Unfortunately, as we age, we are at a higher risk of being injured in a fire. In fact, as of 2015, older adults represented 15% of the U.S population but ended up accounting for 40% of total fire-related deaths. Luckily, with some proper fire safety knowledge and through fire prevention, this number can be significantly decreased. The tips provided below are simple and can be integrated into your daily life seamlessly with minimal hassle to ensure you and your entire family are safe from a preventable fire. In this article, we will be going over some of the top fire safety tips that you should familiarize yourself with.

Fire Safety Tips:

1. Smoke Alarms

One of the best things you can do to prevent having a fire emergency and not knowing about it would be installing the appropriate number of smoke alarms. It’s important to have an alarm that can achieve its intended purpose. Therefore, if a senior is unable to hear an alarm, it would be better to find an alarm that features either a sound they can hear or something that will get their attention. Along with installing the appropriate number of smoke alarms, the smoke alarms’ batteries should be check routinely. It’s important to be up-to-date on the smoke alarms’ batteries and to routinely test them to ensure they are working properly.

2. Checking and Cleaning Lint

Believe it or not, but around 15,970 home fires per year are a direct result of clothes dryers or washing machines. Whereas, clothes dryers accounted for 92% of all of the fires. The leading cause was the failure to clean the lint from the dryer [2]. Therefore, it’s easy to see how important regularly cleaning the lint from the dryer can be. By making it a habit to clean the lint from the dryer after each drying session, you can significantly reduce the chances that your dryer catches fire.

3. Turning Off The Stove or Oven

Fire departments across the US have responded to an estimated average of 172,900 home fires started by cooking activities from the year 2014 to 2018 [2]. The main leading contributor was unattended equipment. Nearly 1/4 of the people who were killed by these fires were actually sleeping at the time they occurred [2]. As a result, it is imperative that the stove is checked routinely after each use. Leaving a stove on can be disastrous. This is especially true for a senior with limited mobility.

Overall, there are a lot of different fire safety tips that you should be following. If you make a concerted effort to utilize these fire safety tips on a regular basis, you should be able to help maximize your chances of avoiding a disaster. While some fires are accidental and uncontrollable, a lot of fires start from negligence and a lack of awareness of basic fire safety procedures. Don’t allow yourself to be one of them.

References:

[2] https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Staying-safe/Safety-in-living-and-entertainment-spaces/Home-fires-TEST/Dryers-and-washing-machines