It is Fire Prevention Week. Here are six important tips/practices for fire prevention and safety in your home. Practice these safety tips in your home to decrease the chances of a home fire.

1.    Use Electricity Safely: Check all electrical cords (including extension cords) in your home and replace any that are cracked, frayed or show signs of other damage. If an electrical appliance starts to smoke or smells like it is burning, unplug it immediately. Replace the appliance or have it repaired. Never run cords under rugs and do not overload extension cords or outlets. Fuses and circuit breakers protect you from fire. Do not tamper with the fuse box or use fuses of the improper size.

2.    Cook with Care and Attention: Keep all cooking areas clear from combustibles including the barbecue grill. Never leave anything cooking unattended. Turn handles of pots and pans inward to keep them out or reach of children and prevent someone from bumping the handle and knocking the pot or pan off the stove.

3.    Make Space for Space Heaters: If you use a space heater, it should be place three feet from anything that can catch fire and burn such as curtains, bedding, clothing, paper and furniture. Do not let space heaters run when you are not home or when you are sleeping. Also, keep children and pets away from them.

4.    Candle Safety: While many view candles as a decorative item, they are a huge hazard in homes. Use common sense with candles. Never leave a burning candle unattended in any room in the house, even if you are in the next room. Do not burn candles when you go to bed. Never place a lit candle near combustibles such as curtains, bedding or cabinets. Place lit candles out of reach of children. Do not place burning candles in places like the coffee table or end tables where they can easily be knocked over by people or pets.

5.    Matches are for Adults: Matches and lighters are extremely dangerous when in the hands of a child. Keep them stored in a place out of reach from children and do not leave them in view. Teach children from early on that they are for adults only. If a child finds matches or a lighter, they should tell an adult immediately.

6.    Cool a Burn: Is someone gets burned, immediately place the wound in cool water for 15-20 minutes to relieve the burning sensation and pain. If the burn blisters, chars or becomes an open wound, seek medical attention right away. 

It is important to practice these safety tips year round in an effort to prevent a fire in your home.

This article brought to you by The HousePlanShop, LLC, the home of the best selling house plans from the best designers!

Tags: burns, fire prevention, fire prevention week, fire safety, fire safety tips, home fires, house fires, safe cooking

The holidays are approaching quickly and it is easy to get caught up in the festivities of the season, but this is no time to let your guard down when it comes to following safe practices. The House Plan Shop has five holiday safety tips for you to review. Keep them in mind this holiday season.

1.    Practice Fire Safety – Most residential fires occur during the winter months and with extra activities to attend and plenty of family and friends stopping by to visit, it is easy to forget about fire safety. If you burn candles in your home, keep them away from holiday trees, curtains, blankets, and walking paths such as the hallway and other high traffic areas. Most importantly keep them out of reach of children and pets. Do not leave fireplaces, space heaters, candles and stoves unattended. Do not use grills, generators or other gasoline- or charcoal-burning devices inside your home, including the garage and basement. Make sure smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are working properly.

2.    Prevent Injuries – Injuries can occur anywhere at any time including during the holidays. Use a step stool instead of furniture when hanging holiday decorations. Make sure your ladder is secure before climbing to the rooftop to hang holiday lights. Leave the fireworks to the professionals.

3.    Keep an Eye on the Kids – With so much happening during the holidays, it is easy to get caught up in a conversation with Aunt Jane whom you haven’t seen since last year or have fun participating in the events at a holiday party. But remember if the kids are with you, you must keep a watchful eye. Whether they are eating, playing or watching a movie with their cousins in the other room, you should know what your kids are doing at all times. Keep potentially dangerous items such as toys, food, drinks and other hazardous household items out of reach. Make sure toys and game pieces are used properly. If your kids have any food allergies, make sure to check out all food items and drinks that are served at any holiday gathering you attend and help your child make healthy decisions about what to eat.

4.    Practice Travel Safety – Whether your holiday travels take you across town or completely across the country, practice safe travel habits. Do not drink and drive. Always buckle up. Make sure your child is properly fastened in his/her car seat, booster seat or just buckled in properly according to child safety laws. Also, make sure your car is in good working order and be prepared for inclement weather.

5.    Be Healthy – The holidays can make it hard to follow your normal daily routine, so make sure you continue to practice good habits for your health. Wash hands often. Dress warm in cold climates and stay dry. Cook foods to their proper temperatures. Make sure to schedule some down time in your busy schedule to relax and regroup. Most importantly make sure the whole family gets plenty of rest.

These simple tips will help ensure you and your family will enjoy a safe holiday season.

This article brought to you by The HousePlanShop, LLC, the home of the best selling house plans from the best designers!

Tags: fire safety, healthy habits, holiday safety, holiday season, holidays, safety tips, travel safety

This week is fire prevention week. The House Plan Shop has some safety tips to share with you helping to protect you, your family, your home and your pets from potential.

If you have a natural fire in your home then you are one of the lucky people who can enjoy the cozy, warm atmosphere that only a real fire can produce. However, a fire is only a good feature of a home when it is safe to use, and the one accessory you will need above all others is a good fire watch guards for hire.

Be smart and follow fire prevention practices.

1.    Install and Maintain Smoke Detectors: Smoke detectors are an important tool in helping save lives in home fires. Install them on every floor of your home and right outside the sleeping areas. Install the smoke detectors according to the manufacturer’s directions and test them on a weekly basis. Batteries should be replaced two times a year. A good rule of thumb is to replace batteries when daylight savings time begins and ends (each time you set your clocks back or forward one hour.) Also replace batteries when the smoke detector chirps signaling the battery is dead. Never remove batteries from the detectors or disconnect them.

2.    Create an Escape Plan for Your Family and Practice: When a fire breaks out in your home it is necessary to get out fast. Spend time with the entire family planning two ways to get out of every room in the event of a home fire. Decide on a meeting place outside of the home whether it is a neighbor’s driveway or the bus stop on the corner and instruct the entire family to meet at the designated place should a home fire occur. Once you are out of the house, DO NOT go back inside. Practice your escape plan with the whole family at least twice a year.

3.    Get a Fire Extinguisher and Know How to Use It: Purchase a fire extinguisher for home use and learn how to use it, my best advise would be to get information from the fire extinguisher in tacoma wa specialists. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Sometimes, in the event of a small fire, having and using a fire extinguisher can make a huge difference in saving your home and belongings until the fire department arrives. (Note: Do not expect a fire extinguisher to put out large house fires. Instead, exit the building immediately and wait for the fire department.) If you have a large house with multiple levels, you might consider having a fire extinguisher on each level. Put it/them in places that are easy to access but out of reach of small children.

4.    Know and Practice the STOP, DROP and ROLL Rule: This is a simple rule even small children can learn. If your clothes or body catch on fire, do not run. Stop where you are, drop to the floor and roll over and over to smother the flames. Cover your face with your hands to protect it and help prevent smoke inhalation or lung damage.  

5.    Crawl Low Below Smoke: If you should encounter smoke using your primary exit route in the event of a fire, use your alternate route instead. If you must move through smoke to exit, get down on your hands and knees and crawl to the exit. Clean air will be several inches off the floor. 

Following these fire safety practices will increase your chances of escaping death or injury in a fire. Look for more information about fire safety and prevention in another upcoming blog.

This article brought to you by The HousePlanShop, LLC, the home of the best selling house plans from the best designers!

Tags: fire prevention, fire prevention week, fire safety, fire safety tips, home fires, house fires

October 3-9 is 2010’s Fire Prevention Week. The House Plan Shop is doing our part to raise awareness about fire safety. Below is a list of facts about home fires and smoke alarms as reported by the National Fire Prevention Association.

·         Cooking is the leading cause of house fires and injuries.

·         Working smoke alarms cut the risk of death in a reported fire by 50%.

·         Approximately 75% of all homes in the United States have at least one working smoke alarm.

·         Nearly 3000 people die in the US every year in home fires.

·         Smoking is the #1 cause of fire deaths.

·         Heating is the second leading cause of house fires.

·         Between 2003-2006, nearly 66% of home fire deaths resulted from home fires in homes that did not have a smoke alarm or did not have a working smoke alarm.

·         Electrical malfunctions and failures are factors in nearly 50,000 reported fires every year.

·         According to a 2008 survey, only 12% of participants knew smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years.

·         In 2008, someone was injured in a reported home fire every 40 minutes.

·         In 2008, approximately eight people died in home fires every day.

·         In 2008, a fire department responded to a home fire every 82 seconds.

Keeping these stunning facts in mind, it is time to practice fire prevention at home. Watch for our upcoming blog about fire prevention and fire safety at home. We don’t want you, your family or your home to become another statistic on this list.

This article brought to you by The HousePlanShop, LLC, the home of the best selling house plans from the best designers!

Tags: fire prevention, fire prevention week, fire safety, home fires, Home Safety, house fires, smoke alarms, smoke detectors