The importance of home emergency preparation for fires.

10/25/2021 (Permalink)

The importance of home emergency preparation for fires.

The unthinkable. A fire, a situation you hope never will happen to you, but they do happen.  It is crucially important to be prepared for the worst at all times.  When making an emergency plan for fires, some factors you must take into consideration are:

• Amount of people in the home
• Ages of the residents
• Animals and house hold pets
• Personal belongings that are crucial to be kept

These are important as you want to make sure everyone and everything you care deeply about are safe and secure if a disaster occurs.

You also want a plan of action and to practice that plan with the whole family.  There are different actions to be taken when a fire occurs.  This depends mostly upon if there are people inside your home when the fire starts and what type of fire you are dealing with. If no one is in the home when the fire starts, your first reaction is going to be to try to put the fire out.  There are different types of fires in which you will need to use different ways to put them out if you can.  If you are unsuccessful at safely putting the fire out, you must call 911 and tell them the address and that your home has caught fire and you need immediate assistance.  The operator should be able to guide you and tell you what to do until help arrives. 

Some typical house fires include

Kitchen fires/ Grease fires- Kitchens are the place most fires start due to there being a large supply of heating devices, electrical outlets, and people using cooking equipment.  Most kitchen fires are grease fires and this is mostly due to people leaving the stove top on unattended.  To put out a grease fire, you will want to cut off the heat supply, cover the pan with a lid, use a fire extinguisher and or douse the fire in either baking soda or salt if needed.  DO NOT throw the pan in the sink and turn the water on.  The grease will spread everywhere and so will the fire.

Electrical fires- For electrical fires you will want to first cut the power source off if possible.  Similar to grease fires, you will want to use baking soda to douse it in and or a fire extinguisher.  DO NOT use water on an electrical fire, this is very dangerous and you could further injure yourself or worse.

If you cannot put the fire out yourself, evacuate the home and wait for help to arrive.  Fires spread quickly, you may only have time to get your family and yourself to safety.  This is why it is important to keep all crucial documents either in a fire and flood safe box, and also close to the exit of the home so you may have time to grab it on your way out.  Many fire-safe boxes can handle house fires just fine so do not be in a panic to get those documents.  Just focus on getting your family and yourself to safety.  You should, in preparation, have a designated spot outside of the house for everyone to meet if a fire occurs.  This way you will know that everyone is safe just incase anyone gets separated on the way out.  Close any doors on your way out of the house to keep the fire from spreading even faster. Less air, less oxygen, less fire.  And remember, smoke alarms save lives.  Make sure yours are working properly. Properly working fire alarms and a solid plan on action for if disaster strikes makes for a safer outcome from a potential fatal situation.