Most fires are
unexpected because they’re caused by the most ordinary, everyday items
that you normally consider safe: a stove burner, a candle, an electric space
heater, the water heater, an extension cord, a cigarette. What typically makes
them dangerous are mental lapses, poor judgment, hurried actions and simple
carelessness.
While everyone makes
mistakes, you can vastly cut down deadly fire risks by exercising good safety
habits and simple prevention steps. In this article, we’ll outline the
“Big 7” most common causes of preventable fires and tell you the
simple things you can and should do to keep them from starting.
Smoke Alarms
According to
statistics, this year fire will claim the lives of 30 of our readers and the
homes of 500 others. Don’t become part of this statistic. Well over 60
percent of house-fire fatalities occur in homes that are missing smoke alarms
or have disabled alarms or alarms with dead batteries. Test your smoke alarms
every month and replace units that are more than 10 years old.
Source: Cooking
Fires
The
problem
Click image to enlarge.
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.
The
solution
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.
Click image to enlarge.
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:
-
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.
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.
Click image to enlarge.
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.
Click image to enlarge.
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.
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.
