Is Your Home a Firetrap?

By Diane Tait

Image courtesy flickr

While home ownership is still one of the last bastions of the American Dream, sometimes owning the modern American home is not without a few issues.  While things like asbestos shingles and lead piping are things of the past, one hazard that’s all too current in modern homes is the threat of fire.  I recently read a report by Safeco Insurance that pointed out today’s homes are an even bigger firetrap than those of yesteryear.  That’s because modern homes are more open (which aids the spread of fire), and the man-made material that’s contained therein is more combustible than comparable all-natural material.  Even the stuff that’s used to construct many homes is far more flammable than solid wood, concrete or masonry.  With that in mind I thought I’d dedicate this week’s blog to showing all my readers how to learn not to burn.

Take a Tip from Smoky the Bear

Remember Smoky’s line “Only you can prevent forest fires?”  Well, when it comes to making your home fire resistant, only you can prevent house fires.  By that, I mean every family needs to understand what represents a fire threat in your home.  Then they need to act to limit the things that are quick to spark or feed a fire.  Then you need to equip your home with a fire extinguisher or two and you need to show everyone in the family what to do in the case of fire.  Below are some helpful hints.

1.      Open flames are not your friends. - This means everyone in the household must know what is and is not acceptable behavior in the kitchen.  All too many fires are sparked by people who leave something cooking on the stove.  You’d be surprised at how fast a pan of bacon or a pot of hot oil can go up like a bomb. What’s even worse is when someone hears the smoke alarm and tries to carry the flaming pot or pan outside, only to drop it on the floor.  Never move a flaming pot or pan from the stove.  Simply turn the fire off under it and put a lid on top of it. This will extinguish the flames once the fire consumes all the oxygen.  If the fire has progressed beyond the stove, grab the fire extinguisher.  (Other household fire hazards are gas grills and propane or kerosene space heaters.   Even candles can be a fire starter which you should never turn your back on.)

Image courtesy wikimedia

2.      Wiring Gone Wild – Another leading cause of fires is home wiring.  According to the National Fire Protection Association, more than 50,000 fires are caused by faulty wiring every year in the USA.  Some of the causes are overloaded circuits, DIY wiring projects and antiquated electrical systems that should long ago have been brought up to code.  Other wiring dangers can be caused any time you drive a nail into a wall to hang a picture.  If there’s a wire behind the wall, that nail can easily pierce a wire and cause a short.

3.      Deadly Dryer Dangers -  Your clothes dryer can become a fire trap if you don’t manage the lint it produces.  Lint is one of the best kinds of kindling in existence.  All it takes is one spark to set it ablaze.  Most people realize that their dryer produces lots of lint.  That’s why they clean out the lint trap between every load.  While this is a sound policy, it doesn’t totally address the lint that flows through the exhaust vent to the great outdoors.  If the vent gets clogged, this can soon become a ticking time bomb.  Lint can also build up inside the dryer cabinet as well.  If you’ve had a dryer for years and have never had the interior cleaned out, now’s the time.

4.      Kitchen Clutter – Paper towels, recipe cards and even pot holders can quickly become fire starters if they’re left too close to the stove.  Even cooking oil and grease traps can feed flames, so keep any oil or grease well away from the burners.  Even the simple act of reaching across the stovetop can be sufficient to set clothing ablaze. Most people don’t realize that more than 40% of home fires start in the kitchen.

Image courtesy wikimedia

5.      Appliance Peril – Here’s another overlooked way to spark a fire: antiquated appliances.  While retro mixers, waffle irons and toasters may look cool, their ancient wiring could quickly short out to set your kitchen ablaze.  There’s also an electrocution hazard in antique appliances.  My advice if you have a yen for retro tech is to have them rewired or simply use them as knickknacks. 

6.      Blazing Bathrooms – Ask any firefighter and they’ll tell you that bathrooms are one of the most dangerous rooms in any house.  In the first place, it’s pretty common for people to overload electrical outlets by plugging in too many electrical appliances such as curling irons, blow dryers and the like.  Then there’s the fact that most bathrooms are brimming with combustibles such as toilet paper, towels and hair care products that are highly flammable.  Last but not least, water and electricity don’t go together.

7.      The Garage from Hell – While in times gone by, garages were used to store the family sedan, today they are more likely to be used as storerooms that contain a cornucopia of flammable chemicals, many of which are stored next to the heater.  If you haven’t inspected your garage in ages, the time to do so is now, not later.  Make sure your cleaning solvents and garden chemicals are safely stored nowhere near each other.  Relegate old newsprint and magazines to the recycler.  Toss out oily rags and take unused paint to the local hazardous waste facility.

While it can take years to get your just right, all it takes is one instant to turn all your dreams to ashes.  Make fire safety a priority and your family home is much less likely to wind up becoming a statistic.

Diane Tait owns and operates A&B Insurance.  To find out more about how you can save money on renter’s insurance, go to her site or fill out the form at right.