Work Safe, Live Safe. The staff at GAMA Air take safety seriously. We want to be safe as employees, we want to be safe for the benefit of our customers, and we want to be safe in our homes. That’s why we’ve been developing this theme of doing a home fire safety survey. We want everyone in the Beverly Hills, Culver City, Mar Vista, Miracle Mile, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Marina Del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Bel Air, Westwood, Downtown Los Angeles, Vernon, Huntington Park, Sherman Oaks, Encino area to be safe in their home. You can go back and review Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t already seen them, but let’s move on now to Part 3.
- Escape plan – Preventing fires is the obvious priority. But in the case of a home fire, getting away is absolutely critical. For that reason, you should make sure there are two ways out of all bedrooms. The first escape is the door to the bedroom. The secondary escape will usually be through a window. And that is where there could be potential life threating hazards. Windows should not be nailed or painted shut, or blocked by furniture. And if you have security bars over the windows on the outside, then they should have a safety release on the inside. Get the family together and come up with an escape plan. Then practice together, twice a year. If you have young children practice with them, make it enjoyable like a game, but impress on them the seriousness of it. Don’t underestimate the ability of young children to recall what you have taught them and practiced together if an emergency were to arise. They just might save your life.
Some key aspects to a successful escape plan should include:- How to escape staying low to avoid smoke and toxic fumes
- What to do if bedrooms are not on ground level
- Choosing a meeting point near the front of your home so firefighters will be aware your family is out, or that someone is missing
- What to do if someone in your home requires special assistance
- Knowing that once you are out you must stay out.
- Heating Safety – If you have a fireplace then the chimney should be inspected each year. And during use, anything that could possible catch fire should be at least 3 feet away, such as furniture, stacks of books, magazines, or newspapers. Ashes that you remove from the fire place should be cold to the touch, and just to be sure put them outside in a covered metal container that is 3 feet or more from anything flammable. If you use space heaters, whether they be baseboard heaters, wall heaters, the also keep them at least 3 feet from things that could catch fire. If they are portable heaters then they should have a tip-over shut-off feature. Your fuel burning furnace should be inspected and safety-checked once a year. The helpful folks here at GAMA Air have an established program for doing a system tune-up and safety check on your central heating system, regardless of what style or brand it is. Click here to fill out our online form to schedule a visit, or give us a call at (310) 651-6936. As a side note, if you frequently use your fireplace and/or space heaters to supplement your home’s central heating system, then your best long-term solution is to make sure your furnace, boiler, or heat pump is working as well as it should, and if it is, then consider a system changeout with equipment that has a higher capacity and is more efficient. You can use our online form to schedule a visit for a free quote, or give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you figure out what is best for you and your home.
We’re almost done. Part 4 will be coming soon to round off this important topic on Home Fire Safety.
Do you have doubts about the safety or operation of your home’s central heating and cooling system and aren’t sure who to ask? Ask an Expert! Visit our webpage and fill out the form. The resident expert here at GAMA Air will reply quickly with an answer.