Top 10 Safety Tips for National Fire Prevention Week

October 5th through October 11th is National Fire Prevention Week!

This week was established in to commemorate the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, in which countless of lives, homes, and businesses were destroyed.

In order to prevent further atrocities, every year the National Fire Protection Agency establishes a theme to combat fires. This years theme is Smoke Alarms Save Lives: Test Yours Every Month. 

Here are a few tips to help prevent fires:

#1. Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.

#2. Keep anything that can catch fire – oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains – away from your stovetop.

#3. Blow out all candles when you leave the room or go to bed. Avoid the use of candles in the bedroom and other areas where people may fall asleep.

#4. Keep candles at least 12 inches away from anything that can burn. 

#5. Keep anything that can burn at least three-feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove, or portable space heaters. 

#6. Never use your own oven to heat your home. 

#7. If you smoke, smoke outside. Most deaths result from fires that started in living rooms, family rooms, and dens or bathrooms. 

#8. Keep cigarettes, lighters, matches, and other smoking materials up high out of the reach of children, in a locked cabinet.

#9. Only plug one heat-producing appliance (such as coffee maker, toaster, space heater, etc.) into a receptacle outlet at a time.

#10. Major appliances (refrigerators, dryers, washers, stoves, air conditioners, etc.) should be plugged directly into a wall receptacle outlet. Extension cords and plug strips should not be used.

For more information on National Fire Prevention Week, make sure to book one of our Safety and Security Speakers, or contact us at 1.800.345.5607. For more fire prevention tips, check out www.nfpa.org.