Simple tips to avoid fire in your home
With several reported fire incidences in and around Komani in recent months, local and volunteer fire fighter Simon Morris has put together a list of safety measures to prevent fires from happening.
“This is a very vast topic that we can go into, but it depends on what your home is built from and where you live.
“Please note, I am not a fire expert. These are just commonsense things anybody can do in their homes to try and prevent fires from happening,” said Morris.
Keep matches out of the reach of children.
Do not overload electrical wall or extension lead sockets or run electrical extension leads under carpets or mats.
Install smoke detectors in your home and change their batteries often.
Take care with portable appliances such as irons, kettles and heaters.
Do not hang clothes on, against or near heaters.
And keep your lounge suit or rugs, curtains of any flammable item at least three feet away from the heater.
Never use flammable liquids, like petrol, paraffin, thinners, for starting braai fires or to remove stains from clothing.
If your home is situated in a forest or veld type environment, make sure all boundary fences have at least a 20m fire break where all vegetation is cut very short or removed to show the ground.
When smoking cigarettes in your home, make sure they are extinguished and do not smoke while you are in bed or lying on the couch and you may fall asleep.
Unplug appliances you are not using.
Use surge protectors to connect appliances to your electrical system.
If you have a gas geyser in your bathroom, have it serviced and checked at least once a year.
And the exhaust must be outside the room. The gas cylinder must be outside your home as well.
Gas heaters also need to be serviced. These heaters are in fact very dangerous because the gas cylinder is normally in the same casing as they are and gas leaks can cause problems.
Rather use torches and not candles as candles can fall over and start to burn your other items; we have seen how candles have started fires in people’s homes.
If you cook with a primus or paraffin cooker, make sure it is safe to use and placed on a level surface and away from combustion items.
If you are cooking on the electric stove and the power goes off due to load shedding, never place your gas cylinder on the stove top to cook your food as this is very dangerous.
We have seen people do this and when the electric power comes back on, they forget that the stove plates may be on still and they then can have an explosion when their gas cylinder explodes.
Never use your oven with the door open to heat your home.
Make sure your electrical wiring in your home is certified by a qualified electrician.