How to prevent house fires

House fires remain a serious threat to many families with eight out of every ten fire related deaths occurring in the home. Many of these accidents are preventable with a little home fire safety prevention particularly through fire safety for kids. To learn how to prevent house fires, read the guide below and follow these fire safety tips.

Cooking and heating related fires

Smoke alarms One of the best safety features for the home is to install smoke alarms, having at least one on each floor of the house is a good warning and should offer everyone sufficient time to escape, should a fire break out. They should be replaced every ten years and batteries should be tested regularly. Cooking
Many fires start in the kitchen, often after someone begins cooking and becomes distracted. Just going into another room and answering the phone could be long enough for a pan to ignite. Never cook late at night particularly after drinking alcohol as this is a major combination leading to deadly house fires. Heating
This is another leading source of fires in the home, portable electric heaters left too close to curtains or clothes and they become overheated. Thus, before you notice anything, a fire has developed. You should allow at least three feet (1 metre) of space in all directions around a heater.

Smoking, candles and electrical fires.

Smoking
This is the third most common cause of fires in the home and top of fire related deaths. Many fires begin through someone smoking in bed and falling asleep with a lit cigarette. Other causes are not extinguishing a discarded cigarette which then, continues to burn. The best prevention is to never allow smoking inside the house. There are far fewer flammable items outside that there are in the home. Electrical fires
Faulty or frayed electrical cables are responsible for house fires, cables should never run beneath carpets as a single spark from a frayed cable can be enough to start a fire. Do not overload circuits with multiple devices being connected to one socket and check the condition of electrical items at least annually. Candles
Any candles that are used for decoration or ambiance should be extinguished before the room is vacated as these are always a potential fire risk. Having a residential fire sprinkler system installed would be a great way to combat even the smallest of fires, before it has a chance to grow into a large one.