Guide to fire safety

Fire is devastating and deserves to be taken seriously. Once it takes hold in your home it can quickly destroy everything in its path. Something as seemingly harmless as a candle, hairdryer or pan can start an inferno to be reckoned with. Even still, there are 2.7 million homes in the UK without a working smoke alarm.

This National Fire Prevention week we’ve put together a checklist to keep your home and loved ones safe from fire and smoke:

Fit smoke alarms

This may sound obvious, but it’s all too often overlooked. Smoke alarms in the right place can mean that no matter where a fire originates, every corner of your home is covered. Make sure there’s at least one on every level of your home. Landings and hallways with access to multiple rooms are usually best.

Get the right advice

There are plenty of cost-effective DIY smoke alarms on the market. Make sure you get the right one for your property. You can get in touch with your local Fire and Rescue service. to arrange a visit, or one of our team would be happy to pop over and give you a free consultation.

Test your alarms

If you’ve already got smoke alarms in your home, make sure you test them regularly. Batteries can die at any time and you’d never know. Or, if you have a mains-powered alarm, wiring can sometimes become faulty. Government guidelines say you should test all your alarms monthly by pushing the red button in the middle.

Get smart

If you don’t have time for regular checks, spend a lot of time away from home, or just want peace of mind, invest in a smart alarm. ADT monitored alarms take care of themselves, if the battery dies or there’s a technical fault, our team will be notified immediately. Our smoke alarms are also monitored 24/7/365, with the average fire response time from our team standing at just 8 seconds – the fastest in the UK*.

Take care in your home

The old chestnut, prevention is better than cure is definitely at work here. It’s much harder to stop a fire, than simply become more mindful in the home. Little things like not leaving a pan or candle alone, checking electrical switches are off when leaving the house and avoiding tea towels near the cooker can make all the difference. Find out more on the government website.

Make a plan

If the worst were to happen and a fire got out of control, do your loved ones know what to do? Have a chat with children about fire safety, make sure doors and windows aren’t blocked, plan an escape route then pick a safe meeting place near the house.

There are plenty of great resources online about how to prevent, deal with and recover from fires in the home. You can also visit our fire & smoke alarm page to get a plan in place for you and your property.

*Based on figures obtained for January 2017.