According to Electrical Safety Foundation International, over 50,00 residential fires occur per year with deaths totaling close to 500, and damages totaling $1.3 billion dollars.
With the holiday season just around the corner, you may be purchasing new electrical devices, hanging Christmas lights, or utilizing more appliances than usual.
Here are the leading causes of residential electrical fires :
Poor maintenance– You may not think to have your home’s electrical wiring checked, but it is something that should be done routinely. Have a professional check your electrical panels to ensure that your system is working properly and safely.
Old appliances– Be sure to replace old circuits and electrical panels.
Extensions cords– Many people use extension cords in their home, but do not realize that they may be overloading it by plugging too many things in at once. Extension cords are not meant to operate several appliances for an extended period of time. Instead, consider installing new outlets to accommodate more appliances without the use of an extension cord.
Extinguishing the fire
If you believe you can extinguish the fire then do so immediately. If not, call 911 and evacuate immediately.
If the fire is not too close to a breaker box and you can get to the breaker box, turn off the main power. This will cut off the source and make it easier to proceed.
- After cutting power to the source, you can spray it with your fire extinguisher. Make sure the fire extinguisher you have in your home is a class c extinguisher. If it isn’t marked or of another class DO NOT USE IT! The effects could be disastrous.
- Next, point the extinguisher at the base of the fire and use wide sweeping motions back and forth.
- If the fire is small enough, you may be able to smother it with ordinary baking soda.
- If the fire does not extinguish quickly or becomes too much to control, evacuate immediately!
Fire Tech Residential Sprinklers is dedicated maintaining fire safety for homes in Maryland, Washington DC, Baltimore Metropolitan Area, Virginia and Pennsylvania. We offer a variety of sprinkler heads to meet your specific needs for both safety and aesthetics.