With the recent change of clock ritual, many families throughout the country also took a few extra minutes to change the batteries in their smoke detectors. That’s great! But wait... there’s more! The previous blog post by the helpful staff at GAMA Air started an explanation of doing a home fire safety survey. For the benefit of our friends and neighbors in and around 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, we are going to continue this topic to do our part to keep you safe in your home.
Doing a safety survey of your home is an important step to keeping your family safe in their day-to-day routine, and planning for emergencies. Just search the internet for the phrase “home fire safety checklist” and you’ll see a long list of options. Perhaps there’s one specifically for your local community. At any rate, pick one and then review it together as a family. Each checklist may have slightly different details, but we’re presenting the most common points in this blog post.
- Smoking – The National Fire Protection Association states that 21% of home fire related deaths are a result of smoking. And a UC Davis study puts the number of smoking related fire deaths at 30%. Here’s the easiest way to eliminate this danger: Don’t Smoke. But how can you mitigate risk if you have a smoker in your home? Keep matches and lighters in a secure cabinet out of the sight of children. Buy fire-safe cigarettes and only smoke outside the house. Have large, deep ashtrays outside that are not close to other items that could catch fire. Empty those ashtrays into a non-flammable container.
- Electrical Safety – Limit the use of extension cords, and don’t run them under rugs or carpets. Check extension cords to make sure they are not cracked or frayed. Large appliances and space heaters should be plugged directly into a wall outlet. If you have several space heaters around the home because your house has cold spots during the winter, the best fix is to fine tune your existing central heating system. The trained comfort advisors at GAMA Air can analyze your home’s furnace or other heating system and help you decide how to make changes so that it works the best it possibly can to keep you and your family comfortable anywhere in your house. Give us a call at (310) 651-6936 or use our online form to request a free quote.
- Candle Safety – They’re pretty, they’re fun, they’re dangerous. Candles should be in a fire proof container that is sturdy and can’t be tipped over easily. But if you have that, it doesn’t mean it is safe to leave a burning candle unattended, especially if you have children and/or pets in the home. You are safest if you put out the candle before leaving the room, and even more so before going to bed. And of course, you would never use an open flame device to heat your home. Candles are small and don’t burn much oxygen, but a larger burning appliance will be risky since it will burn larger amounts of oxygen in the room and give off carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.
We’re not through yet! Part 3 will be coming up next to continue this important topic on Home Fire Safety.
Do you have a question about 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.