Fire Safety Tips for Famillies

Essential Home Fire Safety Tips for Families

 

In this episode, Andy emphasizes the importance of family safety and provides crucial tips on preventing and responding to house fires. The discussion includes the significance of kitchen safety, working smoke detectors, creating and practicing a family fire escape plan, and the proper use of fire extinguishers and fire blankets. He also highlights the importance of having fire escape ladders for multi-story homes in multiple locations. 

 

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00:00 Welcome to The Secure Family Podcast

00:42 Introduction to Fire Safety

01:56 Preventing House Fires: Kitchen Safety

03:56 Smoke Detectors and Family Fire Escape Plans

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Episode Transcript

(00:11):
This is The Secure Family Podcast.
Welcome friend, I'm Andy Murphy, thehost and founder of The Secure Dad.
This show is all about empowering parentsto protect themselves and their family.
I believe that security is thefoundation of happiness, and I want
your family to be safe and happy.
The information that I shareon this podcast is for general
information purposes only.

(00:33):
My goal is to empower you to makesafer decisions for yourself and
your family because our safetyis our own responsibility.
Today I wanna talk about what we cando to prevent house fires and what
you can do if you happen to smell,smoke, all of that and more coming
up on The Secure Family Podcast.

(00:56):
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(01:19):
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(01:42):
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A fire is a devastating and frighteningevent that could put our homes
and our families in grave danger.

(02:03):
Unfortunately, fires occur moreoften than most of us realize.
With fire departments acrossthe United States, responding
to a home fire every 88 seconds.
This statistic alone highlights theimportance of preparing and protecting
our families against the threat of a fire.
Today we'll look into the steps that wecan take to prevent a fire in your home

(02:24):
and ensure that your family is ready torespond in the event of an emergency.
One of the biggest misconceptionsabout fire is that it spreads
at a slow, manageable pace.
In reality, fire can spread incrediblyquickly, often faster than you can run.
This misconception comes from moviesand TV shows where heroes run into

(02:47):
burning homes and save people withoutbeing affected by heat and smoke.
That is not the reality of fire.
It is hot, it is nasty, and it is deadly.
The first step in preventinga fire in your home is to be
extra careful in the kitchen.
The number one cause for home fires inthe United States is unattended cooking.

(03:08):
We've all been there.
I know I was there thismorning making breakfast.
I get it.
With this in mind.
It's crucial to keep an eye onwhat's going on in the kitchen,
especially when children are present.
If you have young children, you can try toget them to help you in the kitchen, which
will give you a chance to supervise themwhile also keeping an eye on the stove.
I've seen an incredible home securityvideo of a dog jumping up at the stove and

(03:32):
it actually turns one of the burners on.
And while that is bad enough.
Stored on top of the stove is abunch of Amazon boxes that went
up in flames incredibly fast.
Thankfully, the damage was minimal andthe dog and his owners were not harmed.
But please don't store anythingon top of the stove even for
just a few minutes because younever know what's gonna happen.

(03:56):
Another critical aspect of firesafety is ensuring that you have
working smoke detectors in your home.
Smoke detectors can be the onlywarning that you'll receive when
you're asleep, so it's crucialthat they are in working order.
Make sure that you have smoke detectorsin your kitchen, hallways, near
bedrooms, the basement, the attic,and in each bedroom, at a minimum.

(04:17):
Additionally, it's important tonote that not everyone in your
home may be able to hear the smokedetector and wake up, and this is
especially true with young children.
A study in the UK found that80% of children between the ages
of two and 13 do not respondto smoke alarms while sleeping.
That may sound crazy to youand me, but their brains don't

(04:40):
perceive it as a threat warning.
That's something that youapparently get as you were older
and take more responsibility.
It's, it's crazy, but it's true.
With this in mind, it's crucial tohave an adult in charge of retrieving
any children who might not wakeup when the smoke detector sounds.
So you need to have a plan on gettingeach of your small children out of

(05:00):
the house in the event of a fire.
Of course, you want to havea family fire escape plan.
The essential elements of a plan is toknow where all the exits are in your home.
This can be your front door, out theback, or even out of a first floor window.
If you have small children or older adultsin the home, make sure that somebody's
assigned to help get those people out,and also assign a backup person in

(05:23):
case that primary person isn't home.
Then once outside, make a rallypoint for everybody to meet,
and that one is very important.
You need to know thateverybody is outta the house.
This needs to be a good distancefrom the house as the heat and
the flames may still be causing anissue even though you're outside.
So maybe it's a neighbor's mailbox orsomebody's porch, something like that.

(05:45):
Don't just make a plan and hopethat everybody's gonna follow it.
Practice it at least twice a year.
There's no need to trigger the alarms.
Just yell something like fire drilland let everybody jump into action.
You may even wanna let one of yourkids do it to make it fun and kind
of take the edge off the event.
It's also important to own atleast two fire extinguishers
and know how to use them.

(06:06):
Place one in your kitchen asthat's the room where fire's most
likely to start, and then putanother one near the bedrooms.
If you have never used a fireextinguisher before, and that's
actually common not to have used one.
It's important to know thewidely accepted acronym of PASS.
P stands for Pull the pin.
A stands for AIM Low.

(06:27):
The first S stands for Squeezethe lever and do that slowly.
And then the last S stands for Sweep.
Which involves moving the nozzle from sideto side to maximize the spray and increase
your chances of putting out that fire.
Also for the kitchen, pleaseinvest in a fire blanket.
I think these things are great.
They're used to put out grease firesand many other type of cooking fires.

(06:50):
They're inexpensive and you can deploythem in seconds and smother out the flame.
I have a few of these myself.
You can also put them in your car as well.
Finally, if you live in a multi-storyhome, it's essential to have
a fire escape ladder on hand.
These ladders come in a box and theycould be stored just about anywhere.
So in the event of a fire, you and yourfamily can use the ladder to escape

(07:12):
from a window and climb down to safety.
So if you know that you're going to haveto go to your nursery to get your 10 month
old, put an escape ladder in that room.
There are ladders in my son's room andin our room because those are the two
places that we could evacuate from.
As we wrap up, fire is a seriousthreat that can cause devastating

(07:33):
harm to our homes and to our families.
By being mindful of the risk, havingworking smoke detectors, owning fire
extinguishers, and having a fire escapeplan in place, we can protect our
families and ensure that they'll beready to respond in the event of a fire.
Planning ahead and being preparedcan make all the difference in the
world when it comes to fire safety.

(07:56):
If you'd like to hear more aboutfire safety, please check out my
conversation with Jason Patton ofthe Fire Department Chronicles.
You know the firefighter whomakes the funny videos on TikTok?
I had a great conversation with him.
It was episode number 138of The Secure Dad Podcast.
You could check it out whereveryou're listening to this episode.

(08:18):
Well, that's everything thatI have for today's show.
Thank you friend for listening.
Take back your privacy and personaldata with help from DeleteMe.
Get 20% off a privacy plan whenusing the code DAD at checkout.
DeleteMe is the official dataremoval service of The Secure Dad.
Learn how to spot the signs that apredator may be targeting your kid online.

(08:38):
Find out what you need toknow with my ebook Level Up.
I'll show you how to create a saferonline gaming experience in your home.
Get your copy today at thelink in the show notes.
If you'd like to know moreabout the Secure Dad, join
me on Instagram and TikTok.
My username for bothplatforms is The Secure Dad.
And of course, my website is availableall the time at TheSecureDad.com.

(09:02):
I'm Andy Murphy reminding you thatour safety is our own responsibility.