
- Change the batteries on your alarms at least every six months. Or, better yet, upgrade to a First Alert Combination Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm with a 10-year sealed battery alarm so you don’t have to change the batteries for the life of the alarm.
- Plan an emergency escape plan and practice it with your entire family at least twice a year. Plan at least two ways out of each room or area in your home and designate a meeting place outside a safe distance from your home. It can be the mailbox or a neighbor’s home. Once outside call 911 and don’t go back inside the house.
Get Everyone Involved
When creating a family fire safety plan it’s important to include everyone. No matter if your kids are young or older like mine, getting them involved will ensure that they know what to do in case of an emergency. I have a middle schooler and a high schooler and creating our fire safety checklist together gave us all the opportunity to talk about fire safety and how to prevent fires in the home.
We encouraged the kids to take the lead and come up with ideas of alternative ways to exit different rooms and practiced opening windows and removing screens to be able to get out safely (our home only has one level, so it’s safe to get out of any of our windows).
We also discussed ways in which can help reduce the risk of a fire. Here are some ways to reduce the risk of a home fire:
- Have your heating sources inspected by a professional at least once a year and when using space heaters keep them clean and away from any furniture, carpet or curtains.
- Keep your oven and stove clean. Remove any food that falls in the oven or near the burners as soon as the oven or stove has cooled down. And be very careful about never leaving anything inside the oven.
- Never leave food cooking unattended. Food left in the kitchen unattended can catch fire in minutes! Did you know unattended cooking is the #1 cause of home fires? Both of my kids are starting to cook and help me in the kitchen so this was something very important to discuss with them.
- Check for damaged wires on all of your appliances, devices and gadgets. If you see any damaged wires disconnect them and replace them immediately!
- Be very cautious with candles. We all love scented candles or a candlelight dinner but it’s important to use candles carefully. Don’t leave candles lit when you exit a room and always make sure you are placing candles away from anything that might catch on fire.
- Be careful with your fireplace. We live in Florida so we don’t have a fire, but for everyone looking forward to the colder weather and curling up next to the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa make sure you are being safe with your fireplace. Never leave the room where you have the fireplace burning, make sure that the fireplace is protected with a door between the flames and the flooring and always make sure ashes are completely cool before disposing and dispose of them in a metal container specifically for this purpose.
- Store flammable products safely. Household cleaners, hair sprays and other flammable products must always be stored in a cool place away from any source of heat.
Install a Reliable Smoke and CO Alarm
One of the best ways to ensure that your family is protected from a fire is to install First Alert’s Combination Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm with a 10-Year Sealed Battery. We are excited to be replacing our previous fire alarms for a 10-year sealed battery smoke and CO alarm from First Alert.
Did you know that 3 out of 5 home fires deaths occur in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms*? That is why it’s so important to ensure you have a reliable smoke alarm and better yet if it also doubles as a CO alarm.
It’s also important to make sure you give your smoke alarm the maintenance it needs. Change the batteries in your alarms at least every six months unless you have a 10-year sealed battery smoke and CO alarm which is so much more convenient because you don’t have to remember to change the batteries. However, do remember that even 10-year sealed battery alarms don’t last forever and should be replaced every 10-years.
You can find First Alert fire safety products at Lowe’s, including 10-year sealed battery smoke and CO alarms and fire extinguishers.
Keep Fire Extinguishers Around the House
With everyone spending more time at home and the holidays coming we’re cooking more and spending more time in the kitchen and grilling. It’s important to invest in fire extinguishers for your home and place them around the house. Fire extinguishers are the best defense if a fire breaks out.
You should have a fire extinguisher in every level of your home especially in areas like the kitchen, the laundry room, the garage, and by the grill. The number one cause of fires is unattended cooking, so make sure you have a fire extinguisher that you can access quickly in your kitchen.
We have the First Alert Home Fire Extinguishers, and what’s great is that they can easily fit in a kitchen cupboard or in the garage. They’re light too and we made sure that everyone in our family knows where the fire extinguishers are located. And we all know how to use them. An easy way to remember how to use a fire extinguisher is with the acronym P.A.S.S.
- P – Pull the pin
- A- Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire
- S- Squeeze the trigger
- S- Sweep from side to size
*Source: National Fire Protection Association
Paula studied architecture and now makes a living as a freelance writer,traveler and amateur photographer.She started her writing & publishing career as the editor of Bebé y Mamá, the first parenting magazine in Guatemala.She is the founder of www.GrowingUpBilingual.com and www.365thingsswfl.com and writes articles in Spanish and English for both magazines and the web on travel,food and bicultural and bilingual parenting .
When she is not on a plane or road trip she likes to create recipes inspired in the flavors of her native Guatemala.
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These are some great tips to keep in mind. I always want to be safe. We did change out our alarms!
Having a plan is so important in a fire. Panic can make people make bad decisions when they try to escape. A practiced plan helps keep everyone calm and knowing exactly what to do.
This is a good wakeup call because our extinguishers and CO alarm are out of service. I need to get all these working to keep a safe house.
This post is really informative. Thank you for sharing these tips.
It’s so important to have a fire safety plan for families! I’ve discussed our exit plan strategy with the kids for many years so that we all know where to go when a fire happens. We also make sure our fire alarms work all year round.
I’ll admit we don’t have a fire safety plan for our family. It’s definitely something we need to discuss and have set in stone. Thanks for the encouragement!
So important. My daughter’s home caught fire and burned to the ground the first day of them living there. They are rebuilding now and it has been almost a year. A plan saved their dog!
First Alert sounds amazing! It’s really important to make sure the safety of your family. I will check this out.
Great tips! You can never be too careful especially with kids in the house.
Nice topic! Most family don’t have this in mind even though it’s also important to be prepared for it.
Having a fire safety plan is so important. We hope we never have to use it but it’s still important to be prepared.
Safety and security of our loved ones is the most important and this is a great reminder for every household.
This is such an important thing. I think we should all talk to our families about what we’d do if there was ever a fire. We already have a plan ourselves. It’s always great to be prepared.
Thank you for the reminder about creating a family fire safety plan. I have to take action now.
It is somethin you never want to have to do in real life. But you need a plan!