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.

My dad kept hammer under my bed when I was young. My bedroom window led out onto a small roof with a drop onto grass. The window tilted right open but he thought to save time he would just smash it if needed. Work out how you will getnout, keep keys near enough to the front door so you can access them but they aren’t visible from the outside. My mum has hersbon the floor at the side of the door, mine has a thumb turn lock. There have been several instances of families getting to the door and being trapped.

Fire blanket in the kitchen is a must and check your smoke alarms regularly. I live in a town house and sleep on the top floor so want to invest in an escape ladder. Keep a phone with you at night so you can call for assistance.

House fires are less common now and the fire brigade spend more time on training, fire safety and cutting people out of cars than actually fighting fires. To be fair I wouldn’t do their job for anything.

Seriously, practice an escape drill with the kids. Have a plan b for in case the stairs are on fire. Practice shouting for help and attracting attention at the window. Go to the fire station open day and talk to the firemen.

purple firefighters is the pc term.

I ant there also something about not having those cube multi plugs in wall socket. Instead use extension lead?

second practicing a fire drill with the kids... they love it! but they do remember & ask questions. my neighbours looked at me as if I was nuts though
we also talk about what to do about a fire if staying in a hotel... years of traveling mean I always check exit direction and how many steps or doors away it is...

I've changed my locks to thumb turn ones. If you don't have little children who might escape I'd thoroughly recommend them. Use your key as normal to enter the house then lock it without them.

Don't put anything combustible on or near electrical sockets/appliances. Newspaper, books, piles of clothing, cardboard boxes etc - keep it all away from anything electrical.

Electric plugs can get very hot if they are cheap imports or faulty. If there's something touching or very close, like paper, it may ignite. (Apparently cheap Chinese phone chargers are a particular risk).

Same with appliances and electrical items. Don't stack newspapers on top of your fridge or washing machine, nor in a pile next to it. If there's a loose wire or fault, again it could flame or just get very hot, and again, anything combustible could catch fire and spread.

The thought of children huddled in corners dead has made me feel incredibly sad.

Closing doors is very important, but weirdly I don't close the kids door as they like a bit of light. Just goibg to order a nightlight now (although now wondering about plugging it n overnight!). We have a fire extinguisher and fire blanket downstairs and it would maybe be worth getting one for upstairs too.

Two smoke alarms. Must test more regularly. I have planned an escape route but a practice run would be a good idea.

I feel a bit ott compared to my mates but I have emergency escape routes planned, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms all over the place, fire blanket in the kitchen, a powder extinguisher in one of the cupboards and a hammer available should I need to smash a window etc. We're fairly cautious with electrical stuff etc and mindful of how we store stuff like flammables. We've never had a fire but as a health and safety person I like to be a bit careful. (I've also kitted out our garage with various bits of PPE for my husband to wear when he's doing DIY, but that's a different matter. )

I just got new windows and doors and got thumb turn lock which was easy and cheap but they looked at me like I had two heads when I asked. Then also fire escape windows and a ladder, wired smoke alarms that all go off together. I don’t turn off everything at the socket but don’t overload them and regularly replace extension cables (I mean not like monthly, but they are all newish and have switches on them and are from reputable suppliers). Getting fire door put in kitchen with next round of renovations, builder was like ‘eh, it’d only hold it back half an hour’ - that’s loads of time in a fire, ten minutes could make the difference!

I had a house fire. It was caused by my father 'helping' with some DIY - he nicked an extension cable with his jigsaw but didn't notice, then plugged my freezer back into it in my cellar. Right next to the cable was a shelf of aerosol cans and similar that exploded and the force ripped up all the tiles in my hallway above. In a way this was lucky as it certainly alerted us (and half the street) to the fire very quickly! It was still almost a year before we could move back in.

After this, and DS's classmate dying in a house fire a couple of years ago, I am paranoid about fire. I have done the following to give us the best chance of escaping:

• More smoke alarms than we need, including in all bedrooms
• All switches turned off at night except router, fridge and freezer
• Shutting doors at night to ensure more time to get out
• I have practised escaping with my kids and do this every so often randomly so they don't forget what to do. I've watched video where they fake a fire to see what kids do - they almost always hide - I've made my kids watch these and talked a LOT about what to do. I've woken them at night and turned the power out to practice (yes, my kids think I'm crazy but can see my point given DS's friend died).
• I keep my keys in the locks at night. Yes someone may swipe them through the letterbox (though would be v tricky) but that's better than uus dying because we can't find keys/see to get them in the lock
• I keep a torch next to my bed so I can see if the power is out
• I have an escape ladder in my bedroom as we'd have to exit through my window if we couldn't get downstairs.
• I have fire extinguishers in the kitchen, cellar and upstairs hallway.

Oh, I also have a fire blanket in the kitchen and a hammer for breaking glass in my kids' room in case they can't get out (window opening too high to climb out of). They know where it is and not to touch it unless there's a fire on pain of death!

We had the fire brigade around for advice
Smoke alarms everywhere
Never use tumble drier or washing machine unless we’re in the house
Carbon monoxide alarm near boiler
All routes to exits unobstructed
Keys in back door
All other doors can be opened without a key
We have open fires but never go to bed unless they’re extinguished
Full electrical check safety every 10 years

But I do need to remind everyone about the fire drill which the fire brigade advised which is that everyone should gather in one room (if the exit is obstructed) and when the fire brigade are called tell them which room you’re in so they know where to rescue people from.

When we moved into our new house, the previous home owners for some reason had taken all of the fire alarms.

We asked the fire department to come out and fit them (a service our area offers) they went through some basic safety, helped us to identify our ‘escape point’ and gave us basic fire advice such as keeping car keys near the door but far away they can’t be taken through post box, keeping all internal doors downstairs shut etc xx

Don't use the washing machine or dishwasher during the night and switch the appliances off at the mains when not in use if at all possible.
No mobiles, iPads or laptops charging overnight, and make sure the charger is pulled from the wall when not in use and not left hanging with a live charge in the end of it!
TV's turned off properly and not standby,
I have plug in air wick things which are pulled out the wall at night too..

@Sunnysidegold it's horrific isn't it
You can get LED night lights.

Good idea to teach your kids planning to drop from windows is to get them to turn to one side before dropping so they don't break their kneecaps/head on the side of the house!

Important to close all doors at night or when out. We had new internal doors when we moved here and paid extra for fire doors leading to the stairs. Apparently could buy an extra 30 minutes, at least we could get downstairs and out of the front door safely. Otherwise usual detectors, fire extinguisher in kitchen etc.

I read that a major cause of fires is the cupboard under the stairs. So easy not to turn the light off - and throw in an old coat or something like that hanging on the back of the door - and that’s an invisible fire.

I worry about this most now I'm on my own.

Do the fire service really come out for a visit?
Years ago in guides we did about what to do if there a fire and I've never forgotten it so I know about putting stuff under doors to stop the fire and jumping out if needed.

My little girl is 5. Should I tell her what to do?? What should I tell her? To find me first what do you tell children? Or is that something the firefighters do in their visit, advise what to say?
I tired to tell about 999 once but she just laughed I don't think she gets it

I got up one morning, to find a note on the kitchen worktop saying – “if you are looking for it, I have put it outside in the garden.”
At first I had no idea what this meant, but after checking discovered my multi blender outside in the garden.
This had apparently caught fire in the middle of the night. DS25+ heard it start up, and came downstairs. It had caught fire. He went to switch it off, but it was already ‘OFF’. He unplugged it , put out the fire, and then as a precaution, put it outside, well away from the house. DH also got up to visit the bathroom, and smelt the smoke, so went downstairs to find out what was up.
This blender is one in which both the bowl, and the lid, have to fit exactly on the base for it to work, but the lid was definitely not on properly, but had been ‘resting ‘ on the base, after removal from dishwasher, etc.
I cannot remember if the bowl was fitted properly, but the switch was definitely ‘off’, though I admit, due to a small kitchen, the blender was left out on the worktop, but was switched on at the power point (not on the appliance). I hope this makes sense.
We sent the blender back to the manufacturer, who after some examination said that minute food particles had got into the internal structure, interfering with the electronics. I was not entirely convinced, and although they sent a replacement, I have since not used that brand, and make sure everything is switched off at night.
I never use dishwasher, tumble dryer at night, etc; and usually leave the door of the tumble dryer open, if it has been used.
The point to note is that I slept through the whole thing, and heard nothing, and did not hear DS or DH get up, etc.
We have since bought smoke alarms for hall and upstairs, in case a similar thing happens in the future. This could have been worse, but fortunately nothing serious except a ruined blender. (I would not use the replacement).
So, since then I have thought about risk of fire, or smoke and how to get out of the house, etc

We have a hard wired heat detector in the kitchen that makes enough noise to raise the dead, smoke detectors also hard wired on all three floors.
Firedoors that are all shut at night. Keys always left in doors, I'm more scared of fire and the need to escape than I am of someone smashing the glass in and turning the key.
Escape route planned central to all bedrooms, out of one landing window,drop onto overhang thing over front door and then ground.
Always check everything is switched off and the cooker is clear and everything is off. Ditto kettle and toaster.
We NEVER buy cheap phone chargers when the kids break theirs, as expensive as they are we always replace with genuine Apple ones.
No phones allowed to be kept in rooms by children just in case they're tempted to plug them in when in bed and fall asleep and it overheats.

We had a house fire 18 months ago (chip pan, although I was cooking courgette fritters!). Thesmoke alarm saved our lives.

• Make sure you have smoke detectors up and downstairs (and more than one downstairs if large house).
• Do not put smoke detector in kitchen
• Also get a heat detector www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/the-home/smoke-alarms-and-heat-alarms/
• Fire blanket easy access in kitchen
• Never leave phones charging over night
• Fire brigade will definitely come and do an inspection for you.

To the poster who rolled their eyes at me for 'believing the propaganda': the reason deaths from house fires has dropped so dramatically is precisely because people follow basic precautions better now. Yes, I've got wired in alarms. And yes, both my kids slept through them last time they went off. And yes, I've been in a house fire.

Taking sensible precautions is not hysteria. It's, er, being sensible. It's the same as checking your exit routes on a plane. 99% of the time they're a waste of time. Good! But what about that 1%?

It takes very little time and effort and money. It makes no sense not to, and even less sense to teach your kids not to be aware of their surroundings, and not to know what to do in an emergency.

@birdsnotbees I rolled my eyes, but I was rolling eyes at poster implying firefighters scare mongered.

You're right the statistics of house fires have most likely fallen because of the advice from fire services.