Protect Your Family from Fire

The risk of injury and death from home fires is real.

• In 2011, fire departments across the country responded to 384,000 home fires.
• The main reason smoke alarms fail to operate during home fires is missing or disconnected batteries.
• These fires claimed the lives of 2,640 people and injured another 13,350.
• Approximately 4 out of 10 home fire deaths occur in homes without smoke alarms.

Keep Your Home Fire Safe

• Cook with care. When you cook, never leave cooking food unattended on the stove. Keep anything that can catch on fire, like potholders and towels, away from the cooking area. Avoid wearing clothes with long, loose-fitting sleeves that can catch on fire. Also, keep pot handles turned in.
• If you smoke, attempt to quit. Don't smoke inside your home. If you do smoke in your home, never smoke in bed or leave burning cigarettes unattended. It is unsafe to smoke while drowsy or under the influence of alcohol or medications. Also, don't empty burning or hot ashes in a trash can, and keep ashtrays away from upholstered furniture and curtains.
• Stay warm—safely. If and when you use a space heater, keep it more than three feet away from anything that can catch on fire, like draperies.
• Be alarmed. Install smoke alarms on every floor of your home, including the basement, and make sure you have smoke alarms near all sleeping rooms. For better protection, install smoke alarms in sleeping rooms, especially if they are occupied by a smoker. Test all smoke alarms once a month using the test button.
• Make and practice an escape plan. Create a home fire escape plan. Know at least two ways out of every room, if possible, and have a meeting place outside. Practice your escape plan twice a year with everyone living in your home.

Fire Prevention. Retrieved February 2nd, 2012 from: http://www.cdc.gov/Features/FirePrevention/