Did you know most house fires happen in January? Did you know that my family lost our home 2007? We were lucky that our family was unharmed, but we lost everything we owned. I’ve always wanted to put together a post of all the things I learned from the experience that can help you prepare yourself in the event something horrible should happen with these 7 Fire Safety Tips. Many of these things we had never done. We hope it never happens again but if it does we’re prepared!
My 7 Fire Safety Tips:
1. Check your Detectors! You need to check your smoke detectors twice a year! So many times you hear about fires happening, and there were no working fire detectors in the home. You’ll want to check them right now if it has been awhile. Otherwise, it’s great to get into the routine of changing your batteries with daylight savings twice a year. So I never forget I have a subscription for 9-volt batteries on Amazon that automatically ship every six months. When they show up, I know it’s time for them to be changed!
While you’re at it; you should also have a working carbon monoxide detector too. Change these batteries when you’re changing your smoke detectors.
2. Make a Plan. You need to make a plan. If our fire were at night, we are pretty sure that we wouldn’t have been able to get to one of our children. He was a baby in a crib, and our other child wasn’t big enough to reach in and pick him up yet even if he tried. We had no way to get to him and no plan on how to escape from our second floor. If you have a second floor, investing in a fire escape ladder would be a great idea.
Getting out of the house if only part of the escape plan. Where will you meet? Worrying about getting all your children out of the house is every parent’s nightmare. The last thing you want is someone unaccounted for. If everyone knows to meet in the same place and the steps one would take to escape, it makes it so much easier and faster for trained help to go in and find them.
3. Practice your plan. Do you know how to use a fire extinguisher? Do you know where it is stored? Do your kids? Will they remember what you told them? Practice the plan you made! If you purchase a fire safety ladder, does your child know how to hang it out their window on their own? Make sure it’s one that has more than one use. You can’t be prepared if you’ve never practiced using it or setting it up. Practicing is especially important if you have little ones you expect to be able to use it independently. Many escape ladders are one-time use only.
4. Invest in a safe. Place your important things in safe places. I didn’t own a fireproof safe. Everything important to me was lost. I had no identification, and I had no proof of who I was. Replacing your social security cards and drivers license is hard to do when you can’t prove who you are. I had just married three months previously, and the confusion of my new last name only added to the difficulty.
5. Inventory your belongings. Walk around your house and record everything you own room by room. Open your drawers and all closet doors. If your house was to burn to nothing but rubble how would you prove what you owned? Take that video and upload right to youtube and make it private. No one will be able to access it, and you have detailed proof of all your belongings.
6. Backup photos. If your computer melted like mine, would it be okay or would you lose everything? Keep CDs of all your photos in a safe. If you can, make copies of the important ones. Upload all your photos to an online site like Shutterfly. They don’t charge you, and if something was to happen to your originals, you could always order new ones.
7. Insurance. Check what your policy ACTUALLY covers. Do you have enough? Are there any loop holes or area’s that need attention. If you have a family lawyer have them take a look at your policy.
You think you know what you’d do in a fire, but you don’t! Even with the floor on fire I tried going back in. I knew I shouldn’t, but there is always that ONE thing you think is worth it. I promise you; it’s not. I hope you’re never in this situation. It’s life changing. If you follow these Fire Safety Tips, hopefully, you are all able to find safety and save what you can. I am by no means an expert, and this is just my personal opinion of things I wish we had done before our fire. This is a great precaution to take not just for fires but for any natural disaster or theft too!
These are great tips! You never know when a fire could possibly happen in your own house.
No one wants to think about something as devastating as fire, but we see it on the news every night. All of these tips are good ones. It pays to be prepared!
really good points and tips,,never can be too careful
This is so important. I think the main thing is making a plan. Make one for both day and night. Reactions to fires at night are of coursee different than when people are alert. Important points.
These are great things to remember. I am going to double check my stuff. Thanks.
Some really great tips here. These disastrous events can happen with anyone so one should always be prepared for all this. And the list of things you mentioned in your article will definitely help people stay prepared for this.
Very important tips. this is very scary to me i know people that have passed in a house fire very scary
It is so important to have a plan in case of a fire. It can happen to any of us. These are some great tips. Thank you so much for sharing
These are great fire safety tips, thanks.
Good tips! We have had a fire- luckily we werent home, it was electrical (furnace) trust me itisnt any fun. We do have drills how to get out and as important who is going to be gathering our animals.
Any fire safety types are great thanks for your information
These are great fire safety tips for the entire family!
helpful tips to share