FIRE SAFETY TIPS

If cooking and a flash fire occur in a frying pan DO NOT try to move the pan off the stove burner and DO NOT use water or flour to extinguish a grease fire. Flour is flammable and water will feed the flames. Carefully turn off burner and cover with a tight fitting lid or carefully empty a box of baking soda on the flames. DO NOT remove lid till pan cools down. A dry chemical ABC fire extinguisher will work but care must be taken to keep a safe distance of at least 4 feet and aim at base of flames, taking care not to be to close or aiming directly downward which can blast the flames out of the pan as fire extinguishers are filled with pressurized air. Should a fire occur while broiling with oven door open, close oven door to smother flames and turn off oven. Same applies if baking, should flames ignite when oven door is opened. NOTE: Use extreme caution! All the above self extinguishing methods should only be used when flames are small enough to be put out safely. There is a 30 to 60 second window on average from beginning of ignition in which flames can be contained safely. It only takes 3 minutes for a kitchen to become fully engulfed in fire. In the event of flashing larger flames, evacuate immediately and call 911. Over 50% of cooking fires that homeowners try to put out themselves result in injury and or death due to improper extinguishing methods or fire being to large to be extinguished using methods above. See 1st video above

Be sure to clean lint out of dryer lint trap before every use and clean vent and vent hood once a year and do not keep clothes on top of dryer while in use. Only fill dryer up to 2/3 of a load max as filling dryer to top restricts air flow and causes dryer to get to hot. See 2nd video above

Know the danger signs of carbon monoxide poisoning such as head aches and nausea and how to prevent it. We recommend in addition to having photoelectric / heat alarms in every room that a carbon monoxide - CO alarm be placed near all gas appliances such as furnaces, stoves, cloths dryers and water heaters. Gas leaks produce carbon monoxide which is a silent killer which do not produce smoke or any odor. Carbon monoxide leaks in cars also kill so it is a good idea to have a CO alarm in cars, especially older vehicles. See 3rd video above

Closing the doors to the rooms inside your home, especially at night while sleeping can slow down the growth of a fire and protect occupants from flames, prevent smoke inhalation and give extra time to evacuate safely. Having interconnected photoelectric / heat smoke alarms in every room and hallway is the best option to insure the siren is heard by all occupants as soon as smoke is present no matter where fire starts as having doors closed in sleeping rooms can make it harder to hear an alarm from afar. Install Photoelectric / heat and or photoelectric / CO interconnected detectors for best protection. See 4th video

Learn how to use your fire extinguisher for if and when a smoldering smoke or a small fire is present, i.e. up to size of flames at 1:22 minute mark of video when smoke detectors activated but do not try and extinguish a larger fast growing fire on your own. A fire doubles in size every 30 seconds so it is critical all occupants evacuate immediately and let the fire department fight the fire. Have an escape plan for entire family and have a placard sticker near front door for fire fighters to see giving number of family members and pets in case fire breaks out while your away from home. See 5th video above

Christmas Trees are very flammable and cause many home fires every year. Christmas trees can catch fire and take less than 1 minute to totally engulf a living room then double in size every 30 seconds spreading into rest of home. To avoid a Christmas tree fires turn out the lights on your tree before going to bed or if leaving your home and do not use the older type lights with bulbs that get hot and check the cords for frayed and exposed wiring. Watering your tree to keep it from drying out can also help reduce the risk of a fire. See how quickly a tree in a living room can turn into a raging inferno in less then 1 minute. See 6th video

See video above to see how ionization alarms will not wake your family up in smoldering smoke in time for safe evacuation. See Smoke Alarms page for more info.