5 Ways Fires Start at Home | SERVPRO® of Henderson/Boulder City

11/30/2021 (Permalink)

Regardless of the cause, SERVPRO of Henderson/Boulder City is here for you if your home is affected by fire

5 Ways Fires Start at Home | SERVPRO® of Henderson/Boulder City - SERVPRO OF HENDERSON/BOULDER CITY Blog

Fire safety is an important part of everyday life. Think about how often you cook, turn on a heat source for comfort or use electrical appliances. Opportunities for fire are all around, which is what makes great caution so necessary.

And yet, a quarter of all reported fires across the country still start at home, despite all we know and practice regarding fire safety and prevention.

Let’s look at the most likely places fires may start in the house.

Cooking. Flip a coin and call it in the air—the odds that you’re right or wrong are essentially the exact same odds that a fire that starts in your home will start in the kitchen. The main reason? Unattended cooking. Leaving the heat source alone with food, grease or near flammable materials is a recipe for disaster. Always pay attention, and never leave your food to cook itself without supervision.

Heating equipment. Heaters of various kinds can cause issues, and any heat source can start a fire if it’s too close to something that can ignite (always keep at least a three-foot radius), but small space heaters in particular are known to be troublesome. If yours is older, upgrade it to a new model that will shut off automatically if it tips over or overheats.

Electrical fires. Think about all the electricity currently (pun way intended) being used in your home. It only takes one unmanaged short-circuit to send your house into a fiery frenzy. Always keep your wiring updated, and allow a professional to conduct routine checkups and maintenance annually.

Intentional fires. It’s hard to swallow, but 28,000 home fires per year—more than 75 every day, are started on purpose by people who intentionally misuse heating sources or materials to set fire to property.

Smoking materials. Your home is more likely to experience an intentional fire than a fire begun by smoking paraphernalia, but sadly, smoking fires cause more deaths than any other type of fire on this list. If you smoke, always do it carefully, and never smoke while impaired or drowsy.

Regardless of the cause, SERVPRO is here for you if your home is affected by fire. Contact your local team today to see how we can help.