Celebrate Fire Prevention Month By Improving Appliance Safety

1. Get Annual Maintenance for Appliances . Annual inspections and maintenance are vital for ensuring that your appliances stay in the best possible working order. This is important for several reasons. First of all, it helps you save money by keeping the appliances running efficiently and also reducing the risk of a sudden parts failure. Perhaps more importantly, it helps keep your family safe by preventing electrical or gas issues to develop unchecked until they ultimately may lead to a fire. Annual maintenance is especially important for gas appliances since you may face the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning as well as fire if the appliances malfunction.

2. Address Cooking Appliance Hazards . Many home fires originate in the kitchen. In order to reduce your risk of a kitchen fire, avoid leaving anything cooking on the stove unattended. Also, be sure your children understand how to react to a kitchen fire it is important not to try to extinguish a grease fire on the stovetop using water, as this could actually spread the fire. Instead, a fire extinguisher should be used. Be sure your fire extinguisher is fully charged and easily accessible in case of a fire in one of your cooking appliances. Also, be sure to clean grease from your range hood often to prevent it from catching fire.

3. Remove Dryer Lint Frequently . Nice, fluffy lint and a hot appliance are a bad combination. In order to prevent lint from presenting a fire risk in your laundry room, simply remove it. Clean out your lint trap before every load of laundry.

4. Check All Power Cords . When power cords become damaged, they can create sparks or shorts that could lead to a fire. It is a very good idea to periodically inspect all power cords in your home, including those on your major appliances. If you notice any cracks or other damage to the plastic casing on the cord, it needs to be replaced.

5. Don’t Overload Outlets . Plugging too many electrical devices into any one outlet could overload the circuit and cause a fire. Actually, it is important to remember that it is not the number of devices that is the problem so much as the total amount of amperage. If one appliance is already drawing all the amperage the outlet can handle, do not plug anything else into the outlet even if there is another port free.