Ways to Protect Your Home from Fires

The idea of someone completely fireproofing their home is nothing more than a fairy tale. House fires cause billions in damage, tens of thousands of injuries, and thousands of deaths each year. Our public insurance claims adjuster in Orlando, FL notices that many of these fires are around the holidays, and many of them can be avoided. Here are some safety tips to help prevent the likely hood of house fires and fire damage.

Fireplace Safety

When it comes to homes with fireplaces, make sure you have the chimney cleaned and inspected every year. This will reduce the buildup that often causes fireplace related fires.
Wood used in your fireplace should be dry and seasoned properly.
Do not ever burn foreign materials or trash in your fireplace.
Install Chimney Caps
Never leave the house or go to sleep with a fire blazing.

Smoke Detectors Save Lives

Smoke detectors not only save lives, but they save homes. These warning devices detect smoke. When they do this, they alert everyone with the most annoyingly piercing alarm. If you have smoke detectors that run on batteries, make sure you change the batteries frequently. Also, never remove smoke detectors from your rooms. You want to make sure you keep one in every room on every floor. Test them regularly. Also, you may consider investing in smart detectors that offer many extra functions and safety features.

Make Sure to Have Fire Extinguishers

This goes hand in hand with basic fire safety. You should have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. These tools are used to contain and snuff out small, localized, fires. For home fire safety, multi-purpose fire extinguishers are recommended.

Electrical Safety

There are three large contributors to house fires: smoking, kitchen fires, and electrical fires. Electrical fires can be tricky to prevent if you don't know what to do. To begin, NEVER do your own electrical work or wiring work if you do not have a license and experience doing so. Always leave electrical troubleshooting, installation, and repair to professionals. Inspect your outlets and switches regularly to make sure that they are not getting hot, sparking, or showing any black or dark burn marks. A minor surge in electricity can short out, damage, ruin electronics, or even cause fires. Whether you decide to get a basic plug strip, surge protective devices, or even fully protect your house with a whole-home surge protection device, this is a great way to prevent many electrical house fires.

These are a few tips to prevent fires in your home. If your home has been damaged by a fire and you are ready to start the insurance claims process, contact our public insurance claims adjuster in Orlando, FL to hear how we can help you today.