Smoke alarms
Most home fire deaths happen at night, while people sleep: smoke kills before flames do. An alarm wakes you in time.
- Install at least one outside the bedrooms, because we can't smell smoke while asleep, and another in the living area, away from the kitchen and bathroom to avoid false alarms. Many places require one in every bedroom.
- Choose models with long-life batteries: many alarms stop working because nobody replaces the battery.
- Test them monthly with the button and replace them when they expire: usually after about ten years.
Carbon monoxide detector
is odorless and invisible, and it poisons people every winter through furnaces, heaters, fireplaces or poorly ventilated generators. Cases rise during outages, when people improvise heating.
- If you have a gas furnace, water heater or stove, a fireplace or an attached garage, put a detector near the bedrooms: carbon monoxide poisons you in your sleep without waking you.
- Headache, dizziness or nausea in several people at once are a warning sign: get outside and call emergency services.
Fire extinguisher and fire blanket
- An extinguisher of about 5 lb, near the kitchen and the exit, handles almost any home fire.
- A fire blanket in the kitchen smothers a burning pan. Never throw water on burning oil: it flashes into steam and throws flaming oil across the kitchen.
- Check the extinguisher's pressure gauge yearly and learn how to use it before you need it.
- If the fire isn't out within seconds, get out, close the door and call emergency services. A closed door holds back smoke and fire for minutes.
Shut-off valves and breaker panel
In a flood, gas leak or burst pipe, every minute counts. Every adult in the home should know:
- Where the main water shut-off valve is and how to close it.
- Where the gas shut-off is and how to close it.
- Where the breaker panel is and how to switch off the main breaker.
If a valve is stiff or won't turn, have a professional fix it now, not on the day of the problem. If you smell gas: don't switch on lights or appliances, open windows, close the valve if you can and leave the house before calling.
Home escape plan
- Two ways out of every room where possible, such as a door and a ground-floor window. If fire blocks one, you still have the other.
- A meeting point outside, like the mailbox across the street: you'll know right away if someone is missing, and nobody goes back in for someone who's already out. It's part of the family plan.
- Keys always in the same place, near the exit: in smoke and darkness there's no time to look for them.
- Practice once, at night with the lights off, which is how it would really happen.
Against earthquakes and windstorms
- Anchor bookcases, tall cabinets and the TV to the wall: in earthquakes, falling furniture causes many of the injuries.
- Don't keep heavy objects above beds or on high shelves.
- Check roof tiles, planters and awnings before storm season: whatever the wind picks up breaks windows and hurts passers-by.
Insurance and paperwork
Check what your home insurance covers: many policies exclude floods or earthquakes, which may need separate coverage, such as the National Flood Insurance Program in the US. Record a video walking through your home and save it in the cloud: it's the best evidence for a claim.