From 
Source: Cooking Fires
The Problem
The grease in an unattended frying pan catches on fire and
ignites nearby combustibles, which in turn ignite curtains,
cabinets or
anything else in the vicinity.
The statistics:
23% of fires, 9% of deaths
A True Fire Story
Wausau, WI—A sleeping 4-year-old
girl died of smoke inhalation in a house fire that started about
30 minutes
after her mother left her alone to run errands.
Apparently, a stove burner was left on under a frying pan containing grease used for frying chicken. She was the only person home at the time of the fire.
On average, every year one out of every eight homes will have a kitchen cooking fire. Cooking fires mostly occur on the cooktop, usually in the first 15 minutes of cooking. A common scenario is an unattended frying pan on a hot burner. If a fire starts, don’t carry the pan outside; slip a lid over the flames from the side to keep from burning your arm. Many grease fires become full-scale house fires when a flaming pan is carried through the house, dripping a flaming grease trail all the way to the door.
Source: Cooking Fires
The Solution
Never leave the kitchen while something is cooking on the stove.
Keep combustibles at least 3 ft. away from the cooktop. This includes curtains and wall hangings.
Post a reminder note near the range for a week or two until everyone gets the message.
Source: Heating Equipment
The Problem
Wood stoves and space heaters igniting
nearby combustibles are responsible for the lion’s share of
heating
fires.
The statistics:
15% of fires, 13% of deaths
A True Fire Story
Winston-Salem, NC—An electric space
heater caused the death of a 3-month-old infant left at home with
her brother
and her two sisters early one morning, fire officials said.
Manuel, age 11,
smelled smoke in an upstairs room and was able to get two of his
sisters
outside but was unable to rescue his 3-month-old sister, who was
asleep in the
master bedroom. An electric space heater in the bedroom appears to
have ignited
a nearby pile of clothes. The mother was driving her husband to
work when the
fire started. A smoke detector had been installed near the
kitchen, but the
family took it down because it would go off when they cooked.
Most deaths from heating equipment occur when wood stoves and space heaters are in use and ignite nearby combustibles while everyone’s asleep. Here are other common ways that wood stoves cause fires:
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If they’re not disposed of properly,
embers in discarded ashes smolder for up to two weeks and can
ignite other
trash.
Chimney disrepair and creosote buildup can combine to create a chimney fire that can ignite adjoining wall framing.
Sparks or even just heat can ignite combustibles that are located too close to the wood stove.
Source: Heating Equipment
The Solution
Keep space heaters at least 3 ft. away from
drapes, bedding and other flammables.
Plug space heaters directly into outlets,
not into extension cords.
Don’t use space heaters while
sleeping.
Empty wood-stove ashes
in a metal container and store them outside away from combustibles
for at least
a week before dumping them into the trash.
Have your chimney
inspected and cleaned every year.
Keep any and all
combustible objects at least 5 ft. away from the stove or
fireplace.
Establish a designated space heater zone in rooms where space heaters are used. The zone should be clear of blowing drapes and at least 5 ft. away from other combustibles.
Source: Electrical Fires
The Problem
Overloaded extension cords, hidden
electrical shorts, bad connections, and oversized bulbs and
fixtures can ignite
nearby combustibles and burn down your house.
The statistics:
9% of fires, 10% of deaths
A True Fire Story
Florida—Fire and smoke spread
through a single-story home, killing two in a late-night blaze.
Investigators
determined that an electrical short in a five-outlet power strip
overloaded
with seven appliances started the fire. Excessive heat melted
plastic wires and
ignited the carpet and a television stand. Crews doused the flames
and removed
a 74-year-old man and a 59-year-old woman from the home. The man
had already
died of smoke inhalation and the woman later succumbed to second-
and
third-degree burns.
Electricity and heat caused by shorts, overloading or bad connections go hand in hand. The heat generated is often enough to ignite combustibles such as wood framing, rugs or even the insulation around the cord or wire.
While a few of the electrical causes are tough to spot, there are telltale clues that can tip you off to dangerous concealed wiring hazards.
Electrical cords that are warm to the touch can signal overloading.Charred or plastic burning odors may indicate oversized bulbs and light fixtures.
Warm switch or receptacle plate covers may mean a poor electrical connection.
Frequently tripping circuit breakers may be caused by a defective breaker or possibly a short in the cables buried in walls or ceilings.
The Solution
Replace extension cords
that are undersized or frayed.
Never run extension cords under rugs.
Replace undersized
cords with larger-gauged ones or plug appliances directly into
outlets.
Call an electrician to
track down hidden problems causing frequently tripping circuit
breakers.
Call an electrician to
open up and troubleshoot electrical boxes that have warm covers.
Check all the light
bulbs in your home to make sure bulb wattages don’t exceed
the
fixture’s recommended maximum.
Source: Appliances
The Problem
After problems with stoves and heaters,
the biggest culprits in appliance fires are lint in dryers and
combustibles
near gas water heaters.
The statistics:
7% of fires, 4% of deaths
A True Fire Story
Portsmouth, VA—Clothes piled against a water heater
started a fire that took the life of a 7-year-old girl. A neighbor
who noticed
the fire was able to kick in the back door and rescue five of the
children ages
2 to 10, but dense smoke made it impossible for him to save the
7-year-old. The
mother had gone to the store and left the children in the care of
her next-door
neighbor, who wasn’t with the children when the fire broke
out. A fire
department spokesperson said, “There should be plenty of
space between a
water heater and any other materials,” and “there
should never be
anything within two feet of any heating appliance.”
Since water heaters are often in the same room as the laundry, clothes tend to get piled up against the water heater near the flame. The problem is worse when that flimsy cover plate falls off the burner access.
Dryer vents catch on fire when built-up dust and lint ignite from either the burners or the heating elements and create a fire path to built-up lint within the vent hose. Especially dangerous are dryers that are vented with flexible vinyl hoses. The vinyl then catches on fire and lights anything near it.
Source: Appliances
The Solution
Make sure protective
water heater combustion chamber covers are in place.
Pull the back service
panel from the dryer cabinet and clean all the lint from the
interior and around the drum.
Clean built-up lint
from the vent line.
Replace vinyl vent
lines with smooth-walled metal ducts.
Mark a “combustible-free” zone 3 ft. away from your water heater with masking tape.
Source: Smoking
The Problem
Smoking kills more people than any other cause of fire because
the fires usually start when everyone’s asleep.
The statistics:
5% of fires, 23% of deaths
A True Fire Story
MINNESOTA—A man died after he fell asleep while smoking
in bed. He awoke to find his bed and clothing in flames.
Disoriented, he opened
a closet and ignited the clothes hanging inside before struggling
through the
bedroom door and collapsing on the hall way floor where his
clothes lit the
carpeting on fire. He was pronounced dead at the scene and the
fires were
extinguished.
If a cigarette smolders in the bed-clothes or drops on the carpet when the smoker falls asleep, the gases from smoldering fabrics will actually lull the smoker into a deeper and deeper sleep. Live butts that fall between cushions or are tossed into trashcans can take hours to ignite, and when they finally do, the household’s in bed, asleep.
Source: Smoking
The Solution
Don’t smoke in bed.
Use large ashtrays on tables.
Soak ashtrays under the
faucet before throwing cigarette butts in the trash.
When nagging isn’t doing the trick, it might be time to buy a sign like the one shown.
Source: Candles
The Problem
Like cooking fires, most candle fires
occur when candles burn unattended near combustibles—
usually in
bedrooms.
The statistics:
5% of fires, 3% of deaths
A True Fire Story
Indiana—A 23-year-old woman and her
two daughters, ages 11 months and 2 years, died when wind from an
open window
blew curtains across an unattended candle, spreading flames to
nearby
combustibles. The house had two smoke alarms, one
battery-operated, the other
hard-wired. Both were inoperable. Firefighters found the
11-month-old girl in a
crib in the living room, dead from smoke inhalation and burns. Her
mother and
sister were found next to a bed, dead of smoke inhalation. All
three had been
napping when the fire broke out.
The recent popularity of candles and the 50 percent surge in candle-initiated fires in the last 10 years is no coincidence. Couple that with burning candles near combustibles or on shaky holders and there’s a huge potential for a catastrophic fire.
Using candles safely calls for the utmost in attention and care. They’re simply a high-risk item because you can easily set them near combustibles without noticing, leave them unattended and forget about them entirely. They’ll often get soft and fall out of a holder and ignite nearby combustibles or even ignite an underlying wooden holder or shelf. (It’s wishful thinking, but if I had my way, we’d only burn candles at the dinner table and nowhere else.)
Source: Candles
The Solution
Use only tip-proof
containers.
Burn candles only while
you’re awake and in the same room with them.
Keep candles at least 3
ft. away from combustibles.
Never burn candles that
have combustibles (flowers, leaves and potpourri) cast into the
wax.
Go through your candle and candle holder collection and throw away tippy holders and candles with combustibles cast into them.
Source: Children Playing with Fire
The Problem
Not only do children playing with fire
start 5 percent of the residential fires; they’re also the
most likely ones to die from those fires.
The statistics:
5% of fires, 8% of deaths
A True Fire Story
Tennessee—A 2-year-old and his
23-year-old mother died when a fire spread through the house. The
children’s 28-year-old father, who rescued his three
daughters before
reentering the house to search for his wife and son, also died.
There were no
batteries in the kitchen’s smoke alarm.
The fire apparently began in a front bedroom under a bed. They believe that one of the children was playing with a lighter or matches and ignited a foam mattress. Flames then spread to the hallway, living room and kitchen. A pad-locked door prevented the victims from leaving the home.
Children will often start fires while hiding in places like closets or under beds, where they’re surrounded by combustibles. Their first reaction is often to hide from you or the fire after it starts. There, they become overcome by smoke and/or make it difficult for firefighters to find them. It’s obvious that you shouldn’t leave matches and lighters lying around, but you also have to be vigilant around burning candles.
Source: Children Playing with Fire
The Solution
-
Store matches and lighters up high, well out
of the reach of children.
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