to ask about basic fire safety in the house?

[bibbitybobbityyhat]

I've just been reading a terrible news item about a house fire.

Aibu to think too many of us rest on our laurels about fires at home if we have smoke alarms and think that we have done enough? I can't imagine that all of the people who died in house fires in the last 10 years, or whateve, were all living in places without smoke alarms.

So what other basic precautions can you take? One of my children sleeps in a slightly separate part of the house to me (different landing, different flight of stairs) ... and would sleep through any kind of racket! How would I reach him if the fire was going up his staircase and not ours?

Am genuinely worried about this. Sorry for slight Friday night downer.

Good question. Following

Local fire stations will come out and do a free check of your house, check potential hazards / give safety tips / check or fit fire alarms.

I keep meaning to call to have them come out to check our house.

I agree fire alarms make us feel safe, but we should be cautious & know what needs changing etc.

I always unplug things from an extension lead, even if they're not turned on

Always check hob to make sure off

Same with toaster, kettle...

Don't put your dishwasher, washing machine or tumble dryer on at night when you are in bed.

Our local fire station are very happy to come out and do house visits to check your smoke alarms, escape routes and so on. We go fairly often to the fire station (at least once a year) with various youth groups and they are always telling their kids to get their families to book a visit.

Always shut your internal doors when going up to bed. It helps keep the fire back. I actually read somewhere it can give you an extra 15-20 minutes to escape.

The numbers of deaths in domestic fires has fallen off a cliff in the last 30 years
(Fire service / HSE stats show it clearly)

Risk areas

• smoking
• candles
• gas hobs
• open fires

Precautions

• fire guards
• plates under candles
• fire blankets near hobs
• smoke detectors

Fire doors are a bad joke as people leave them open
If your fuse box is not an RCD type, get it replaced = reduced fire risk
Turn off what does not need to be on over night

We have cats so all doors are open at all times
but 5 smoke detectors help

Make sure all hallways, corridors and areas around exits are free of clutter. In the dark of smoke you won't be able to navigate familiar surroundings with ease, never mind if there are school bags, buggies etc in the way.

Get Fire Brigade round to give you fire safety advice - they used to do it so assume they still do.

There were government issued on this some time ago - might be online. But sensible to tell them to ring 999 if they suspect fire, tell them you will leave keys in window locks, put a small sharp ended hammer device near window to smash double glazing, teach them to block bottom of door if fire is outside - you can even rig up a rope to drop down if upstairs.

That's a good point about internal doors. It makes you think twice about open living arrangements, especially when most of the appliances that might cause a fire are usually on the ground floor.

Unless someone deliberately starts a fire in the house, or leaves a chip pan on (never going to happen here) or falls asleep holding a cigarette (again won't happen here) then electrics are the big number 1 cause of house fires?

Im fresh off a fire training session for work and this has played on my mind as well.

Advice was, if you aren’t using it switch it off at the socket. It’s really really rare to die from a house fire caused by a tumble dryer during the day when you are at home watching TV.

Don’t use tumble, washing machine or dishwasher overnight.

My teens have TVs in their room along with phone chargers, extension leads etc. The advice was to put alarms in their bedrooms as an extra precaution. Our instructor said you can buy them from amazon for £20 a pair that are self adisive.

Check your fire alarms every week.

We watched a video of a real Christmas tree with a faulty light that engulfed the entire living room within a second, no chance of surviving if asleep.

bibbity
all doors open over 3 floors here
so if DH burns the gravy, the whole house (all 5 ) go off
as doors are open

if the fire door was shut, downstairs could be ablaze before upstairs knew

house fires are VERY rare now
saddo auditor of fire brigades speaking

Get proper smoke dectors that are wired in to your electrical supply. The battery ones are bettter than nothing but wired if at all possible is better.

Fire brigade and building control gave me advice twice (one during house renovations):

30 minute self closing fire doors

Fire retardant board between each floor. These are both mandatory in renovations be new builds now.

Always close all doors at night, particularly kids bedroom doors. Very small children sleep through fire alarms and the fireman told me it's the smoke that kills, and kills kids first, before parents have time to wake up.

Practice a fire drill at home. Work out how you would escape.

Tell your kids they have to get out and failing that get to a window. Lots of small kids hide because they're scared and don't know what to do.

Fire blankets in bedrooms. Over your head if you have to get out through a smoke logged or on fire house.

Show your kids how to unlock doors and windows (if they're not too young).

Don't leave extension cables plugged in at night.

Most devices and washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers should be switched off overnight.

Smoke alarms, obvs.

Mostly the fire brigade said get out, practice how to get out, and shut your doors at night.

Sounds daft but I make the kids do a fire drill twice a year!! They think I'm nuts but if the worst ever happens it'll stop them having a panic.

birdsnot
Sorry but I'm not buying ANY of the paranoia they told you.
see my earlier posts

@DailyMailDontStealMyThread

Do you have a link for those smoke alarms?

Extension cables have been mentioned more than once.

Why are they bad?

Scifi
Because the old ones did not have fuses in
new ones do
and are no risk

Have an escape plan. Know who will grab which kids. Plan the route out. Make sure windows can be accessed. Doors closed. Fire alarms positioned correctly. On each floor and to catch the first but of smoke. Test regularly. Know to stay low down. Use towels to block bottom of doors.

@Scifi101 extension cables are risky because it allows you to plug in more than the standard 13 amps a single plug would usually take.

@Ta1kinPeace so the firemen/women with horrific experience of finding children bundled in corners of rooms dead are scare mongering?

My ds is 10. They do fire drill at school so I asked him how he would get out if there was smoke in the house at night. He knows to open the window, slide down the porch roof and drop into the flower bed so he won’t hurt himself. He knows to shout for me but if I don’t answer, to get out and fetch a neighbour.

Don't lock yourself in at night. You need to be able to open your front/back door easily. So if you do lock it, keep the key by the door and not in another room.

Bug out bag - there's a good list on this thread which basically has suggestions for what you could, or should have prepared & ready to go in the event of a fire. I'm trying to get a bag together as I'm woefully underprepared. There was an explosion in Paris a few days ago & people were given very little time to get out of their homes.

All extension leads - if they are in permanent use, i.e. for clock radios etc, then make sure that the current does not exceed the maximum load for the plug / outlet. More info here. Also, I seem to remember on a fire safety training course several years ago, we wwrs told that the total load for an extension lead should not exceed 13A, as that's the maximum load of a plug socket. You can work this out by looking at the plugs of each appliance plugged into the extension lead. Of course, recommendations may have changed since then, but it seems reasonable advice to go by. If not in use overnight or when you go out, unplug or switch off at the wall.

Close all doors at night. Check your smoke alarms, regularly. We do (by accident, we have the world's most sensitive alarm & it's sited right by the kitchen door...)

Don't run your tumble dryer if you're going out or to bed.

Keep spare keys by each external door. Obviously not visible or accessible from the outside - we have ours placed so it's not visible through the letterbox. Our 6y/o can get the key & unlock the door by herself if necessary.

I know what you mean about being worried. I slept right through a fire alarm in university halls once (I was actually sober). No-one spotted that I was missing. Rather unpleasant thought.

We don't run kitchen appliances unattended.
We have fire extinguishers on each floor.
We have a fire blanket.
We have rope and sloping roofs as escape plans. Keys are findable through feel.
I have full on anxiety/OCD so I need to know. Nobody smokes and we don't use candles.

Remember when you stay somewhere different, e.g. on holiday, always all find your escape route on the first evening.

Also teach your children what to do if their clothes catch fire, i.e. drop and roll, not try to run about or beat the flames with their hands.