Articles - Lessening Fire Risks In Your Home

		HomePro Systems, Inc.

HomePro
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(703) 560-4663
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Home Pro Inspection
Systems Inc.
969 Eldon Road
Oakwood, Ontario
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800-832-0519

Lessening Fire Risks In Your Home:

While the risk of house fires is an ever present one, there are innumerable safety procedures you can follow to reduce the odds of your home becoming a fire statistic.

Aside from careless smoking, here is a list of the primary causes of household fires and some of the ways to fight fire with fire.

ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS:

Sparks from loose connections can ignite nearby construction materials, sometimes without blowing a fuse or tripping a circuit breaker (breakers occasionally "freeze" and fail to trip).

Loose connections can occur where appliances or other electric devices are able to move or vibrate. Mentally and visually survey your system and make a list of deficiencies for an electrician to correct. Look under the sink and make sure the wiring to the trash disposer is tight. Do the same for the clothes dryer. Switches or plug outlet devices should be held securely. If they are loose, have an electrician secure them. Try to recall if any lights flicker and have those connections checked.

Do fuses or circuit breakers blow or trip regularly? This is always a sign of trouble if it happens consistently and the cause should be determined and corrected. A blown fuse that shows black on the glass is a sure sign of serious trouble as it indicates a short circuit on the line. A fuse that has burned out due to an overload on the circuit will simply have a break in the metal strip behind the glass. Scan your fuse box for green colored fuses. These are usually 30amp fuses and should not control the circuits for your lights. If you have relatively few fuses but a lot of green ones, it is very likely that your system is overloaded. Wires heat up excessively when too much current is allowed to flow through them.

If you use extension cords and/or adapters that allow extra plugs to be plugged into a single outlet, you should consider having extra circuits run to those areas from the main distribution panel. This is especially true if the cords or adapters are used in the kitchen where heatproducing electrical appliances draw a lot of current. Never run an extension cord under a rug or through a wall or floor and never use an extension cord that is thinner than the cord for the appliance it leads to. The thicker the cord on an appliance, the more electricity it uses, a thin extension cord hooked to a thick appliance wire (irons, hair dryers, air conditioners) will almost certainly overheat.

ALUMINUM WIRING: Aluminum lower branch wiring (used primarily between 1964 and 1972) creates a fire risk approximately 40 times greater than copper wire according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission. (This is not typically accepted in Canada.) The cause seems to be intermittent hot connections. The remedies are technical and are best left to professionals who specialize in this type of remedial work. (The costs are high: Budget $1,000 and up.)

BASEBOARD HEATERS: Never allow drapes to overhang electric baseboard heaters. Always be careful to provide at least eight inches of clearance. The same applies to bedding so avoid placing beds too close to these heaters.

"HI-HAT" LIGHTING: Light fixtures that are recessed into the ceiling require surrounding insulation be kept three inches away. It is often a losing battle to get insulation contractors to do this. If you have this type of lighting fixture, the odds are that it is covered with insulation and is a fire hazard. Thingauge sheet metal can be bent into a cylinder and slipped around the upper portion of the light.

HEAT LAMPS: If your bathroom has a heat bulb in the ceiling, check to be sure the door doesn't swing directly beneath it (a towel placed carelessly on the door could easily ignite). Move any fixture that is close to the light; at the very least, inform family and guests to be very careful.

KITCHENS: Ranges should never be under windows since curtains or blinds easily could be ignited. Do not hang dish towels from oven handles. Be extremely careful when using plug receptacles on ranges (it is easy for the cord to stretch over hot elements or burners). Clean grease filters and exhaust fans every month. Avoid greasy buildup on range tops and broilers. Keep baking soda or an allpurpose fire extinguisher handy.

FIREPLACES: Clean your fireplace after burning two or three cords of seasoned hardwood (especially if 1/4 inch of creosote shows in the upper reaches of the firebox). Examine around the forward face of the fireplace. Seal any cracks between the face brick and the fire brick inside the firebox with refractory cement. Do the same if a crack exists where the forward hearth apron touches the firebox. Heavy raised hearths supported by wooden floors are vulnerable to cracks (these can be obscured by glass screens, so examine them carefully).
If your firebox has an ash dump door, make sure it fits tightly and be certain you know what is under that door; fire hazards have been created when basement remodeling interferes with ash dumps. Check the ash dump cleanout door in the basement, which should fit and close tightly; if it doesn't, replace it and be certain to keep it clear of combustibles.

WOOD STOVES: Most wood stoves are installed with insufficient clearance or shielding from combustibles. Usually the stove requires 36 inches of clearance while the chimney requires 18 inches (less if shielding is used). Shielding should be under the stove as well. Always follow manufacturers' instructions to the letter. Take out the proper building permit to ensure that the building authorities get a chance to review the installation. Your insurance company will want to know this, pity you in the event of a fire and no permit.)
For a practical installation guide, contact the Wood Heating Education Research Foundation, 1101 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036. Have a chimney sweep clean the flue servicing a wood stove at least once a season.

KEROSENE HEATERS: Use only Kl kerosene in your heater. It is cleaner and far less likely to create a fouled wick. Dirty wicks sometimes fail to retract if heaters are knocked over. Naturally you will keep the heater out of traffic patterns and away from combustibles.

MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT: Never place anything against flues from furnaces, boilers or water heaters. Always keep the space around them clear of combustibles. Change the filters often and utilize professional maintenance contracts.

OIL BURNERS: Keep your equipment under a maintenance contract; if done properly, this service will easily save enough fuel to pay for the cost. Oil burning gear that is not maintained gradually will degenerate into a potential fire hazard.

REMODELING: Check any remodeling that occurs near heating and water heating equipment. Make sure there is good clearance from the flues. Enclosed porches (outside the room with the fireplace) often have drywall or paneling nailed to the back of the chimney. The nails penetrate the mortar joints and lead heat back to the furring strips or paneling. Never nail into a chimney.

STORAGE: Never allow greasy or oily rags to accumulate. Spontaneous combustion does happen. Store paints and any volatile liquids outside.

HOBBIES: Stripping paint, refinishing furniture or flooring, or even assembling a model airplane should always be done with plenty of ventilation and never near gas appliances. (Most gas appliances have burning pilot lights that can easily ignite a buildup of fumes.)

SMOKE DETECTORS: Buy them and install them (it is probably impossible to have too many). Use both electric and battery operated models; test them frequently and replace batteries often. Place them at the top of the stairs (where smoke will rise) and in the hallways near bedrooms. Don't be put off by smoke detectors that trip easily if you burn the toast or steam up the bathroom; if they become annoying, replace them with a different brand. Consider installing CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS in homes which utilize fossil fuels.

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