Check your smoke alarms regularly

[Sharpkat]

A house in my street almost burnt to the ground this week. We had three fire engines here for hours.

This evening the fire brigade visited us all, checked our smoke alarms or had free ones to fit.

They offered each house advice too. The best advice (which won’t work for all) is to close all internal doors at night especially downstairs and bedroom door. Most fires start in the kitchen so if you shut all downstairs doors it buys you more time to hear the alarm and get out of the house if you are sleep.

I know this post is the most boring ever but please do check your alarms.

I'm not sure if its a thing yet in England, but in Scotland we had to legally have interlinked alarms installed. We have one in our living room, kitchen, bottom of the stairs, and top of the stairs as well as our garage. If one goes off, they all go off. It's really reassuring. We close all downstairs doors at night. We should be closing our bedroom doors but my children get scared through the night if the door is closed and they come through to us at some point most nights. If all of our doors were closed, there's no way we would hear an alarm at the other side of the house downstairs. That's why I'm so glad they are all linked up.

You also need to check carbon monoxide detectors regularly. I always do ours when I'm just about to get the vacuuming done, so it's built into my routine.

I use a pencil to write the date of the battery change on the inside of the unit.

I really need to replace mine. They’ve been beeping for about 5 years and we have just got used to it so don’t hear it now. I know they still work as I blew out a candle which went a but smoky and it triggered it. It’s on my to do list for this week.

Thank you for the timely reminder @Sharpkat

I survived a house fire as a child so am obsessive about fire risk.

Can I add always have a full set of house keys next to me in the bedroom at night. I also keep a set on the bottom stair and make sure visitors know they are there and which shape key fits which door.

I also keep window lock keys on the chest of drawers next to my bedroom window and again make sure visitors know there is one next to their window.

I never leave phones or devices charging at night, turn the TV off at the wall and do the same with my dishwasher and washing machine.

There is a fire hydrant in the kitchen cupboard along with a fire blanket and a small hydrant in the bedroom.

As children we escaped the fire which had started in the kitchen, but our parents weren’t there at the time and returned to Fire engines, a very badly damaged house and three very scared children sitting waiting for medical attention.

My abiding memory of that afternoon was how fast it all happened, how quickly the blaze spread and the absolute terror of trying to escape.