Common Causes of Home Fires, Part I

10/17/2019 (Permalink)

Take caution to avoid fires being ignited by cooking and space heaters!

Fires are devastating! The good news is many fires are avoidable and preventable. Two of the most common causes of home fires are cooking errors and portable heaters. Continue reading to learn how these fires are ignited and some tips on how to avoid them.

Cooking Equipment:

Cooking fires are most often caused by unattended cooking.  Never leave food cooking unattended, stay in your kitchen when frying, grilling, or boiling food. Even if you will be “just a minute” the risk is too great! Never leave food cooking unattended! Two-thirds of cooking fires start are ignited by food and/or cooking materials.

Best Practices:

• Stay present while cooking.
• Ask someone to watch the equipment while you leave the room.
• Don’t cook if you are tired or intoxicated.
• Turn it off and double-check it!
• Annual inspections on your appliances to ensure they are functioning properly.
• Keep your cooking equipment and appliances clean.

Portable/Space Heaters:

Portable space heaters most commonly catch fire when they come into contact with other household items, commonly things like curtains, blankets, and carpet. Space heaters can also overheat easily & catch fire. 

Best Practices:

• Maintain 3 ½ ft between your portable heater and flammable objects!
• Unplug, when you are leaving the room or home, or the heaters are not in use
• Keep out of reach of children and pets!
• Place flatly
• Inspect heaters every few months to ensure they are in good working condition ie: no broken plugs or damaged wires
• Plug heaters directly into an outlet, avoid extension cords

We hope that you have found this information helpful.   Please take extreme care when you are cooking and using space heaters.  Remember to stay attentive, use caution, and follow these safety tips. 

While we all hope for the best and cannot imagine a fire happening the reality is it happens more often than we want to recognize.  Hope for the best, plan for the worst.  So be sure to 1. Have plenty of smoke alarms in your home and 2. have an emergency escape plan. 

If the unthinkable happens it is important to react safely and quickly. Here’s what to do:

• Get out! If possible close the door behind you when you leave to help contain the fire.
• Call 9-1-1, wait for emergency responders, do not attempt to put the fire out by yourself.
• Call your homeowner's insurance company to begin the claim process.
• Call SERVPRO of The Windsors for emergency response, we’ll walk you through the rest.