Idaho Falls Fire Damage Prevention
A house fire can be one of the scariest thing to occur in a family’s life; and most fires are usually preventable. Take a look at a few tips for ensuring your home stays fire-free.
1. Inspect your house. You may need to hire an expert, but a few pennies up front could save you thousands from a future house fire. However, there are a few things you can most likely check yourself:
- Check that your receptacles are grounded, i.e. are “three pronged.” Switch your outlets with a professional electrician, if needed.
- Have frequent power surges or flickering lights? Breakers that trip or fuses that blow frequently? These are all bad signs of a short in the circuit or an overload of your system.
2. Check appliances. Make sure that grease does not build up on / above your stove and check your lint trap and outside vent of your clothes dryer.
3. Unplug your heaters. Not typically a huge problem in the summer, but be aware that space heaters are a significant cause of house fires and should only be used with supervision, at least 3′ away from furniture/materials, and should be unplugged when not in use.
4. No extension cords. That’s for air conditioners. An overheated cord can easily start a fire!
5. Match Safety. Light a match to light a candle? Run it over cold water before throwing it in the trash!
6. Throw out your lawn clippings! Old lawn clippings can ferment and catch fire.
7. Keep the grill off your deck. Decks are typically made of wood….a flammable surface! Use your grill on a concrete surface and always watch your grill when the propane is on.