Keep Your Family Safe From Fire

Cooking and heating are the leading causes of home fires and fire injuries, and winter months are the peak time for fire-related deaths. Fire prevention week, Oct. 4-10, 2020, is the perfect time to review and practice fire safety.

Minimize Your Risks

The good news: Over the past several decades, deaths from home fires in the U.S. have steadily gone down – from 5,200 in 1980 to 2,820 in 2018, according to Injury Facts.

But one death from a preventable fire is too many. While fire doesn't discriminate by age, it is a leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 14. In 2018, 288 children in this age group died from fire and smoke inhalation.

When cooking, make fire safety a priority by keeping these tips in mind:

Be alert; if you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol, don’t use the oven or stovetop

Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, boiling or broiling food

When simmering, baking or roasting, check the food regularly, remain in the kitchen while cooking and use a timer

Keep anything that can catch fire away from your stovetop

Heating is the second leading cause of home fires. Follow these tips from the American Red Cross:

Keep all flammables, like paper, clothing, bedding, drapes or rugs, at least 3 feet from a space heater, stove or fireplace

Never leave portable heaters and fireplaces unattended; turn off heaters and make sure fireplace embers are extinguished before leaving the room

If you must use a space heater, place it on a level, nonflammable surface, like ceramic tile, not on a rug or carpet

Keep children and pets away from space heaters

When buying a space heater, look for models that shut off automatically if the heater falls over

In addition to cooking, other top causes of fire include smoking, electrical problems and candles. To minimize risks:

Institute a “no smoking” policy in the house

Check all cords and replace any that are frayed or have bare wires

Switch to flameless candles

Keep matches and lighters high and out of children’s reach in a locked cabinet

Working Smoke Alarms Are a Must

About three out of five fire deaths happen in homes with no smoke alarms or working smoke alarms. Smoke alarms are a key part of a home fire escape plan providing early warning reducing your risk of dying in a fire. The National Fire Protection Association recommends you:

Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas on the ceiling or high on the wall

Keep smoke alarms away from the kitchen, at least 10 feet from the stove, to reduce false alarms

Use special alarms with strobe lights and bed shakers for people who are hard of hearing or deaf

Test smoke alarms monthly

Replace batteries annually, and change the batteries in your carbon monoxide detector at the same time

Replace smoke alarms that are 10 or more years old

Make an Escape Plan

A home fire is reported every 88 seconds. Once the smoke alarm sounds, a fire can spread quickly, leaving only a minute or two to escape. That's why it's so important to have a home escape plan.

Start by drawing a map for your home and following these guidelines from the NFPA:

Plan two ways to escape from each room

Make sure all doors and windows leading outside open easily

Identify secondary routes – a window onto an adjacent roof or a collapsible ladder from upper-story windows

If you live in a multi-story building, plan to use the stairs – never the elevator

Designate an outside meeting place a safe distance from the house where everyone should meet

Now Practice Your Home Fire Escape Plan

Home Fire Drill Day, a safety observance developed by Nationwide in partnership with NSC and other organizations, is held during Fire Prevention Week in October. Everyone – even children – need to know your family escape plan in case of a fire. The National Fire Protection Association indicates that 71% of Americans have a home fire escape plan but only 47% have practiced it. Practice your fire drill with everyone in the house at night and during the day, twice a year.

Remember to:

Practice getting out with your eyes closed, crawling low to the floor and keeping your mouth covered

Practice closing doors behind you

Practice how to “stop, drop and roll” if your clothes catch on fire

Practice testing door handles to see if they are hot before opening them

Teach children never to hide during a fire, and how to escape on their own in case you can’t help them

When and How to Use Fire Extinguisher