Fire Prevention

According to the Red Cross, the top tips for Fire Safety are:

  • Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside bedrooms, and outside sleeping areas. 
  • Test smoke alarms every month. If they’re not working, change the batteries.
  • Talk with all family members about a fire escape plan and practice the plan twice a year.
  • If a fire occurs in your home, GET OUT, STAY OUT and CALL FOR HELP. Never go back inside for anything or anyone.

According to a report from the National Fire Protection Association, the top five things that cause fires are: 

  • Cooking
  • Heating
  • Electrical
  • Smoking
  • Candles

Contact Us

  1. Roberson, Jared

    Jared Roberson

    Fire Marshal
    Email
    Phone: 407-260-3460

Tips

Your ability to get out depends on advance warnings from smoke alarms and advance planning.

Fire can spread rapidly through your home, leaving you as little as 1 or 2 minutes to escape safely once the alarm sounds. Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible exits and escape routes. Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of their home, marking 2 ways out of each room, including windows and doors. Also, mark the location of each smoke alarm. For easy planning, check out the NFPA's escape planning grid. This is a great way to get children involved in fire safety in a non-threatening way.

Carbon Monoxide

Often called the invisible killer, carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane) burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel are potential sources of carbon monoxide. Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

In 2016, local fire departments responded to an estimated 79,600 carbon monoxide incidents or an average of nine such calls per hour. This does not include the 91,400 carbon monoxide alarm malfunctions and the 68,000 unintentional carbon monoxide alarms.

Data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) National Center for Health Statistics show that in 2017, 399 people died of unintentional non-fire carbon monoxide poisoning. 

Learn more about how to protect your family.