OCTOBER is fire safety month, which is a great reminder about the dangers of fire but you should always be prepared for emergencies.  Two items that every household should have and their value can never be under estimated is smoke alarm and fire extinguisher.  I always recommend to my clients at least 2 extinguishers in the home, one in the kitchen and the other one in the garage.  For a multi-level home at least one on each floor.  It’s a fact that most home fires begin in the kitchen and your extinguisher should always be readily accessible.   When a fire breaks out you don’t want to waste precious time searching for the extinguisher.  You can mount it on a wall but for ascetics, you can also keep it under the sink, in front, without clutter hiding it.
Since you may not only face a grease fire in the kitchen, it could also be electrical related (toaster) or paper and wood, so look for an extinguisher that is rated for all types of fires, an ABC rating.  It’ll tell you on the fire extinguisher what that particular extinguishers abilities are.

A- Trash/wood     B- Liquids    C- Electrical

When using the extinguisher point at the center point of the fire and move the nozzle in a steady sweeping motion, left to right and back. If the fire continues or gets much worse GET OUT, call 911.  You’ve done your best now wait for the professionals to arrive.

October is also fire safety month since the time change used to come this month, now it’s the first Sunday in November.  The two annual time changes are a great way to remember to change out the batteries in your smoke alarm.  Why wait until it’s chirping at you in the middle of the night for a battery change, be proactive. Smoke detectors can be placed inside or right outside bedrooms.  Be careful not to place them to close to the kitchen or you may set it off every time you fry bacon.  The laundry room is another great place to have a smoke detector as it is possible for lint to build up from the dryer and possibly catch fire.  Even if your home or apartment comes with a smoke detector hot wired into your electrical, it is always a good idea to still have one battery operated smoke detector in the house, in case of power failure or fire to the electrical cutting it off.

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