Do You Know What To Do
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90% of people don't a fire evacuation plan in place if their home goes on fire.
Do you call the Fire Brigade? Do you try and put the fire out? Do you jump out the window? What about if you are responsible for someone else, like a child or a relative.
Don't wait until your home is burning around you to think about your next move. Get yourself a fire evacuation plan organised today. Don't put it off!
This was written by a lady whose brother and wife learned a hard lesson this past week.
Their house burnt down.. nothing left but ashes. They have good insurance so the house will be replaced and most of the contents. That is the good news.
However, they were sick when they found out the cause of the fire. The insurance investigator sifted through the ashes for several hours. He had the cause of the fire traced to the master bedroom. He asked her sister-in-law what she had plugged in the bedroom. She listed the normal things....curling iron, blow dryer.
He kept saying to her, 'No, this would be something that would disintegrate at high temperatures'. Then her sister-in-law remembered she had a Glade Plug-In, in the bedroom.
The investigator had one of those 'Aha' moments. He said that was the cause of the fire. He said he has seen more house fires started with the plug-in type room fresheners than anything else. He said the plastic they are made from is THIN. He also said that in every case there was nothing left to prove that it even existed. When the investigator looked in the wall plug, the two prongs left from the plug-in were still in there.
Her sister-in-law had one of the plug-ins that had a small night light built in it. She said she had noticed that the light would dim and then finally go out. She would walk in to the bedroom a few hours later, and the light would be back on again. The investigator said that the unit was getting too hot, and would dim and go out rather than just blow the light bulb. Once it cooled down it would come back on. That is a warning sign
The investigator said he personally wouldn't have any type of plug in fragrance device anywhere in his house. He has seen too many places that have been burned down due to them.
Make sure you have a smoke alarm in your hall downstairs and landing upstairs, if you live in a two story house.
Plan an escape from your bedroom, as this is where you will probably be if an unexpected fire breaks out. If you are upstairs, consider buying a fire escape ladder that can sit beside the window or under the bed. If you have dependants at home, make sure that they know the drill as well.
Get yourself some fire prevention tools organised incase you start a fire by accident and it is small enough to tackle before it gets out of control. You should think about getting a fire extinguisher and a fire blanket. It is a good idea to have a set of these upstairs and probably in the kitchen as well.
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