Over 200 people die each year due to fires or smoke inhalation. Fires often start at night, and often people who are woken by fires or smoke panic or are unprepared.
It’s a pretty uncomfortable topic for most people, but ensuring you perform a few simple actions each day, so that they become part of your night time routine, could save someone’s life.
Before you head off to bed, be sure to turn off all non-vital electrical appliances. It might seem laborious, but these cause a large proportion of fires that start in the home. Overheating and sparking can cause fires easily, and some appliances could even explode – spreading the fire quickly. As well as being an important fire safety measure, it’s also more economical to turn appliances off by the plug or mains when they aren’t in use. Leaving appliances – especially televisions and computers – can add hundreds to electricity bills over time.
If you’ve a fire place in your home, ensure the fire is fully out, and that you’ve put the fire guard in place before you go to bed. Also, if you use candles in your home, don’t forget to blow them all out, and stub the wick. Also, if you have children, be sure to keep matches and lighters locked up or out of reach, so inquisitive little hands can’t get hold of them.
On your way up to bed, shut all doors fully behind you. This will slow down any fire that starts to make its way across the house, as it restricts the flow of oxygen – which fire feeds on – through your home.
If you’re a smoker, you should never smoke in bed. This is one of the easiest ways that fires start in the bedroom – particularly when smokers are tired and drift off mid-cigarette. There have also been cases where cigarettes haven’t been extinguished properly, and duvets and pillows have caught fire. It’s best to smoke outside the home, and to ensure that each cigarette is fully out before disposing of it.
Another thing to consider when fire proofing your bedroom, is your mattress. New mattresses have to adhere to strict mattress flammability standards (and they’ll have labelled attached telling you the full details), however if you have a mattress that you’ve not replaced for a long time, it might be a fire hazard.
Electric bedroom appliances present two different types of danger. The first is overheating – if you’ve got hairdryers, electric razors or hair styling appliances in your bedroom, these have the potential to overheat, or even start fires or scorch carpets if left on and forgotten. There’s also a risk of trips and falls if there are loose cords. If a fire does start, the last thing you want is to trip up over an electrical cord as you try to escape – use cable tidies or put appliances in drawers when not in use.
Finally, ensure that you have your phone near your bed, either plugged in, or fully charged and switched off. This will allow you to call the emergency services as soon as you detect the fire, and you won’t put yourself at risk trying to raise the alarm.
What are your top tips for fire safety?