Four Tips to Prevent Fire Damage in Your Homes
Are you concerned about the risk of fires in your home? Do you want to protect your loved ones and belongings from the threat of fire? Of course, you do. Making a few small adjustments to your lifestyle can prevent fires from happening in your home, even when you least expect it. As a public claims adjuster in Polk County, we have seen the devastating aftermath that fires have left in many homes. To prevent fires, there are a few things that homeowners should be doing.
Avoid Burning Candles
Open-flames and burning candles contribute to many cases of house fires each year. Many people do not think that these candles will pose a danger to their homes and loved ones, but accidents can happen when you least expect it. To avoid this risk, we urge you to avoid burning open-flame candles in your home. This is especially true when you have children or pets in the home, as they can pull at the candle unknowingly, causing it to catch fire.
Learn How to Use Your Fire Extinguisher
Many homes have a fire extinguisher, and if you do not own one, this is something you need to get. Although many homes have a fire extinguisher, they may not have people in the home that understand how to use it. When you own a home, you should also know how to use a fire extinguisher so that you can eliminate the fire before it spreads. Take the time to familiarize yourself with these instructions and practice using it in case the real thing happens.
Install Smoke Alarms in the Right Places
Do you have working smoke alarms in your home? Be sure that you test these smoke alarms on a routine basis to ensure they have full battery life to protect you in the event of a fire. Also, you want to avoid installing smoke alarms in doorways, near windows, and by your airducts. By placing them here, they may never detect a fire until it has already spread through the home. Keep them centered in rooms so that they can detect a fire as a soon as it starts.
Keep Heat Sources Away from Linens
When you have space heaters, Christmas lights, lamps, and other heat sources, you need to keep them away from any linens. If a lamp were to fall over on a pile of pillows, it could release enough heat to ignite a fire. This is also true if your Christmas lights are placed too close to your curtains or rugs. Be sure that you keep all heat sources at least three feet away from blankets, pillows, upholstery, curtains, and other soft linens to prevent any potential fires.
These are a few simple ways that you can adjust your lifestyle to prevent fire damage in your home. When you prevent fires from ever occurring, you never need to be worried about the dangers and devastation that they can cause. To hear other tips to keep your home safe from these accidents, contact our public claims adjuster in Polk County today.
