House fires can be tragic, having all your investments and properties burnt in a day, but some such incidents can be prevented when you possess the right knowledge. This article outlines nine causes of a house fire and ways to prevent them.
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What Are The 5 Causes of House Fires And How To Prevent Them
- Cooking Appliances
This is one major cause of house fires. When house owners or their kids leave kitchen utensils like the stove, gas cooker, or heater on or unattended, there can be a fire outbreak. These most times occur when cooking food that contains grease or oil. If unsupervised, other utensils like heaters, toasters, and microwaves can lead to fire outbreaks.
- Candles
Some house owners make use of candles either for decoration or personal purposes. Candle fires mostly occur during festive periods; that’s when they are used. Placing a candle on a rug, mat, or carpet can be dangerous.
Also, placing a candle close to an inflammable device or content can cause a fire outbreak.
Always light a candle in a safe place, keep flammable materials far from the candle, clean up melted wax after use and turn off the candlelight before leaving.
- Electrical Appliances
This is also a common cause of a fire outbreak. Leaving your pressing iron, television, lights, or computer on without supervision can lead to a massive fire outbreak. Also another dangerous one is having loose wires, naked wires, and broken sockets, which can lead to a destructive house fire.
Home lights should be switched off at night and when not in use, and other electrical appliances should not be left on for a long time, even when they are in use. This is to avoid overheating and prevent costly repairs.
Electrical connections should be properly fixed and installed by an expert. Always put on footwear when using some electric device to avoid shock.
- Smoking
This does not only cover the act of smoking a substance, and it covers improper disposal of ashes after cooking or burning stuff. Fire outbreak due to bad smoking habits is one recurrent omen in this part of the world.
Cigarettes can be dropped on a carpet, bed, or any flammable material, and that’s it. Worse, falling asleep when smoking on the bed causes fire outbreaks and death.
- Chemical Materials
Chemically related fire outbreaks do not only occur in industrial areas. The use of petrol and gasoline by house owners can lead to a destructive house fire. Petrol and gas, among other chemicals, are highly flammable. The wrong positioning of this liquid can cause fire outbreaks that are not easily contained. Another cause of this is when oily towels are heated unconsciously.
To avoid this, store all chemicals in an appropriate container and keep them in a cool and dry place. These chemicals can explode when in a heated building, so avoid keeping them in places exposed to heat. Containers should be sealed and filled to at least 90% to allow for vapor expansion.
- Christmas Trees
Real evergreen Christmas trees can dry out over time, making them vulnerable to flames and this type of fire outbreak spreads fast. For safety purchase, a Christmas tree is made with plastic. Although such trees are electrically controlled, so avoid leaving the lights plugged in.
- Carelessness
One major cause of house fire is that we always make use of something flammable in our homes. Hence, the possibility of a fire outbreak is high. To this, the best remedy is caution, abide by the rules and keep a fire extinguisher close by.