At Home Fire Safety Tips to Keep You and Your Loved Ones Safe

This year from Sunday, October 9 until Saturday, October 15 marks the 100th year of Fire Prevention Week. Your home is a huge part of your life, and you should always feel completely safe whenever you are there. As we get further into the winter season, the amount of fires reported in homes slowly rises. To ensure that you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy no matter the season—our team at Kay Builders knew that this would be the perfect time to share a few top fire safety tips that you can implement in your own home so you are prepared for anything. 

Cooking safety

The leading cause for all reported home fires was due to cooking related measures—so it’s especially important to keep a vigilant eye each time you’re in the kitchen. If you are ever frying, grilling or boiling any food—it’s crucial to always keep a close eye on these items and to ensure that you have no distractions around you. Whenever you’re baking or roasting any food, if possible, stay in the kitchen or nearby while it’s cooking—and always set a timer so you never forget to take anything out of the oven. Additionally, it’s always prudent to have a fire extinguisher handy in the kitchen, but you also want to ensure that you never keep it close to the areas that are most likely to be the cause of any kitchen fires—like your stove and oven—with that in mind, it’s best to keep it near a door to the kitchen for easy access. 

Heating safety

When you first purchase a new construction home from Kay Builders, you can rest assured that your heating system is top-of-the-line. However, if you have lived in your current home for years—when the winter months come around you will always want to ensure that you get a professional to come out to your home in order to check your heating system for any potential damage before you begin using it. When it comes to a portable space heater—always make sure that you plug them directly into your wall outlet, keep them 3 feet away from anything that can burn, and keep them completely out of the way of any children or pets. Finally, always test your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure that they are working properly—and it’s always great to set a reminder to change the batteries in each of them every 6 months. 

Electrical safety

When it comes to electrical safety, one main way to ensure that all of your outlets are taken care of in your home is to always make sure that when you have something plugged into them that it is always a tight fit. Whenever possible, it is also a great idea to get in the habit of unplugging everything whenever you’re done using it in order to protect them from overheating. If you use surge protectors or power strips, make sure that they have an internal circuit breaker as they will trip the breaker if the power strip is ever overheating. 

Candle safety

Finally, a number of reported house fires start because of candles left burning around the home. Whenever you have a candle burning, you should always be present in the room itself. For optimal safety when burning candles—always ensure that they are placed on even surfaces, kept well away from any upholstery and window coverings, are out of reach of children and pets, and that you always extinguish them before you leave the room, house, or before you go to bed. 

Pet safety

When it comes to having pets in the home, sometimes things can get a little messy—so it’s crucial to always keep these safety rules in mind. Like we mentioned above, you’ll always want to keep pets away from any candles, lamps or space heaters—but there are a few additional practices that you can keep in place to ensure that they are safe if something happens when you're out of the house. Keep any pets near the entrances when you’re away from home, keep collars on your pets at all times and keep all of your leashes easily accessible in case any first responders make it to your home. It’s also a great idea to get a pet alert window cling and write the number of pets you have inside your home to hang on your front window. 

Child safety

When you focus on practicing these fire safety tips listed above, you are helping to ensure that your home and your loved ones stay safe and healthy no matter what—but it’s always prudent to have a plan in place for getting everyone out of your home and safely away if a fire does break out. Get all of your kids and family members together and practice a fire safety drill at your home to ensure that everyone knows what to do and where to go if a fire starts. It’s also a great idea to have a neighbor’s home chosen that your kids can go to in case of an emergency if you’re not home. If you have just moved into your new Kay Builders home, it’s especially important to ensure that your kids have your new address memorized in case they need to call 911. 

At Kay Builders, our focus is always on building a home that keeps you and your loved ones safe. If you’d like to know more about our building process and construction checklist—give us a call at (484) 353-6100 or fill out our online form today.