Did you decide this year you would ensure your home would be safe from a fire? If you’ve never thought about it before, it does feel daunting. Fire is incredibly dangerous, and you want to ensure that you and your family are safe. Here are some tips to help you stay on target with your fire safety resolution.

Have an Evacuation Plan

The first thing to do when improving fire safety is to have an evacuation plan. If there was a fire in your home, what would you do? Now is the time to sit down and work out that plan. Ensure your family knows it, and practice it to ensure everyone knows what to do. This plan should include plans for how to get out, and where to meet up after you’ve left the home.

It’s worth coming up with a backup plan, in case you can’t go with your first one. For example, you’d usually leave via the front door, but a fire is blocking your path. In this case, you’ll want to plan to leave via another door or window, so ensure that this is in the plan.

Test Your Smoke Alarms

You must do this, in order to keep your home safe. Your smoke alarm is going to be your first line of defense against a fire. If the smoke alarm isn’t working though, you’re not going to know until it’s too late. This is why it’s vital to test your smoke alarms.

Once a month, push the ‘test’ button on your smoke alarm to see if it will go off. It should sound the alarm for a few seconds, and then turn off. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to check to see if the batteries have died. If they have, replace them and test it again.

It’s also good practice to change out the batteries twice a year. The best time to do this is when the clocks change. That way, you’ll know it’s time to change out the batteries, ensuring they’re fresh.

Watch Your Candles

Candles are a serious fire risk, and they’re in basically every home. Do you have to get rid of them to be safe? No, you just need to be careful when you’re using them. First of all, ensure that you’re only lighting candles when you’re in the room with them. If you’re going to a different room or leaving the house, blow that candle out.

Also, ensure that you’re not lighting candles near anything flammable, like soft furnishings. It only takes a moment for a stray flame to set them on fire, so keep them well away and keep your home safe.

Finally, always follow the instructions given on the candle itself when you use them. This way, you can always enjoy your candles without having to worry about the risk.

Practice Fireplace Safety

If you have an open fireplace, now is the time to use it. As the nights grow colder, you’ll be hanging out around the fire in order to stay cozy. There’s something romantic about a fireplace, but do be sure you’re safe when you use it.

Firstly, ensure you’re keeping kids away from them when you’re using them. It’s so easy for them to reach a hand in, and you don’t want them to get burned. Use a fire guard around the fireplace if you need to, and watch your kids when the fireplace is going.

Again, ensure that you’re keeping soft furnishings away from the fire, especially when it’s ablaze. Keep the rugs and armchairs away, as it’s so easy for a spark to fall on them and cause a blaze.

Also, ensure that your chimney is cleaned annually. Having the chimney choked by soot and ash is a fire hazard, and one that can be so easily avoided.

Use Heaters With Caution

On the subject of keeping your home warm, you’ll need to be careful with heating devices. If left on for too long, they can overheat and lead to fire. You’ll use them much in the same way as candles. Don’t leave a heater running unless you’re in the room with it. Turn it off when you’re leaving the room, or leaving the house.

Be Careful With Smoking Materials

If you smoke, you know that smoking does prove a huge fire risk to your home. The best thing you can do is choose a smoking spot away from your home itself, somewhere in your yard or elsewhere outdoors. This ensures that the cigarettes or cigars are away from your home, lessening the fire risk.

If you do smoke indoors, ensure that you put out smoking equipment fully before you leave it. You want to ensure that there are no embers that could pose a hazard. Also, never smoke in bed. There’s the risk you could fall asleep with a lit cigarette, and that will easily ignite the bed covers and put you in danger.

Check Your Electronics

Many fires in the home are started by faulty electronics, so ensure that you do a full inspection, to see what needs to be replaced or repaired. Anything that has faulty or exposed wiring is a hazard, so unplug them and don’t use them until they have been fixed.

Another fire hazard is overloaded electrical sockets. It’s easy to load up a socket with multiple devices and forget about it. The problem is, it could overload and start a fire. If you don’t have enough electrical sockets in your home, you’ll need to consider having more installed to lessen the risk.

Avoid Cooking Fires

Finally, be aware that many house fires are caused by cooking. When you’re cooking in the kitchen, keep an eye on the food as it cooks. Use caution around your stovetop, as it’s easy for something to ignite in the burners. Don’t cook under the influence of alcohol, and keep children away from hot devices to prevent burns.

Achieve Your Fire Safety Resolution

With this guide, you’ll easily keep your new year’s resolution of being fire safe. Take these tips to heart and protect your home from fire.