Fire Extinguisher Cabinets
Keeping Your Home Safe from Fires

All homes have a lot of potential fire hazards in them. The only thing we can do is to make sure that they pose no risk of causing a fire.

From selecting the right fire extinguisher types to checking on the electrical appliances, you are primarily responsible for making sure that your home is safe from a fire. Keep these pointers in mind, and you will greatly reduce the risk of a house fire harming you and your family:

Properly store flammable materials While it is common sense to prevent children from playing with matches, there is also another reason to properly store flammable materials.

Heat and sunlight have a very dangerous effect on many flammable materials, like pressurized canisters full of flammable gas and kerosene stored in plastic containers. Keep them far away from direct sunlight and any sources of heat, and you will be able to prevent any untoward incidents.

Check all carpeting and electrical appliances

No amount of fire extinguisher training will help you if your entire floor ignites in the blink of an eye.

While electrical appliances are dangerous enough, the risk of a flame becoming uncontrollable are increased tenfold when it manages to set a carpet on fire. Carefully inspect your carpeting around the house, as well as any curtains or similar cloth materials.

Have the gas pipes and household heating inspected

Another major source of fires are corroded gas pipes and faulty heating, and they are particularly dangerous because the damage they do is both hard to detect and hard to stop.

Rushing to the fire extinguisher cabinets may not be an option in these situations. Gas explosions are instantaneous and deadly, while fires resulting from faulty heaters usually start in hidden and vulnerable places. Hiring a professional to inspect your gas pipes and heating once a year is a good investment, and will go a long way to keeping your home safe.

Stock a reliable fire extinguisher

Fires are unpredictable, and this is what makes them so deadly. You need a reliable fire extinguisher to minimize damage and prevent a fire from becoming uncontrollable.

Getting the right type of extinguisher to handle a fire is essential, so get an extinguisher that can handle type A, B and C fires. They will be able to put out most fires that occur in your home. And you definitely need to use a reliable extinguisher brand, like a Kidde fire extinguisher, in order to make sure that your extinguisher will work even after years of storage.

Use signs to indicate where an extinguisher is

And there is one last thing to remember. No one will be able to use an extinguisher if they can’t find it, so you may want to invest in a few signs to let people know where an extinguisher is when they need it.

Placing a few arrows indicating where the extinguisher is definitely helps in an emergency situation, as the adrenaline of the moment may block rational thinking. Make sure to properly put up Fire extinguisher signs in common areas, and you can make sure everyone knows where to go in case a fire breaks out.