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How can you prevent accidental fires?

The fire probably represents one of the threats that all of us dread the most in our lives. Fire is difficult to contain. On the other hand, it spreads around easily. All that you need to make fire are the three elements. It’s the same three elements that can cause accidental fires as well. In order to prevent accidental fires, or any kind of fire, from catching, you need to eliminate at least one of these elements:

  • Heat
  • Fuel
  • Oxygen

Given the fact that oxygen and fuel for burning can be found all around us, the source of heat is something that you should work on removing in order to prevent accidental fires from catching. In order to help you stay safe and protect your belongings, we have come up with a list of stuff that you can do in order to minimize the risk of unwanted fire catching.

Fire flame
You need to eliminate the three sources for a fire in order to prevent accidental fires

Make sure that installations in your home are all working properly in order to prevent accidental fires

One of the first steps that you need to take in order to make sure that fire does not catch your home is to check your installations. Many accidental fires that destroy homes come from old installations running through the walls. As time goes by, installations start deteriorating. The time that needs to pass for them to become a hazard depends on many factors. Obviously, the quality of wiring used when the building was being built is going to play a major role. Then, the general state of the building plays a part as well. Depending on the region that you are living in, the weather can play a significant role or it can prove to be absolutely insignificant. Therefore, make sure that your installations are in order.

Electrical installations on a building
Make sure that your installations are in working condition

If you are thinking about renovating your home, make sure to change all of your wiring and plumbing. While bad plumbing usually leads to water damage issues, that are not always covered by an insurance policy, they can, sometimes, lead to a fire as well. Mix water leaking with bad wiring and puff! you have got yourself in a mess that is dangerous and will require time to settle. In case that happens to you, make sure to contact the professional public claims adjuster as soon as possible. It will take time to take care of the damage and you will want to get down to work as soon as possible.

Check the state of your gas system

Gas very easily catches fire. As a matter of fact, it explodes. Therefore, you should make sure that your gas system is in perfect order. To do this, you should do a yearly check-up of it. In order to do it properly, make sure to contact professionals to conduct a routine gas safety check for you. You will have to pay for the check, but you will be certain that everything is in order. If it is not, you will find it out at the right moment and be able to fix it. Bear in mind that you should conduct maintenance of your property even though it is insured. An insurance company will not reimburse you for damage that happened because you were negligent of your belongings.

Another thing that you should do in the case that you are leaving your home for more than a few days is to shut off the gas. By doing this, you will be eliminating one of the three elements we spoke about earlier in the text. No fuel = no fire.

Therefore, in order to avoid possible injuries, damage to your property and make sure that you are still meeting the requirements of your insurer, make sure to check the state of your gas system in order to prevent accidental fires.

Beware of where you place your heat sources and flammables

Another thing you can do in order to prevent an accidental fire is to make sure that flammables are places far away from sources of heat. This means that, for example, if you have radiators close to your window, then your curtain should not cover radiators. You should make sure that the curtain is far away from the heater. On the other hand, a good practice is to use short curtains in the winter time. For example, you may hang long curtains over summer in order to give your room the sense of spaciousness. When the winter comes, swap curtains for the short ones. These should not reach the floor but will be long enough to cover window as a whole. This kind of prevention in other areas as well will make sure that you do not have to file fire damage insurance claims in your lifetime.

Keep your fireplace clean and you will prevent accidental fires

Take the ash out after you are done with your fireplace to prevent accidental fires
Hot ash

Fireplaces are awesome. We know people who enjoy looking at the flame as it dances in front of their eyes. Just imagine being in your living room, looking at the fire, drinking some wine while it is snowing outside. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Even in the middle of the summer, it sounds inviting and comforting. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that people love making a fire in their home whenever they can. Still, if you are one of those people, be responsible with your fireplace. Make sure that the fire is out when you go to bed. Just a breeze coming through an open window you might have forgotten to close can lead to the whole house catching fire. Therefore, before you go to sleep, make sure to take the leftover ash out. In case that you have a glass door that you can use to close off the fireplace, you can do that instead of taking the ash out.

Whatever is your method of keeping your fireplace clean, apply it every time you are done with making fire. It will help you prevent accidental fires.

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