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.

There was a fire in the flat downstairs from us (semi divided into 2 flats). Luckily we all had smoke alarms, but bloody terrifying being woken at 4am by smoke alarms ringing and the neighbours banging on our door.

It was caused by one of those ventilator fans on the wall that come on when you switch the loo light on. They stay on for a few minutes after the light is switched off. Their one hadn't been cleaned in years and the grease on it caught fire. The flames went up the wall and into the ceiling. When they were woken by smoke alarm and saw the flames on the ceiling, they thought that our kitchen above was on fire, hence them frantically banging on our door to wake us up.

It was very scary but luckily there was only a bit of damage and no one was hurt. The fire fighters said that those ventilator fans are a big cause of fire.