The week of October 8th through October 14th is National Fire Prevention Week. Take the time this week to share fire safety and prevention tips with your family. Here are a few tips to follow to make sure your family and home stay safe from house fires.

Fire Prevention

Create a fire safety plan.

Each family should have a
that they practice a couple times each year. When creating a plan, start with an escape route from every room. Ideally, each room should have two ways to get out in case one route is blocked by the fire. Once an escape route has been planned, work on what your family should do once everyone has gotten out of the house. Find a safe meeting place, such as a neighbor’s house or by the mailbox, where your family can meet. This meeting place should be a safe distance away from the house. It’s essential that everyone understands that they shouldn’t return to the house under any circumstances.

Have items to protect the home from fires.

Each home should have fire extinguishers and smoke detectors on each level of the household. Teach each family member
and make sure each person knows where it’s located. As for the smoke detectors, test the alarm regularly and be sure to replace the batteries as needed.

Teach fire prevention to your family.

Make sure each family member is aware of what in the home could potentially start a fire and how they should correctly use those items. If a heating source is used that could start a fire, it should be about three feet from other items. Specifically, it’s important to make sure everyone in your family knows how to
in the home.

Fire Safety

If the unfortunate circumstance of a house fire does arise, it’s important that each family member knows how to stay safe in the situation. Here are some tips that everyone should keep in mind:

Stop, drop, and roll.

The stop, drop, and roll is a tip that most people know already, but teach it to your family just in case. If your clothes catch on fire, stop what you’re doing, get on the ground, and roll until the fire is out.

Stay low to avoid smoke.

The safest way to go through smoke is to stay low. Smoke rises, so you’ll have fewer issues getting out if you get below it.

Close doors behind you as you leave.

If a fire breaks out in the house and you have to escape, be sure to close each door behind you. This will help prevent flames, heat, and smoke from spreading further.

Keep on top of fire safety tips by following social media pages such as
,
, and
. Be sure to share the facts you learn with your family! What are some of your fire safety tips?

A big thank you to SimpliSafe for these fire safety tips for Fire Prevention Week!