Fire Prevention and Safety

Smoke Alarms

Working smoke alarms save lives. Make sure everyone in the house knows what to do when a smoke alarm sounds by practicing your home escape plan.

Testing and Maintenance

• Test smoke alarms monthly to make surethey work properly.
• Replace batteries in battery-operated smoke alarms at least once a year.
• Replace smoke alarms every 10 years from the manufacture date.

Installation

• Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of the home.
• Large homes may require additional alarms.
• Hardwired smoke alarms should be interconnected so that when one sounds, they all sound.

Placement

• Mount alarms on ceilings or high on walls.
• Keep smoke alarms at least 10 feet (3 meters) away from kitchen stoves to reduce false alarms.
• Use a photoelectric smoke alarm for kitchen areas to help prevent nuisance alarms.

Accessibility

• For individuals who are hard of hearing or deaf, consider alarms with strobe lights and bed shakers. 

Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarms

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an invisible, odourless gas that can be deadly. Proper CO alarm installation and maintenance is critical for safety.

Risks

• CO poisoning can result from malfunctioning or improperly vented furnaces, fuel-burning heating or cooking equipment, portable generators, water heaters, or vehicles left running in garages.

Testing and Maintenance

• Test CO alarms monthly to ensure they are functioning properly.
• Replace CO alarms after 8 to 10 years, depending on the model and manufacturer.

Installation

• Install CO alarms outside each separate sleeping area.

Cooking Fires

 Cooking is a leading cause of fires in the home. Prevent damaging fires and injuries with these tips. 

• Stay in the kitchen when frying, boiling, grilling, or broiling food. Turn off the stove if you leave, even for a short time. 

• If simmering, baking, or roasting food, check it regularly. Stay in the home when food is cooking and use a timer. 

• Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, packaging, towels, plastic or wooden utensils, away from your stovetop. 

• If you have a small (grease) cooking fire and decide to fight it – slide a lid over the pan and turn off the burner. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled.NEVER use water on a grease fire. 

• For an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the door closed. 

Smoking Materials

 Smoking materials are a leading cause of fires. Don’t let that be the cause of a home fire.  

• Never butt-out in your garden or potted plants. 

• Use a deep, sturdy ashtray, placed away from anything flammable. 

• Make sure your butts and ashes are fully extinguished before discarding them—dousing in water or sand is a great way to do that.  

• Only smoke outside and especially never around oxygen. Do not smoke in bed or when tired.  

Winter Fire Safety

It’s important to think fire safety year-round, but winter also comes with season-specific issues to be aware of.

Wood stoves and fireplaces 

• Have your chimney professionally cleaned and inspected each year. Burn seasoned wood; don’t burn paper, cardboard, or other random debris in your fireplace or wood stove. When removing ash, use a metal shovel and ash bucket kept far from anything flammable. 

Portable Space Heaters 

• Space heaters should be placed on a level, hard and non-combustible surface (avoid carpets or rugs).  

• Do not leave children or pets unattended around a space heater. 

• Fuel-burning space heaters (kerosene or gas) should be inspected annually. Ensure you are using the proper grade of fuel source for your unit and that it is cleaned regularly. 

• Make sure your space heater has an automatic shut-off feature that activates if it tips over. 

• Keep heaters more than a metre away from anything that can burn.  

Holiday Fire Safety

The holidays can raise the risk for fire. Think about fire safety when decorating.

Decorations 

• Keep all decorations away from heat sources. Choose decorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant.  

• Replace worn or broken cords or loose bulb connections. Use clips, not nails, to hang lights. Turn off all light strings and decorations before leaving home or going to bed. Please note, some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, but not both.

Candles 

• More than one-third of home decoration fires are started by candles. Consider using LED lights or other alternatives.  

• Always blow out candles when you leave the room or go to bed.  

• Keep children and pets away from lit candles. lock up matches and lighters. 

BBQ Safety

• Keep your grill clean and only use BBQs outdoors. 

• Place your BBQ at least three metres from your home or other structures and overhanging branches. 

• Ensure your BBQ is fully cooled off before covering or storing away. 

Electrical Fire Safety

Electricity makes our lives easier, but please keep safety in mind.  

• Only use one heat-producing appliance (coffee maker, space heater, etc.) plugged into an outlet at a time. 

• Major appliances (refrigerators, washers, stoves, etc.) should be plugged directly in a wall receptacle outlet. Do not use extension cords or plug strips.  

• Have a qualified electrician do all electrical work.

Call a qualified electrician or your landlord if you have: 

• Frequent problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers. 

• A tingling feeling when you touch an electrical appliance. 

• Discoloured or warm wall outlets. 

• A burning or rubbery smell coming from an appliance. 

• Flickering or dimming lights. 

• Sparks from an outlet. 

Lithium-ion Batteries

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries power many of our devices. They are generally safe to use, but they can catch fire or explode if damaged or used incorrectly. Fires caused by larger lithium-ion batteries can also be very difficult to extinguish.  

• Do not use if damaged.  

Fire extinguishers can be used to put out a small fire or contain a fire until the fire department arrives. Fires can grow fast. Do not attempt to fight even a small fire until people have safely escaped and the fire department has been called. 

Operation

Use the acronym P.A.S.S. to remember the fire extinguishing sequence:

P - Pull the pin in the handle.
A - Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire.
S - Squeeze the lever slowly.
S - Sweep from side to side until the fire is out or until the cylinder is empty.

Fire Extinguisher Types

• Class A - For fires involving wood, cloth, paper, rubber, and many plastics.
• Class B - For fires involving flammable liquids, combustible liquids, petroleum greases, tars, oils or oil-based substances
• Class C - For fires that involve energized electrical equipment.
• Class D - For fires involving combustible metals, such as magnesium, titanium, zirconium, sodium, lithium, and potassium.
• Class K - For  fires involving cooking appliances that use vegetable or animal oils and fats.

Safety Tips

• For the home, choose a multipurpose fire extinguisher (ABC) that can be used on all types of home fires. One that is large enough to put out a small fire, but not too heavy to handle.
• Install fire extinguishers close to exits and as required by the manufacture and NFPA 10 Standard for Portable Fire Extinguishers.
• Refer to the manufacturer’s instructions and NFPA 10 for all inspection, maintenance, recharging and hydrostatic testing requirements.
• For commercial business, apartments and hotels, records of all testing and maintenance must be kept on the premises for two years.
• Only ULC-listed fire extinguishers are permitted for use in Canada.

Fire can spread rapidly through your home, leaving you as little as one or two minutes to escape safely once the smoke alarm sounds. A closed-door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire. Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room and outside each separate sleeping area. Install alarms on every level of the home. Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible exits and escape routes. Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors.

Safety Tips

• Draw a map of your home showing all doors and windows. Discuss the plan with everyone in your home;
• Know at least two ways out of each room, if possible. Make sure all doors and windows leaking outside opening freely.
• Have an outside meeting place (like a tree, light pole or mailbox) a safe distance from the home where everyone should meet.
• Practice your home fire drill at night and during the day with everyone in your home, twice a year.
• Practice using different ways out.
• Teach children how to escape on their own in case you can’t help them.
• Close doors behind you as you leave.

If the Alarm Sounds

• If the smoke alarm sounds, GET OUT AND STAY OUT. Never go back inside for people or pets.
• If you have to escape though smoke, GET LOW AND GO
• Call 911 from outside your home

Create a Plan

• Visit each room. Find two ways out.
• All windows and doors should open easily. You should be able to use them to get outside.
• Make sure your home has smoke alarms. Push the test button to make sure each alarm is working.
• Pick a meeting place outside. It should be in front of your home. Everyone will meet at the meeting place.
• Make sure your house or building number can be seen from the street.
• Talk about your plan with everyone in your home.
• Learn the emergency phone number for your fire department.
• Practice your home fire drill!
• Draw your own home fire escape plan using this grid

More information

• NFPA Escape Planning Tips
• How to Make a Home Escape Plan
• Practice Your Escape Plan Video