Talk to More Th>n about fire safety in your home - £240 voucher to be won NOW CLOSED

[MichelleMumsnet]

More Th>n would like to find out what tips Mumsnetters have to improve fire safety in their homes.

Here’s what More Th>n have to say, "Our Helping Hands series is about providing little hints and tips that can make everyday life a little bit easier. But we also want to share advice that can help with more important matters, like Fire Safety. It's a situation we all hope never to find ourselves in, but it's important to have a plan in place should a fire break out in your home to keep you and your loved ones safe. If you have any other safety advice and ideas, we'd love to hear them."

To get some inspiration, watch the video below and share your own tips on this thread.

What do you think of the tips given in the video? Do you use any of these in your home already? Have you spoken to your DCs about fire safety in your home? What do you do in the way of fire safety? Do you have a fire blanket in your kitchen in case of emergencies? Or maybe you just make sure that you keep any candles out of reach of small children? Whatever it is to improve fire safety in your home we’d love to hear about it.

Everyone who adds their comments will be entered into a prize draw to win a £240 Amazon voucher.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

I have not said anything to the DC particularly as they are 4 and 2 years. I do need to get an extinguisher and also a fire blanket for the kitchen. I really appreciate the reminders actually.

We do have smoke alarms but I need to test those now I think. I really like the idea of new batteries on news year's day. Thanks to the poster how mentioned this.

I do worry about fire as children downstairs and we are upstairs.

Meant to say agree about the chargers not being plugged in when not being used. I am paranoid about that too.

Not sure about other parts of the country but here in Scotland we can request a free fire safety check and this is one of the first things we did when we moved in. The people who did the check installed a couple of fire alarms which was great and also talked us through a questionnaire. We have a gas fire and a wood burning stove so a carbon monoxide monitor was also a must have. Other than that we dont use a chip pan and remember to unplug hair dryers/straighteners when done with.

We know someone whose house burned down because of a glass ornament on the windowsill - the sunlight was magnified by it and the fire started. No glass or mirrors on windowsills in our house.

We have three smoke alarms and my husband checks them once a month. We have one open fire (dining room) which is lit a couple of times over Christmas and monitored carefully. We also have a woodburner which is on daily over winter. We are careful when opening the door for sparks, and vaccuuming ash (incase it is still warm!). I am a fan of candles but again they are always under adult supervision. The children have known from an early age not to touch lighters and matches, and these are kept out of reach. Our doors are locked with bolts at night, not keys. (It is an old farmhouse.) The children are all aware of safety procedures in the case of fire.

TallGiraffe just reminded me that when we had our mandatory fire safety talk when we moved in, we were warned of the dangers of keeping cans in windowsills so they came down immediately and we don't have anything glassy on the windowsills, either!

Know your escape route and don't keep windows locked

We spent a good part of last night out on the street as our neighbours house went on fire. They've lost everything, thankfully they all got out and we're ok and back in.

I've been in tears as I can't believe they have lost everything. Thankfully they had a plan of what to do in an emergency. They are devastated, the poor cat didn't make it out.

We have rechecked our escape plan, spare keys and smoke alarms.

The video made me think that I should do more - I don't think I have ever checked my smoke detector works! We don't have a fire blanket but its something that we have been talking about. One thing we do do is we won't light any candles until the children are in bed and then we usually put it on the tiled window sill so its out of the way and can't be accidently caught or knocked. Sometimes we also put it in a glass jar too as it looks pretty but is also safer. At night time we shut doors everywhere so that if something does happen overnight its more contained.

We don't have a fire safety plan but the video has got me thinking. We were told by a local security improvement man that we should keep all doors shut downstairs to reduce the speed a fire spreads (if we were to have one). We do have an open fire and use candles but I keep them out of reach and the DC are old enough to know they are not to be played with. We do keep our keys in a box near the front door so we can get out quickly. Fire alarms are tested on a regular basis with my cooking!!!

We check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors regularly and have a fire escape plan.

I never leave dishwasher or tumble dryer on if I'm going out.

Fire is one of the things that really scares me now I'm parent, especially as DSs are still only so little (nearly 3 and 6 months) so there would be no way they'd get out without us helping.
We don't have any gas appliances, only electric so that helps cut the risk somewhat and we don't really light candles (birthdays only!)

We did have the local fire brigade round though to do a 'fire plan', they fitted a new 10 year smoke detector, highlighted escape routes and possible fire 'start points' (the tv corner with like 10 different plugs plugged in) and so we unplug those at night and close all doors as we go to bed

we taught them what to do.not in a making a big thing of it way.just one day we were sitting together and we brought up what would happen.we discussed the best route.the best method for smashing glass.touhcing doornobs etc.covering the mouth.keeping calm.sounding the alarm.not to try and get toys etc.
allthought young ones still said they want to come to brothers and sisters and parents rather than get out the window!!

We don't use candles. I can't deal with the idea of both a toddler and a flame in the same room. We got four of those wee fake ones for £1 and they're brill!

Ds is only just three so too young to really be briefed on a fire exit strategy - we'd just grab him and run. We do have an exit plan out the window on the upper level if the stairs are blocked, but it wouldn't be an ideal way out. But better than being burnt or smoked out.
Smoke alarms, essential, really. We check ours keenly.
Front door key is hung by the front door, though really, I'd just get out, with my child, and run.

Logan, how awful! but yes, at least they escaped.

We have working smoke detectors that we check once a week. We also make sure everyone staying in the house knows where the keys are in case they need to get out quickly. We also have a small emergency fire extinguisher in the kitchen.

What do you think of the tips given in the video?

I think the tips in the video are great - low maintenace/cheap and easy but would be extremely important in the event of a fire.

Do you use any of these in your home already? Some - we have a vague fire plan (limited in a 2 bed terraced house), we don't check smoke alarms but they do go off weekly due to burnt toast.

Have you spoken to your DCs about fire safety in your home? No - Ds only just knows what a car is but as soon as he's old enough to understand I will.

What do you do in the way of fire safety? We know where our keys are, we have an escape plan, we don't smoke, don't leave candles unattended, turn off as much as possible, live in a new house with modern wiring.

Do you have a fire blanket in your kitchen in case of emergencies? No

Or maybe you just make sure that you keep any candles out of reach of small children? Obviously yes!

Get the home safety check from your local station.

We have an escape plan, 2 in fact. This was nearly put into action when our fire alarms went off one early morning. Luckily they were faulty which were changed that day by the council. I unplug everything at night and make see everything is safe.

I have a vague plan in my head that older DS's are aware of. Smoke alarms are tested yearly, should really do them more often.
I never use candles, they scare me!
DD2 9 has a fear of fire so the subject isn't mentioned often because she ends up too scared to go to bed.

One worry is that the upstairs window locks are impossible to open, I'm going to mention that to my housing association I think.

We live in a small flat on the second floor. We have a fire blanket and small extinguisher all with smoke alarm. DH and I have worked out how to get the dog and the baby out of the flat effectively should the exit be blocked as we only have 1 way in and out.

We have an escape ladder to fling out of the window on the top floor (4 storey building) next to my dd's bed and keep mobiles upstairs at night.

My DS is only 1 so a bit young to be aware of a fire escape plan but I will make sure we discuss it and practice when he is bigger. I've always been keen with my nieces and nephews to explain about 999 and will carry this on with DS. We have front and back door keys easily accessible by the doors, and a small extinguisher in the kitchen- no fire blanket though, so this thread may have inspired a purchase...

We have a fire extinguisher and blanket in the kitchen, window keys in each room and fire alarms upstairs and downstairs. We unplug anything not in use and take care not to overload sockets.