Home Fire Safety

Cooking

Cooking is the leading cause of reported home fires and home fire injuries and the second leading cause of home fire deaths. Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires, followed by Christmas Day and Christmas Eve.

What you should know about home cooking safety

  1. Be on alert! If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol, don’t use the stove or stovetop.
  2. Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, boiling, or broiling food.
  3. If you are simmering, baking, or roasting food, check it regularly, remain in the kitchen while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
  4. Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains — away from your stovetop.

If you have a cooking fire

  1. Just get out! When you leave, close the door behind you to help contain the fire.
  2. Call 9-1-1 or the local emergency number after you leave.
  3. If you try to fight the fire, be sure others are getting out and you have a clear way out.
  4. Keep a lid nearby when you’re cooking to smother small grease fires. Smother the fire by sliding the lid over the pan and turn off the stovetop. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled.
  5. For an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the door closed.

Safety considerations for cooking with oil

  1. Always stay in the kitchen when frying on the stovetop.
  2. Keep an eye on what you fry. If you see wisps of smoke or the oil smells, immediately turn off the burner and/or carefully remove the pan from the burner. Smoke is a danger sign that the oil is too hot.
  3. Heat the oil slowly to the temperature you need for frying or sautéing.
  4. Add food gently to the pot or pan so the oil does not splatter.
  5. Always cook with a lid beside your pan. If you have a fire, slide the lid over the pan and turn off the burner. Do not remove the cover because the fire could start again. Let the pan cool for a long time. Never throw water on the fire.
  6. If the fire does not go out or you don’t feel comfortable sliding a lid over the pan, get everyone out of your home. Call the fire department from outside.

Smoke Alarms

Smoke alarms save lives. Smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries. Fire spreads fast—working smoke alarms give you early warning so you can get outside quickly.

  1. Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room and outside each separate sleeping area. Install alarms on every level of the home. Install alarms in the basement.
  2. It is best to use interconnected smoke alarms so that when one smoke alarm sounds, they all sound.
  3. Test all smoke alarms at least once a month. Press the test button to be sure the alarm is working.
  4. A closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat, and fire.

  5. Working smoke alarms are an important part of a home fire escape plan. 

Escape Planning

Your ability to get out of your home during a fire depends on advance warning from smoke alarms and advance planning. Fire can spread rapidly through your home, leaving you as little as one or two minutes to escape safely once the smoke alarm sounds.

Escape planning tips

  1. Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible exits and escape routes.  Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors. Also, mark the location of each smoke alarm.
  2. A closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire. Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. 
  3. When you walk through your plan, check to make sure the escape routes are clear and doors and windows can be opened easily.
  4. Choose an outside meeting place (i.e. neighbor's house, a light post, mailbox, or stop sign) a safe distance in front of your home where everyone can meet after they've escaped. Make sure to mark the location of the meeting place on your escape plan.
  5. Go outside to see if your street number is clearly visible from the road. If not, paint it on the curb or install house numbers to ensure that responding emergency personnel can find your home.
  6. Have everyone memorize the emergency phone number of the fire department. That way any member of the household can call from a neighbor's home or a cellular phone once safely outside.
  7. If there are infants, older adults, or family members with mobility limitations, make sure that someone is assigned to assist them in the fire drill and in the event of an emergency. Assign a backup person too, in case the designee is not home during the emergency
  8. If windows or doors in your home have security bars, make sure that the bars have emergency release devices inside so that they can be opened immediately in an emergency. Emergency release devices won't compromise your security - but they will increase your chances of safely escaping a home fire.
  9. Tell guests or visitors to your home about your family's fire escape plan. When staying overnight at other people's homes, ask about their escape plan. If they don't have a plan in place, offer to help them make one. This is especially important when children are permitted to attend "sleepovers" at friends' homes.
  10. Be fully prepared for a real fire: when a smoke alarm sounds, get out immediately. Residents of high-rise and apartment buildings may be safer "defending in place."
  11. Once you're out, stay out! Under no circumstances should you ever go back into a burning building. If someone is missing, inform the fire department dispatcher when you call. Firefighters have the skills and equipment to perform rescues.