It's Time to Talk about Fire Prevention

Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 5-11, so it’s a good time to talk about fire prevention. According to the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA), fire departments responded to nearly 270,000 house fires in 2012, resulting in more than nearly 13,000 injuries, 2,000 deaths, and $5.7 billion in property damage.

The statistics become even more sobering when you realize that most house fires are completely preventable. For example, cooking accidents are the No. 1 cause of house fires and related injuries. Smoking is another leading cause. Learning to do things in a new way – a safer way – is a major step toward preventing fires.

Here are some important fire prevention tips you can put into practice:

• Cooking – Approximately 40 percent of house fires start in the kitchen, and two-thirds are the result of the ignition of food. You should never leave food cooking on the stove unattended. It only takes a few seconds for something to spill over and catch fire. Also, be careful of loose-fitting clothing when working around an active stove.
• Heating Equipment – Malfunctioning heating equipment is the second-leading cause of house fires in the U.S. Make sure your heating equipment and ductwork are properly cleaned every year. This includes chimneys and furnace exhaust stacks.
• Smoking – House fires can result from smoking in bed or falling asleep in a chair while smoking. If you do choose to smoke, be very cautious at all times. Bedding materials, carpets, furniture, and draperies can all ignite very quickly through careless smoking or the careless discarding of used cigarettes.
• Electrical Appliances – Electrical fires are often caused by damaged power cords, the improper use of extension cords, or overloaded electrical sockets. Treat all of your electrical appliances with extreme care, and frequently check the condition of cords.
• Candles – Candles account for about 3 percent of house fires every year. When using candles, make sure they are far away from anything combustible. Do not leave a candle burning unattended. Never sleep with a candle burning in your bedroom.

In addition to these prevention tips, it is also important to have working smoke alarms in your house. Smoke alarms can mean the difference between you and your family getting out safely or becoming victims of smoke or flames in a house fire. Be sure to check your batteries regularly as well; one good way to remember is by using the start and end of Daylight Saving Time as a reminder.

Home Security with Fire Monitoring
Even the safest of families can be victims of a house fire. We encourage you to enhance all of your prevention measures with a home security system that includes fire monitoring. It’s an important layer of effective fire protection for your property.

When you include fire monitoring in your security package, we install sensors in various locations around your home. Should a house fire trigger one of the sensors, your alarm system will make a loud noise to warn you of impending danger and a signal will be automatically sent to our 24-hour monitoring center. One of our monitoring specialists will attempt to communicate with you to verify whether it’s a false alarm. If it’s a true emergency, they will quickly notify the local fire department.

Fire monitoring from Monitronics can make a big difference if a fire breaks out while no one is home. Rather than the fire burning for a long time before anyone notices, Monitronics will quickly respond. And the sooner the fire department arrives, the more likely your house can be saved.

It’s also important to consider house fires that might occur while you're sleeping at night. A nighttime house fire is particularly hazardous because you could be overcome by smoke before you even realize there is a problem. Fire monitoring can alert you to a potentially dangerous situation before you are overcome by smoke, allowing you and your family to get out safely.

Please observe Fire Prevention Week by implementing the prevention tips we have offered. Go a step further by developing a fire escape plan. Also, contact One-Stop Communications about a home security system with fire monitoring. Together, these steps can help protect your loved ones and your property.

www.onestopsecurity.com

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