Home Fire Prevention

• Checklist
• Electrical Safety
• Kitchen
• Sleeping areas
• Workshop storage areas and outdoors

Checklist 

 Have your fireplace and chimney inspected by certified personnel regularly.

 Keep matches and lighters out of sight and reach of children.

 Turn off or unplug space heaters when you leave the room or go to bed.

 Don't retire for the evening before the fire in your fireplace is out.

 Store ashes in non-combustible containers outside of the house.

 Never smoke in bed or when drowsy from medication or alcohol.

 Ensure smoke alarms installed in your home are checked regularly and kept in good working order. 

 Mount candles firmly on glass/ metal holders; keep away from combustibles like draperies.

 Do not put lit candles on Christmas trees.

 Blow candles out when you leave the room or go to bed. Never leave burning candles unattended.

Electrical safety

• Electrical systems and equipment become fire hazards if they are not well maintained.
• Immediately replace any electrical cords that are cracked or frayed, or that get hot during use. Don't over load outlets or extension cords.
• If appliances aren't working right, have them repaired by a qualified professional. Disconnect any electrical device if you feel a tingle when you touch it, if it emits a burning smell, or if it blows a breaker or fuse. Be sure all your electrical appliances are listed or labelled by a national testing laboratory (CSA, ULC).
• If a fuse blows or a circuit breaker trips, try to find out why. Make sure the new fuse is the right size and amperage. Fuses and circuit breakers protect you; don't tamper with them.
• If there are small children in your home, use child protector covers on outlets. 
• Prevent shocks. When using electrical appliances such as hair dryers, make sure your hands are dry and do not stand in or near water. Unplug appliances after use. If the inside of an appliance gets wet, have it serviced before using it again.

Kitchen

• Stove burners and ovens can burn you or start fires. Be very careful when you are working around the stove.
• Never leave cooking unattended.
• Keep your stove and oven clean.
• Wear close-fitting sleeves when cooking.
• Things that can burn should be kept away from the stove. Don't put curtains, potholders, towels or other combustibles near the burners or the oven.
• Turn pot handles inward so the pots can't be knocked or pulled over. \
• If a grease fire starts, carefully slide a lid over the pan to smother the flames and turn off the burner.
• Never pour water on a grease fire it will only spread the fire.
• Never put foil or other metals in a microwave oven.

Sleeping areas

• The majority of fatal fires happen while people are sleeping. You can save lives by installing and maintaining operational smoke detectors and practicing family escape drills.
• Never smoke in bed or when you are drowsy.
• Install smoke detectors on every level of your home, including the basement, and especially outside of every sleeping area. If you like sleeping with your bedroom door closed install a smoke detector in the bedroom.
• Appliances can malfunction and start a fire in the bedroom. Make sure that everyone can hear and recognize the detectors alarm.
• Plan and practice two escape routes from each room. If one route leads through a window above the second floor, make sure you have a way to reach the ground safely.
• Make sure everyone in your family knows how to escape, where to meet outside, and the emergency phone number, which they should call from a neighbour's phone or use a cell phone after escaping from the building.
• Use extreme caution with cigarettes! Provide large ashtrays for smokers. Before you go to bed or leave home, check for smouldering cigarettes under the cushions of couches and chairs.
• Make sure TVs and stereos have space around them to prevent overheating.
• Keep space heaters and wood stoves at least 3 feet (1 meter) away from anything that can burn. Always turn heaters off when you go to bed or go out. Never leave children alone where a space heater or wood stove is operating.
• Use a metal screen on your fireplace. Have the chimney professionally inspected once a year and cleaned when necessary. Use only aged wood in the fireplaces and wood stoves.
• Keep lighters and matches up high, where young children can't see or reach them, preferably in a locked cabinet.

Workshops storage areas and outdoors

• You may have flammable materials in your basement or garage. Exercise fire safety inside and out.
• If you keep gasoline on hand, store it outside your home or in a detached garage. Keep only small quantities and use a laboratory- approved gasoline can.
• Always store paint and other flammable products in their original labelled containers with tight-fitting lids. Use and store flammable liquids well away from appliances, heaters, furnaces, pilot lights, and cigarettes or other sources of heat.
• Have your furnace checked every year by a professional replace, your furnace filter frequently during the heating season.
• Remove trash from your home. Don't store anything near the furnace or heater.
• Make sure your roof is fire-retardant if you live next to the park. The best products are slate or tile.
• Never use gasoline on a grill fire. Don't add charcoal lighter fluid once the fire has started. Instead use kindling to revive the flame. Use grills only outside of homes and away from the home, garage and combustibles. \
• Before starting your lawnmower, snow blower, or motorcycle, move it away from gasoline fumes. Let the motor cool before you refuel. 
• Never store or use propane cylinders indoors.