Fire Safety Tips
Smoke Alarms
Smoke alarms can give you early warning in the event of a fire and are considered absolutely essential, they can be purchased in most supermarkets and hardware shops. Ask for one that has a British Standard Kitemark and ensure that it is correctly fitted. Smoke alarms are also available for people that are deaf and are designed with a flashing light or a vibrating pad.
Smoke alarms are normally fitted between living areas and bedrooms (hall, lobby, or stair landing areas) and will detect any smoke that leak’s via gaps around the door.
Ideally you should fit a smoke detector in every room with the exception of the kitchen and bathroom where the effects of steam emitting from hot water or smoke from a toaster could activate them and cause false alarms, it is therefore better to cover these rooms by heat detectors.
Make sure that you can hear the alarm throughout your home especially in the bedrooms, if your smoke alarm goes off while you are asleep don’t waste time investigating to see where it is. Shout as loud as you can to wake everyone up and follow your escape plan together.
Here are some simple rules if you smoke which may save your life
- Never smoke in bed.
- Keep matches and lighters away from children.
- Never smoke in a chair if you think you may fall asleep.
- Before you go to bed ensure that
- nothing is left burning.
- Never leave lit cigarettes unattended.
Chip pan fires cause more injuries in your home than anything else
- Here are some tips when dealing with a chip pan fire.
- Turn off the heat if it is safe to do so.
- If you can, throw a damp cloth or towel over the pan to smother the flames.
- If the chip pan catches fire do not try to move it.
- If you cannot control the fire, close the door to the room and get everybody out of the building and call the fire brigade, do not go back into the building.
- Never try to extinguish a chip pan fire with water; it will cause the burning oil to blow up and spread burning oil around the kitchen causing a larger fire.
- Do not put wet chips into hot oil dry them first.
Bedtime safety routine
- Close the doors to all rooms. Switch off portable room heaters.
- Switch off and unplug all non-essential electrical appliances.
- Ensure that the contents of ashtrays are not still burning and are completely extinguished.
Electrical safety
- Always make sure that the correct fuse is fitted in your plugs to all your electrical appliances. Use a 3amp fuse for electrical equipment that require up to 720 watts and a 13 amp fuse for equipment over 720 watts.
- It is always best if you only use one plug for one socket.
- Avoid the use of multi-plug in adapters. extension leads or cables should not be hidden under carpets, where unseen
damage could occur to the cables, which could cause a fire.
- Electrical leads should not be extended by joining the wires with electrical tape. Use a proper-socket adaptor.
- Ensure light fittings that have lampshades are fitted with the correct wattage of bulb; a bulb that is over sized could cause the lampshade to overheat and burn.
Candles
- Candles are very popular but can cause a fire. Here are some simple precautions that should be taken when using candles.
- Never leave candles unattended or go to bed when they are still alight.
- Keep candles out of the reach of children.
- Fix candles on a stable base.
- Keep candles away from curtains, furniture and any flammable materials such as plastic baths and wash basins.
- Keep candles away from draughts where curtains blow over them to cause a fire.
- Never put lighted candles on polished surfaces like a television always place them in a candleholder or a heat resistant surface like a ceramic plate.
I hope that the information that we have given in some way gives you a better understanding of how a fire is produced and how to deal with it in an emergency. In spite of this we strongly recommend that your home be fitted with suitable smoke detector alarms, which could SAVE YOUR LIFE.