The 5 Stages of Fire Safety In Your Home
- Erin Barger
- Feb 3, 2017
- 2 min read
As a fire safety professional, I have broken down fire safety into the following categories:
1. Fire Prevention - Obviously the safest fire is one that never starts. The kitchen is the most common place for a household fire. A great fire prevention strategy here is to simply stay in the kitchen while you cook. Keeping your grill, fire pit and smoking areas away from your house is an effective way to prevent an outside fire from spreading.
2. Fire Detection - Not all fires can be prevented, therefor early fire, smoke and poison detection is imperative to keeping you safe. There are two smoke detector technologies to consider, Photoelectric & Ionic. These detectors detect different types of fire conditions. The Photoelectric is generally considered a smoke alarm because it is effective at detecting the slow smoldering smoke. The Ionic detectors are more sensitive to the actual heat produced from a fast burning fire and flames. Since Carbon Monoxide (CO) is invisible, odorless and extremely dangerous, it is also important that you have CO detectors installed. These detectors should be located on each level of your home and in each bedroom at a minimum.
3. Fire Protection - The fire protection available in your home may include sprinklers, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, CO detectors, flammable gas detectors and escape ladders. These can all be effective ways to protect yourself from fire however, it is important that they are all located properly and maintained. It is also important that the homeowner knows how to operate these devices before they need them in an emergency.
4. Fire Investigation - When your smoke detector alarms it is time to investigate. Is the alarm a low battery chirp or is it telling you there is a fire? If your alarms are interconnected you should investigate to determine which actual alarm is activating. Is it a false alarm? Is there smoke or fire? Is the fire small enough to put out with your extinguisher or hose? This investigation is important for a fire alarm because you can clearly see or smell smoke and quickly extinguishing a fire while it is small. A Carbon Monoxide investigation is different. Because CO is odorless and invisible it is advised to exit the building and call an emergency responder to do the investigation.
5. Fire Reaction - Once you see fire or smoke it is time to react quickly. If you cannot extinguish the fire yourself then you need to evacuate immediately. An Evacuation Plan should be established with your entire family and practiced regularly. Each member of the family should practice escaping the home and meeting at the designated Safe Meeting Place.
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