Safety for Families

Smoke Alarms are a vital component of a home fire escape plan. They are your first alert and warning sign that deadly, toxic smoke is present and spreading. They should be installed in every sleeping area, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of a home. Do you have them in your home? Are they all properly installed? If obtaining or installing smoke alarms is outside your ability at this time, let us know – we can help! We can provide and install smoke alarms.

If you need to utilize this program, please call 253-538-6402.

Draw your home floor plan using a home escape plan template. Label all the rooms and identify the doors and windows. Plan 2 escape routes from every room. Provide alternatives for anyone with a disability. Agree on a meeting place where everyone will gather after you have escaped.

It’s safer to use battery operated candles, but if you’re using wax candles to brighten up your home, follow our safety advice:

• Keep clothes and hair away from the naked flame.
• Always use a suitable holder when burning candles.
• Keep candles out of the reach of children and away from pets.
• Consider an extra smoke alarm in the rooms where you use candles.
• Extinguish candles before moving them and don’t let anything fall into the hot wax.
• Extinguish candles before you leave a room and never go to sleep with a candle still burning.
• Use a snuffer or a spoon to put them out. Blowing them can send sparks and hot wax flying.
• Don’t put them under shelves – make sure there’s at least one meter (three feet) between a candle and any surface above it.
• Put them on a heat-resistant surface and be especially careful with night lights and tea lights, which get hot enough to melt plastic.
• Scented candles turn to liquid in order to release their fragrance, so always burn them in a suitable glass or metal container that can withstand the heat of the liquid.

Many home fires are preventable. If you’re working on a story about a fire in your community, feel free to include NFPA’s key fire safety tips in your article:

• Watch your cooking
  Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you must leave, even for a short time, turn off the stove.
• Give space heaters space
  Keep fixed and portable space heaters at least three feet from anything that can burn. Turn off heaters when you leave the room or go to sleep.
• Smoke outside
  Ask smokers to smoke outside. Have sturdy, deep ashtrays for smokers.
• Keep matches and lighters out of reach
  Keep matches and lighters up high, out of the reach of children, preferably in a cabinet with a child lock.
• Inspect electrical cords
  Replace cords that are cracked, damaged, have broken plugs, or have loose connections.
• Be careful when using candles
  Keep candles at least one foot from anything that can burn. Blow out candles when you leave the room or go to sleep.
• Have a home fire escape plan
  Make a home fire escape plan and practice it at least twice a year.
• Install smoke alarms
  Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms and outside sleeping areas. Interconnect smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
• Test smoke alarms
  Test smoke alarms at least once a month and replace batteries once a year or when the alarm “chirps” to tell you the battery is low. Replace any smoke alarm that is more than 10 years old.
• Install sprinklers
  If you are building or remodeling your home, install residential fire sprinklers. Sprinklers can contain and may even extinguish a fire in less time than it would take the fire department to arrive.

Source: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA®)

For more information, contact NFPA’s Public Affairs office:

• via e-mail
• phone +1 617 984-7275