How to Make Sure Household and Grease Fires are Put Out

Fire Safety and Fire Protection are topics that many people learn early in life, either through instruction or experience. The ability to know what to do and not panic can prevent loss of life and property. Having working fire extinguishing tools and knowledge can be the difference in putting out the fire and giving your family those few extra seconds to escape.

The first cavemen and women knew what it did, and how to use it. But let's understand what fire is. Fire is when heat causes material to ignite and burn, breaking down the components. Fire requires three things, Heat, Fuel, and Oxygen. This is called the "fire triangle." If any part of the triangle is missing, fire cannot occur, or will stop occurring. Remember that, because it's going to help us put out fires.

The easiest and least stressful fire to extinguish is outside of your home, not contacting the structure. By using water, sand, CO2 fire extinguisher, or other "covering" material, this will starve the fire of oxygen. Remember the triangle? Remove one part and the reaction stops. Of course, after the blaze is out, make sure those embers are out too. Stir the smoldering embers and add more of the same extinguishing agent.

A kitchen fire is a bit different, depending on what is burning. Standard material fires can be dealt with using the practices above, but not for grease fires. Water and grease do not get along, and if you put water on a grease fire, it will splatter, spread, and could light you on fire. ALWAYS use a dry agent or CO2 extinguisher on these fires to smother them. It will make a mess, but that's better than doing your impression of Evel Knievel.

A fire in the electrical system is scary. Until you realize it is only a standard fire. The first thing you should always do is SECURE POWER. Turn off power to the electrified circuit and treat as a standard fire. CO2 should be used instead of water, of course.

This is most likely the worst fire you can experience in a home. Entire walls could be on fire, either over or under the sheet rock. The goal here is to call professional fire fighting services, but attempt to control it long enough for everyone to escape the home. Always aim for the base of the fire with your extinguishing agent, but above all, get everyone out, including yourself and your pets.

• Burning candles in your home is generally not dangerous. Unless you put them near an open window, beneath flammable drapes, where both things can be influenced by the wind. Just use common sense when burning candles. After all, it's FIRE, don't burn it next to a can of gasoline!
• Electrical Shorts sometimes happen due to overloading. Check all of your outlets if they start acting funny. A blown fuse, tripped breaker, or arcing outlet/plug could mean something is wrong, and could cause a fire later. Check these things when you first see the problem.
• Cigarettes can also cause home fires. DO NOT SMOKE IN BED. Ensure all smoking articles are fully extinguished before leaving the house or going to sleep. A coffee can full of water for butts is the best defense. Of course, so is not smoking!

• Have a least one fire extinguisher handy for each floor of your house. Check them annually to make sure they work, and replace broken or defective devices. These can be of the CO2 or water type, though each home should have at least one CO2 type for electrical fires.
• Smoke detectors are lifesavers. You cannot have too many. Place them throughout your home and test them monthly. They can and will save your life.
• Have fire drills with your family at home.
• Have a plan for evacuating your family from the home, including what to grab for insurance purposes, and getting your pets out safely. Fire creates an immense amount of stress on animals, and keep that in mind. Besides, getting bit by your animal trying to save them is better than having to hear them die in a fire. Graphic as it may be, that's reality, and personally I would no more leave an animal behind than I would leave my wife.

The most important thing you can do in a fire situation is ACT! If you prepared and have a plan, just get it done. Yes, it's scary, the adrenaline will be pumping, but you have a job to do. Do it well, and the only thing lost is just stuff, not lives.