Tips to Prepare Your Family for a Possible House Fire

8/6/2019 (Permalink)

Natural disasters such as wild fires can be catastrophic. Here are some ways to prepare for one:

1.) Change the batteries in smoke and CO2 detectors twice a year

It used to be recommended to just check the batteries in your smoke detectors twice a year – usually at the time change.  Now with us only having an average of 2-3 minutes to escape a fire, don’t just check the current functionality of your batteries in your smoke detectors, CHANGE THEM.  This could be life-saving.

2.)  Store flammable items/foods/chemicals properly and away from potential flames

There are a lot of liquids in your house.  Some of those liquids of which you may be unaware are highly flammable.  What’s interesting in that there are also a lot of flammable items in your kitchen – the room where we most often have an open fire.  Whether it is flammable liquids or other items we need to be aware that they are easily combustible so that they can be stored away from any significant flame or potential flame sources. 

3.) Have your kids draw up a fire exit plan.

If you give each of your kids a basic outline of each floor of your house and have them mark all the ways out of each room, you are reinforcing the different ways in which they can escape a fire if they were caught in one.

4.) Teach children what smoke alarms sound like and what to do when they hear one. 

5.) Ensure that all household members know two ways to escape from every room of your home and know the family meeting spot outside of your home.

If your family has just suffered a home fire, please call SERVPRO of Elk Grove / Laguna at (916) 525-1241. We are here to help you 24/7.