Friday, January 21, 2011

Fire Safety Measures for Home


    ‘Precaution is better than cure’ this saying holds a lot of importance in everybody’s life. People should be aware as well as equipped with necessary measures to safeguard themselves and the people around from accidents. Fire accidents are the most common ones that cause huge damage to life and property. These can be curbed to a great extent following certain simple measures. We in this write up offer you measures to prevent fire accidents that can take place at your home.


Causes:


Before taking any safety measure against fire, it is important to identify its possible causes. The following are the few reasons that may become a cause of fire at your home:


Absence of fire alarm
Alcohol is a possible cause of fire. About 40% of fire accidents at home are caused by alcohol.
Delayed actions: Most of the fire victims die because of inhaling toxic smoke and poisonous gases for a long time rather than dying of burns
Most of the fire accidents take place in the kitchen owing to wrong handling of gas cylinders, non-switched off stoves etc
Smoking is one of the major causes of fire accidents
Short-circuiting
Preventive Measures:


The following are the safety measures that you must observe at your home, which will protect you and your family from the threats of fire accidents:


√ Install fire alarms at all the proper places at your home such as near bed rooms, kitchen and fire places.
√ Install proper system of fire extinguisher and make sure that each member of the home knows how to operate it.
√ Keep the hazardous objects such as match sticks, lighters, stoves and flammable chemicals out of the reach of children.
√ Keep the non-cooking objects such as towels, plastic utensils away from the gas stove.
√ Make sure that the cigarette butts are completely extinguished before disposing them.
√ Avoid fireworks inside the premises.
√ Make provision for emergency exit in the home.
√ Provide proper training to children regarding how to safeguard themselves in case of a fire breakout.
√ Turn off the gas stove before leaving the home and before going to sleep each night.
√ The electrical appliances shall be properly operated.
√ Gas cylinders should be kept in safe places and should be operated with care.
√ The wiring of the house should be checked on regular basis in order to avoid short circuiting.
What to do in case of a fire breakout?




In case fire takes places in your home, observe the following rules to reduce the damages caused due to it:


Close down all the doors and windows of the home once everybody is out of the house. This will stop the oxygen supply and thus stop the fire from spreading further.
In case your clothes catch fire, lie down on the floor and start rolling to put the fire to an end.
Switch-off the electrical appliances in case of fire.
Thus, by following a few simple measures you can avoid fire related accidents and thus safeguard your family and your home from any kind of fire threats.

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