Home fires can put your family at risk but it can also put your furry friends at risk as well. Pets are part of the family, so to keep your pet safe in a home fire situation make sure to follow these guidelines:
Prevention:
- Get rid of stove knobs. A stove or cook top is the most common cause of fires started by pets. If your dog is tall enough to counter surf, remove the stove knobs or protect them when you leave the kitchen.
- Put out open flames. Pets such as dogs are naturally curious and might be drawn to open flames from candles, cooking appliances, and even fireplaces. By investigating an open flame, they might hurt themselves or start a fire. Make sure to extinguish open flames in the rooms where you allow pets.
- Use flameless candles. Some pets can easily knock down candles when agitated or running, so it’s a good idea to replace natural candles with flameless ones. These types of candles use a light bulb that are much less likely to be a fire hazard. Always supervise your pets when real candles are used.
- Secure the fireplace. Even if you have a mesh metal screen in front of your fireplace, a small spark or coal can get through it and land on the carpet or your pet’s hair. Don’t allow your pets to stay in front of the fireplace. For increased safety, upgrade your wood-burning fireplace to an enclosed gas fireplace.
Safety:
- Include pets in your fire escape plan and practice your escape routes with them. Provide a pet door so they can escape a fire quickly. If you need to confine your pets, keep them in a room near an entry.
- Make sure your pet wears a collar with an ID tag in case it runs away during an emergency.
- Attach a static cling with the number and type of pets inside your house to a font window. This information helps firefighters locate your pets faster.
- If you keep pets or livestock outside the home, clear the brush, bushes, or other vegetation that might catch fire around the housing and pens.
Contact your local PuroClean office for any fire emergencies or clean up you may have. We can handle kitchen fires or electrical fire clean up. Contact us at 937-401-9700 or 513-897-8990.
