Fire safety is critically important to the safety of you, your family, and your home. With the cooler temps arriving soon, individuals will surely be using more heating appliances. In addition to using heaters, upcoming fall holidays usually involve the use of candles and cooking appliances. Miller’s Services truly wishes to help families by sharing this fire safety information. Keep reading for important reminders, information, explanations, and resources.
Where Are the Smoke Alarms in Your Home?
Take a walk through your home or apartment. Where are your smoke alarms located? Do you have enough alarms? The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends they should be located on each level of a home. Make sure you have smoke alarms installed in each bedroom and in hallways outside of sleeping areas.Â
Did you find that you don’t have as many smoke alarms as the NFPA recommends? We recommend purchasing additional smoke alarms if your home is missing a few. Miller’s Services can help check to see if your smoke alarms are installed properly, have working batteries, and can make sure they are not obstructed or blocked by anything. Call Miller’s Services to help your family and home stay safe with proper smoke alarm installation and placement.
Next Steps: Fire Safety Plans
Some of us may remember the fire department coming to chat in our classrooms as kids back in the day, but when was the last time you talked with your family about what to actually do if there was a fire emergency in your home? Things to think about include whether you live in an upper floor apartment or have a home with multiple floors, a safe escape plan which you can practice, and setting a meeting place outside the home.
Having discussions around the topic of fire safety is imperative no matter the age of the people in your home. Fire safety should be spoken among children, teens, adults, elderly, deaf or hard of hearing individuals, those with mobility issues or disabilities… AKA individuals of any age!
Be proactive, and check to see if your smoke alarms are functioning properly. Dying batteries should be replaced, and be sure to discuss fire plans with family members of all ages. Check out these various resources from the NFPA.
Resources for families with children
Resources for families with older adults
Resources for families with disabilities
Resources for campus housing fire safety
Another important thought to consider this fall season: Do you have young adult children who have just moved into their first apartment? A lot of younger people don’t know what is expected and not expected of a landlord, and they might not know the right questions to be asking since it’s the first time they are living on their own or with roommates. Be proactive and share this blog post with them, and encourage them to share it with their roommates (sharing options in the top right hand corner). The following is a list of tips to remember when using any heating appliances this upcoming fall and winter:Â
- Turn off portable heaters when leaving or going to bed. Better yet, make sure the portable heater you purchase has an auto or safety shut off feature!
- Keep the area around any heating equipment clear of anything that can burn.
- Never use an oven to heat your home.
- Conduct a walk through of your home or apartment to see if you have an adequate amount of smoke alarms as explained above. Contact your landlord if you find any issues.
- Test the smoke alarms monthly.
- Purchase and install a carbon monoxide alarm.
- Check the expiration date of your fire extinguisher. If you find your home or apartment doesn’t have a fire extinguisher, we recommend purchasing one.
We could go on and on about fire safety but want to start you off with this information and resources. You can read more about smoke and carbon monoxide detectors here, and gather more information online at the National Fire Protection Association. Keeping your family safe is extremely important to all of us in the Miller’s family.Â
Fire prevention week is in October. Keep an eye out for events being held in your community and your children’s schools. It’s a great time to have these conversations around fire safety ahead of the upcoming fall and winter seasons!Â
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