Fire Safety Hazards at Home You Don’t Know About
Your house is your safe place. This is where you get to relax, unwind, spend some quality time with your family or hang out with your friends. Home means comfort, warmth and safety – with the two first relying heavily on the last one. It comes in many different shapes and forms, but let’s focus on fire safety today. Fires can take it all away in a matter of seconds, unlike pretty much anything else. We can have different types of fire extinguishers at home, and various fire safety devices, but if we lack that one, single-handedly most important thing, it might not be enough anyway. It’s awareness. Let’s talk about some blind (and fiery) spots around the house.
The Innocent Kitchen Igniter: Dishwashers
Yes, even your beloved dishwasher can harbour a fiery secret. Malfunctioning components or overheating can lead to an electrical fire, wreaking havoc in your kitchen. Regularly inspecting and maintaining your dishwasher, and ensuring it’s properly installed, can prevent this unsuspecting hazard.
The Flammable Furballs
Our furry friends bring joy, laughter and love, but they can also bring some unwanted and quite surprising risks. Of course, they don’t mean to, but they can easily, for example, knock over candles with their wagging tails. Their curious nature is what makes us smile, but stovetops are not the best place for pet exploration trips. Chimney, even less so. Unfortunately, especially for cats, they are a real treat. Try implementing pet-free zones to keep you all safe.
The Clutter Catastrophe
They say too much love will kill you. Well, too much clutter also can do just that, apparently. It can quite literally turn your home into a tinderbox waiting for a spark. Stacks of paper, packed shelves, and storage areas filled to the brim with different items – all that is a perfect environment for fires, making them spread faster and with more intensity. Regular decluttering and organizing can help reduce that potential fuel.
Smoke Detectors
Wait, what? Okay, it’s not their fault, per se. They don’t exactly start a fire, but they’ve been known to malfunction at times and fail to warn the unsuspecting residents of the fire threat. Why? Of course, these are only machines, mistakes happen, but we often just leave them up there, without ever checking their condition. So, make sure your allies in this fight are also in good shape.
Protecting Your Safety Net
Maintaining your fire safety equipment is absolutely essential. Regular fire extinguisher service, including inspections and refills – you should do all those things to make your defence mechanisms are in prime condition, like your life depended on it. Well, in a way, it does. Whenever in doubt, or maybe you want to take your fire safety systems to a new level for your own peace of mind, you can always seek professional advice.
No Need to Get All Fired Up
When we hear about those hidden hazards, it may feel like death and fire are right around the corner. And although there are hundreds of different causes of fires, there’s no reason to panic. Or think about it constantly. Otherwise, even if it’s perfectly safe, your home will never be the relaxing space it is meant to be.