Fire Safety & Burn Prevention Checklist

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FROM THE GOLDEN RULES OF BURN PREVENTION
Please feel free to print this and post in a prominent position for others to refer to.  

• Electric Blankets: Get them checked each year by an approved electrical authority person. Turn them off before getting into bed. 

• Smoke Alarms: Install one in every hallway, bedroom and living area and on every level of your home. Ensure the batteries are working. The Fire Service provides free advice and installation of smoke alarms.  Buy smoke alarms that have one of these standard symbols: UL, ULC or BS (with a number) or AS (with a number). A smoke alarm is the best $10 investment you can make.

• Fireguards: Use them for open fires, particularly if left unattended. They are also recommended for enclosed fire appliances to prevent burns if young children are in the house.

• Firewood: Firewood should already have been gathered and stacked for drying. Wet firewood does not provide quality heat, and in solid fuel appliances it can damage the liners of flues.  Never stack firewood inside against solid fuel appliances to assist in drying it, or where a stray spark from an open fire could land in it. Treated timber should not be used in solid fuel appliances with metal flues.

• Getting rid of ashes: Ashes can take up to five days to cool. Place in a metal container well clear of your home. Wet them to ensure any embers are out. Do not put into a cardboard box or paper bag.  If you use a vacuum cleaner for ashes, clean the bag out immediately before putting the cleaner away, and put the ashes in the metal container.

• Portable heater: For portable gas heaters, check all the connections and hoses by taking the heater outside, opening the cylinder valve and brushing the parts with a soapy solution, making sure there is no bubbling indicating leaks. If a leak is found, it is best to take the heater to a recognised company for repairs rather than trying to fix it yourself.  Do not position portable heater, including electric bar heater, too close to combustible furnishings or materials. Use the heater-meter rule: keep the furniture, clothes and curtains at least one metre away from any heaters (and fireplaces). Electric bar heaters should not be used in bedrooms where it is too easy for clothing to be inadvertently tossed on them.

• Power Points: Don't overload power points or multi-boxes. Use multi-boxes with circuit breakers.

• Chimneys and flues: these are often the most common sources of fires in winter. They should be checked for crack or holes and cleaned at least once a year by a recongnised chimney sweep. If a fire results from an unclean chimney or flue, insurance companies may refuse to pay out.  Some people have the wrong impression that the Fire Service charges for attending chimney fires. This isn't true.  Also, if people have installed a solid fuel appliance themselves, they should have a building consent from their local authority.  Incorrectly installed solid fuel appliances have been the cause of many fires throughout New Zealand - and could also result in no insurance cover.

• Smoking in bed: Don't.

• Stovetop cooking: One of the most common causes of fire. Never leave cooking food unattended. Always watch a pan or pot when cooking with fat or oil. If the oil or fat is smoking, turn off the heat.  Snuff out a fat fire with a pot lid or oven tray. Never carry it outside. Don't cook if you've been drinking.

• Candles: Only use them in a secure candle holder with a wide flat base. Keep them away from paper, curtains, bedclothes or anything else that will burn easily.  Put out candles before you go to sleep or leave a room.  Don't allow children to play with them or be left unsupervised in a room with a lit candle.

• Escape plans: Work out an escape plan for your home.  Have two ways out of every room, if possible.  Make special plans for young children and older people. Have an outside meeting place.  Practise the escape plan once every six months at least to keep it familiar. In the case of a fire, crawl low and fast to escape smoke ("get down, get low, get out"), shut doors behind you to slow the spread of the fire, and once out of the house, stay out.
  Call the Fire Service from a safe phone and give your house number, street, nearest intersection, suburb and city (or a rural ID number if you have one). Wait for the Fire Service to arrive, and tell firefighters where the fire is and if anyone is still inside.
  Again, the Fire Service can provide free advice on setting up a home plan.

• Hot water: Keep hot water jugs and kettles - and their cords - out of reach of  children. Keep pan and pot handles turned inwards on stoves. Be careful with hot water in baths, showers and taps.  Ensure thermostats are set so the hot water is not scaldingly hot.

• Matches and lighter: Keep them up high or out of sight and out of reach of children. Teach children to take any matches or lighters they find to an adult.
  Use only child-resistant lighters and safety matchbox holders, remembering that child-resistant lighters are not child-proof. 

For more information check our "Literature" which you can order from us FREE for one or two copies and a small charge for bulk.  Or email us at secretary@burnsupport.org.nz. 

Or visit our Golden Rules section.

Please feel free to print this Checklist and post in a prominent place for quick reference.

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Updated: Friday, 01 August 2008