Everyone loves being soaked in comfort and warmth in chilly winters. An equipment that is made to fulfill this need is wood stoves or fireplaces. Fireplaces and stoves along with their sheer comfort also come with some risks. If you take a look at the stats, you’ll get to know that house fires are very common, and results due to improper handling. Home fireplaces need proper maintenance and inspections.
If you want to keep your family safe from these potential dangers, you have to keep in mind certain things. In this article, we’ll talk about things that you need to take care of if you want to avoid any mishappening with your home’s fireplace.
- The area should be clean
The first and the most basic thing you can do is to keep the fireplace area clean. Leaving your fireplace messy can prove to be dangerous because there are chances that there is something combustible in that mess. These combustible items can be anything from newspapers to stuffed toys. These types of items should be kept at least 3 feet away from the fire.
You should also keep electronic things away from the fireplace. Electronic items are very prone to catch fire when exposed to very high temperatures.
- Keep your fire alarms in check
Fire alarms are one of the best sources to rely on to know if there is a fire or not. But fire alarms also need to be cleaned and checked for batteries. There have been incidents where the alarm ran out of juice and the house caught fire. The best thing that is recommended is to have a routine check for your fire alarm by professionals.
- Conduct regular inspection of your home
The fireplace is not the only source of fire; there are numerous things in a home that can cause a fire. You should conduct a regular inspection of your home’s electric fittings just to be on the safer side. Eliminate things such as bird nests that are very old and dry.
- Dispose of ashes and other such stuff carefully
Cleaning the fireplace after it has been used is important but you should also think about safe disposal of the waste. You get waste products such as ashes and half-burnt wood logs, all of which need to be disposed of properly.
If you are not sure that the fire in these waste products is extinguished properly you can do it yourself.
- Keep fire extinguisher ready
The first rule about home safety is having a fire extinguisher ready in the first place but just having a fire extinguisher will not do the work. Fire extinguishers need to be replaced if expired and should be kept at a place where they are easily accessible. Also, keep in mind that you should never ever use a fire extinguisher that is already expired.
These are the things you should follow to keep your home safe from catching fire. The last things are if in case there is a fire, you should immediately call the fire brigade as soon as possible.