Fire Safety & Prevention

Most deaths from house fires happen at night, while people are sleeping. Working smoke alarms give you the warning you need to get out in time.

Where to put them

• Install alarms outside every sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the bottom of the basement stairs.
• If you sleep with the bedroom door closed, put an alarm inside the bedroom too.

Test and maintain

• Test every month — press and hold the button until the alarm sounds.
• Change the battery at least once a year. An easy reminder: change your clock, change your battery.
• Replace any alarm over 10 years old, or any unit without a test button.
• Clean alarms twice a year: wipe the cover and gently vacuum the sensor. A chirping alarm usually needs a new battery or a cleaning.
• Hard-wired alarms still need a backup battery for power outages, and should be installed by a qualified electrician.

A fire can fill a home with smoke in minutes. Planning and practising your escape takes the panic out of those minutes and can save lives.

• Find two ways out of every room — usually a door and a window.
• Make sure windows and screens open easily and any security bars have a quick-release.
• Pick a meeting place outside, a safe distance from the home (a tree, a lamppost, the end of the driveway).
• Once you are out, stay out. Never go back inside for belongings or pets.
• Call 911 from outside — a neighbour's phone or your cell.
• Practise the plan twice a year, including once at night, so everyone (children included) knows what to do.

Cooking is the leading cause of home fires. A pot of oil on a hot element can overheat and burst into flames in seconds.

• Stay in the kitchen when you fry, grill or broil. If you must leave, turn the burner off.
• Keep dish towels, packaging, curtains and loose sleeves away from the stove.
• Turn pot handles inward so they can't be knocked or grabbed.
• Heat oil slowly and watch for smoke — smoking oil is about to ignite, so turn down the heat.

If a pan catches fire

• Slide a lid over the pan and turn off the heat. Leave the lid on until it is fully cool.
• Never use water on a grease fire — it throws the flames outward.
• If the fire grows or you are unsure, get out and call 911.

Heating is one of the leading causes of home fires in the colder months — and most are preventable.

• Keep anything that can burn (furniture, curtains, bedding, paper) at least 1 m (3 ft) from space heaters, stoves and fireplaces.
• Plug space heaters directly into the wall, never into an extension cord or power bar, and turn them off when you leave the room or go to sleep.
• Have furnaces, wood stoves and chimneys inspected and cleaned every year by a qualified professional.
• Store ashes in a metal container with a lid, kept outside and away from the home.
• Install a carbon monoxide alarm near sleeping areas if you burn any fuel (wood, oil, gas or propane).

Careless smoking remains one of the leading causes of fatal home fires. A smouldering cigarette can ignite hours after it is set down.

• Smoke outside. It is the single most effective way to prevent a smoking-related home fire.
• Use a deep, sturdy ashtray on a stable surface, away from anything that can burn.
• Soak butts and ashes in water before throwing them out — never empty an ashtray straight into the garbage.
• Never smoke in bed, when drowsy, or where medical oxygen is in use.
• Keep lighters and matches up high, out of children's reach.

A portable extinguisher is for small, contained fires only. For general home use, keep a multi-purpose ABC extinguisher near an exit, in plain view, out of children's reach, and away from the stove.

Remember PASS

• P — Pull the pin.
• A — Aim low, at the base of the fire.
• S — Squeeze the handle.
• S — Sweep from side to side.

Fight or flight?

• Before you fight a fire: get everyone out and call 911 first.
• Only fight a fire that is small and contained, with a clear, unobstructed exit behind you.
• If you can't put it out almost immediately, leave it to the professionals — get out and stay out.

Know your classes of fire

• Class A — wood, paper, cloth, rubber.
• Class B — flammable liquids and gases, grease, oil-based paint.
• Class C — electrical equipment and appliances.
• Class D — combustible metals (rare in the home).

Maintenance

• Monthly: check the pressure gauge is in the green; rock dry-powder units gently so the powder doesn't compact.
• Yearly: have it serviced by a qualified technician and hydrostatically tested on the date shown on the tag.
• Recharge or replace after any use, even a short one. Never paint an extinguisher.