It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to have a plan even if you do not have children in your home. To give an example, a 70-year-old couple did not have a plan. The HVAC unit caught fire. The wife went out the front door and the husband went out the backdoor. They must have just missed each other. The husband thought the wife was still inside, he went back in looking for her. This is a true story of a couple very near and dear to me. Luckily everyone made it out just fine, but it could have ended poorly since there was no plan.
Fire Prevention week is the perfect time to educate and talk with your whole family about fire safety
– include testing alarms, changing the batteries or upgrading to 10-year sealed battery alarms, how to use a fire extinguisher and escape route planning.
Did you know:
· 3 of every 5 home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no working smoke alarms
· Less than 50% of homeowners have an escape plan
· Carbon monoxide (CO) is the #1 cause of accidental poisoning in the US
· 60% of consumers do not test their smoke and CO alarms monthly*
· Only 47% of people report having CO alarms in their home
· Just 43% of homeowners have an escape plan*
· Unattended cooking is the #1 cause of home fires
