Look Listen Learn | Prince George's County Fire Hazard Information

3/30/2021 (Permalink)

Reading time: 1 min 16 sec 

Look, listen, and learn. Keep an eye out for something unusual. Fire can begin anywhere. The National Fire Protection Association reports that four out of every five fire deaths in the United States occur in the home. Take a look, listen, and learn how to stop deadly fires.

Look 

Be aware of fire hazards around you.

• Cooking:  Cooking: Cooking and kitchen-related injuries account for 47 percent of all home fires.
• Remove any covers, discarded wrappers, or other flammable materials from any cooking surface.
• Keep an eye on what you're cooking. Food that is cooking should not be left unattended for an extended period of time. Cooking when intoxicated is often not a good idea.
• Heating: The second leading cause of home fires.
• Every year, get your heating system and chimney professionally tested. Any maintenance should be done by a specialist as well.
• If you have a space heater, never leave it unattended.

• Electric Distribution:

• Only plugin one heat-producing appliance (coffee maker, toaster, space heater) at a time.
• Extension cords are only for TEMPORARY use.
• Candles:
• Don’t leave candles light unattended. 
• Blow all candles before you go to sleep or leave a room 

Listen

Listen for smoke alarms and make sure your home is adequately equipped.

• Make ensure that you have smoke detectors on each floor of your house, as well as in each bedroom.
• Replace any smoke detectors that are more than a year old and monitor the batteries on a monthly basis.

Learn

Learn an emergency exit plan

• Learn two ways out of every room
• Learn how each exit leads outside of the home
• Learn a meeting spot outside where your family will meet in the case of an emergency.

Home fires are more common than you may think. Firefighters across the United States respond to a house fire every 90 seconds. In 2020, 35 Maryland home fire fatalities were reported by the news media. Do not be caught unprepared.

Facts provided by esfi.gov