Home Fire Safety Check List

• Are fuel-burning space heaters and appliances properly installed and used?
• Are all space heaters placed away from traffic? Are children and elderly persons cautioned to keep their clothing away?
• Has the family been cautioned not to use flammable liquids, like gasoline, to start or freshen a fire (or for cleaning purposes)?
• Is the fireplace equipped with a metal fire screen or heat-tempered glass doors?
• Since portable gas and oil heaters in fire places use up oxygen as they burn, do you provide proper ventilation when they are in use?
• Are proper clearances provided between space heaters and curtains, bedding, furniture?
• Do you stop members of your household from smoking in bed?
• Do you check up after others to see that no cigarette butts are lodged in upholstered furniture where they can smolder unseen at night?
• Are matches and lighters kept away from small children?
• Do you dispose of smoking materials carefully (not in waste baskets) and keep large, safe ashtrays wherever people smoke?
• Are all electrical cords out in the open - not run under rugs, over hooks, or through door openings? Are they checked routinely for wear?
• Is the right size fuse in each socket in the fuse box and do you replace a fuse with one the same size?
• Children get burned climbing on the stove to reach an item overhead. Do you store cookies, cereal, or other "bait," away from the stove?
• Do you keep your basement, closets, garage, and yard clear of combustibles like papers, cartons, old furniture, or old rags?
• Are gasoline and other flammable liquids stored in safety cans (never glass jugs, discarded bleach bottles, or other makeshift containers) and away from heat, sparks, and children?
• Is paint kept in tightly-closed metal containers?
• Are furnace, stove, and smoke pipes far enough from combustible walls and ceilings, and in good repair
• Is your heating equipment checked yearly by a serviceman?
• Is the chimney cleaned and checked regularly?
• For safety against chimney and other sparks, is the roof covering fire retardant?
• Do you have a qualified electrician install or extend your wiring?
• Do all your appliances carry the seal of a testing laboratory?
• Are there enough electrical outlets in every room and special circuits for heavy-duty appliances such as space heaters and air conditioners.