Thousands die in fires every year, but there are actions you can take to prepare yourself

A house fire is something you never want to have happen to you or your family, but it’s crucial to do what you can to mitigate the potential damage if a fire does occur. It may not seem likely that a fire could happen to you – especially in a rainy, wet part of the country like Orlando – but about 3,500 people died from fires in the U.S. in 2016, according to federal statistics. U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 358,500 home structure fires per year from 2011 to 2015, causing about $6.7 billion in direct damage per year on average.

So what can you do to help protect your home and your loved ones from the ravages of a house fire? A fire alarm system is a good first step, but Safe Home Security wants to do everything we can help you and your family stay safe. We’ve put together this list of steps you can take to minimize the potential fallout from a fire at your home.

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START WITH ALARMS

As we mentioned above, having working smoke alarms in your home is the bare minimum to help keep you and your loved ones safe. The U.S. Fire Administration recommends having at least one alarm on every level of your home, and they also suggest placing additional alarms inside bedrooms and outside other sleeping areas. Test your alarms at least once a month and replace any alarms older than 10 years.

Of course, alarms don’t do you a lot of good if you can’t get a fast response when something happens. You may have just a few minutes to escape your house, and it’s certainly not unheard of for fires to happen when a family is away from their home. A smart alarm system can send alerts to your phone or other device if something happens, allowing you to take the appropriate action and alert the authorities.

OTHER SYSTEMS TO CONSIDER

Alarms are essential when it comes to fire safety, but there’s much more you can do. Consider installing smart locks on your doors; if these locks are linked to your alarm system, you can set them to unlock automatically in the event of an emergency, saving you precious seconds when you’re trying to escape your home.

Another possibility is an automatic HVAC system. Smoke is a much greater hazard than the flames themselves when a fire occurs, so you want to minimize the spread of smoke throughout your home. An automatic HVAC system shut off can help confine smoke to the area where the fire started, giving you extra time to make your escape.

UPGRADE TO PROFESSIONAL MONITORING

Just because you’ve never had a fire at your home doesn’t mean one couldn’t happen. To get the best protection possible, subscribe to a professional fire monitoring service. That way you can rest easy knowing somebody is watching out for you 24/7 and can send help if something happens. To see what services Safe Home Security can provide for you, call us at 800-833-3211 or visit us online.