Common Fires And How To Stay Safe

6/22/2023 (Permalink)

Every day homes and businesses in and around the Lockport, Lemont, and homer Glen areas experience an accidental fires. It may not seem like it, but structure fires happen often. These are often smaller fires that are extinguished quickly by either the owner or the fire department. We don't usually hear about the smaller fires; it's the more massive fires that make the news where significant damage has happened, or worse when someone might have been injured.

These fires disrupt the lives of homeowners, tenants, and businesses and can cause thousands of dollars to repair. Even the smaller fires can cause severe smoke and soot damage throughout the building. The flames are often extinguished quickly, but the smoke moves everywhere, getting into every nook and cranny. While there will be flame damage right near the source, most of the damage will be from the smoke of the fire.

The smoke will cause some discoloration on the ceiling and walls nearby. Smoke will often gather in the corners of the room, causing discoloration and smoke webs or soot tags. These webs or tags are often in corners and look like a spider web that caught the smoke and soot. So while it seems like a lot of soot got stuck on a pre-existing spider web, it is actually a whole new structure that happened because of the fire.

A fire in your home can be devastating financially and emotionally for your family. Many times the occupants are displaced, and their entire lives disrupted. Although there is no way to prevent every fire, there are steps that you can take to minimize your family's risk of being victims.

Install Smoke Alarms

Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside sleeping areas, and outside every bedroom. Check once a month to be sure these alarms are functioning and replace batteries as needed. To reduce false smoke alarms, you will want to make sure the smoke alarm in the kitchen area is 10 feet away from the stove and cooking appliances.

Develop A Fire Escape Plan

Decide on a fire escape plan with your family members and practice this plan often. This plan should outline a safe way to get out of every room and every level of the structure. Establish a safe place to meet outside of your home in case of fire or smoke. This might be across the street at a neighbors house or at least a safe distance away from the house.

Install A Fire Extinguisher

Having a fire extinguisher in your kitchen is essential. This will can help you in case a fire starts while cooking. The best place for the fire extinguisher is away from the higher risk fire areas like the oven and stovetop. A good storage area would be under the kitchen sink, or in the food pantry.

Close Bedroom Doors

It is recommended to close the bedrooms doors while sleeping. If a fire should start outside your bedroom, you want to lower the risk of smoke inhalation by keeping your door closed while sleeping. By closing your bedroom door, the smoke alarm located nearest to the fire should wake you up before smoke has had a chance to infiltrate your bedroom.