One emergency, which can be devastating, is to have a fire in your home. I have seen one house fire in person. We were on our way home, and the fire was there on a side road. It was huge and we could see it from quite a distance. It was quite scary to watch as it consumed the house. It made me sad to think of the family who lived there, and everything that they were losing in the fire. This experience taught me the importance of preventing a fire, and preparing your family for the possibility of one.
1) The first thing you should is to protect your home from a fire. This includes buying homeowners insurance to replace what has been lost. You should install smoke alarms throughout your home, at least one on each level. If you have a big house you may need two on each level. Once you have smoke alarms you should test them on a regular basis. You will also want to equip your home with a fire extinguisher. A 5 or 10 pound size extinguisher is adequate for most homes. You will want to install one in your kitchen. Make sure that the one in your kitchen is approved for kitchen use. These need to be updated every three to five years.
2) You will need to prepare your children for the possibility of a fire. Teach them how to make sure it is safe to leave their rooms by testing to see if the door is hot. If your children sleep in a second story room, install the hanging ladders that can be thrown out the window to climb down. Teach your children how to do this. It is important to have fire drills on a regular basis. Time yourselves, and try to get faster each time.
3) Prevent fires. Many fires are started through carelessness. Never go to bed while smoking. Make sure that you do not leave candles burning when you are not at home. Also place your candles in a safe place to burn them. I like to place mine on my kitchen stove. I know that I won’t have paper or anything else that can easily ignite there. Make sure that the wiring in your home is safe, and do not overload your outlets. If you have space heaters, make sure you use them properly. They have space heaters that will shut off automatically if they are knocked over, or become too hot. You may want to consider investing in these instead.
Completing these simple tasks will help you and your family be prepared in case of a fire. The best thing you can do is to prevent a fire from happening. But they can happen regardless of how careful you are. If your family knows how to evacuate, and you have insured your property, you will be able to recover from a fire.