5 Common House Fire Causes

A house fire can be a traumatic, costly and just overall terrible occurrence in any home. They cause expensive damage to your home sometimes even destroying it completely, damage or ruin priceless memories and belongings, interrupt the lives of families, cause serious injuries and in the most tragic ones, even death. Sometimes these awful accidents are just that; awful accidents that are unavoidable such as failure of a major appliance or electrical malfunction. However in some instances, a house fire is an avoidable mishap caused by negligence, foul play or just a simple mistake you didn’t even know you were making.

In this article we are going to give you some tips on how to avoid the avoidable fires, highlighting common mistakes and hidden risks, and even try to show you how to reduce the risk of the unavoidable.

Faulty Electrical Wiring

This is a very common ignition source of fires in homes, in fact 9% of fires in Ontario were started by electrical wiring. This can mean bad wiring that causes sparks or overheating, it can mean hanging up a mirror and drilling a screw into a wire behind the wall, it can mean a breaker is overloaded. One way to defend against this is by replacing your regular circuit breakers with “arc-fault” circuit interrupters which you can pick up at any hardware or electrical supply store. Make sure you purchase the proper one for your electrical panel, speak to your electrician about it and have a professional install it. These breakers detect dangerous electrical arcs such as abnormal sparks, loose connections or bad insulation and shut off the breaker before they have a chance to start a fire. They are more expensive than a regular 15-amp breaker, but well worth the peace of mind and added safety.

Cooking

The most common and #1 cause of house fires is cooking, causing a whopping 20% of fires and 41% of fires are caused somewhere in the kitchen. This can be due to having paper towels, recipes, towels or other flammable items near your stove top. Maybe you left your stove unattended and your food ignited in oil. You can forget the oven/stove on and leave the house. Several different scenarios could result in a flaming mess, all of which are perfectly avoidable. So be careful! Make sure you keep anything flammable well away from the stove (at least 3-5 feet clear). Make some sort of routine to ensure you don’t ever forget to turn the stove off when done, one tip is to do something very strange whenever you turn off the stove so that you will definitely remember if you did or not. Make a really weird noise or motion, anything out of the ordinary that is easy to remember (do this when locking the door when leaving for the day or on a trip as well). Lastly, quite obviously you should never leave your cooking unattended or accessible to young children.

Dryer

Your clothes dryer is responsible for about 3% of house fires. The newer dryers are a lot safer and much more efficient, however still need to be cared for and maintained just the same. Cleaning out your lint try after every one or two uses is a good start, however lint and other material will still build up inside the dryer where the heating element is also housed. When enough lint accumulates in there, the heating elements can set it ablaze. To help mitigate this risk, either do it yourself or hire someone to clean out this lint every 6-12 months at minimum. It can usually be accessed through the back of the machine or in some cases, underneath. Start by vacuuming the whole back side of the dryer (if you haven’t done this in a while you will be amazed and appalled at the amount of dust and lint back there). You should then see a vent grill, give this a good vacuum and then remove the screws to open it up and clean out the inside. Lastly, disconnect the exhaust vent to clean out where the dryer vents the hot air as well as the hose itself. By doing this you will remove the flammable material from the dryer thereby reducing the risk of fire a great deal. Be smart and be safe people.

Overloaded Outlets

We have all been guilty of this at least once and have most definitely seen it over and over again; overloaded electrical outlets. You know the image, a power bar or splitter plugged into a wall outlet, each plug full and then another splitter plugged into the first one. Dangerous even under the best circumstances, tenfold when the items plugged in suck a lot of juice (ex. Treadmill, fridge, heaters). Make sure you are aware of how much a particular outlet can handle (Ask an electrician or google it), this is of course the best way to prevent it. You can also invest in a high quality power bar. A very good power bar will have its own circuit breaker that will shut-off if there is an overload or arc. The power bar will trip before the electrical panel which is an extra line of defense.

Extra tip: make sure the cords you use are not damage or nicked in anyway leaving the inside copper exposed. Use the right cords for outside, make sure they are waterproof.

Open Flame Negligence

Seems obvious, right? Well so does not putting 15 items on one power outlet but hey, it happens. By open flame we mean any kind of flame, fire or even cigarettes that are not cared for properly. Anything from wood fireplaces or stoves, oil lamps and even candles can all be great features in your home when used properly and safely. However, if neglected or used improperly they can become serious fire hazards. Number one rule is to never leave any of these items unattended. Even if your fire appears to be controlled, it is very easy for a spark or amber to fly out and burn the carpet or magazine or anything flammable, starting a much larger fire. Candles can fall by way of pets or young children knocking them over causing a hazard. If you are using an open flame, make sure the area around it is clear of anything flammable and always keep an eye on it, don’t leave a fire unattended.

Pro-Tips:

- Keep at least one fire extinguisher in the house, ideally in the kitchen. If you have wood fireplace or stove, then keep on in that room as well (Away from the fire).

- Test smoke alarms every 6 months and be sure to change them every 8-10 years. The manufacturer recommends every 10 years.

- Have a carbon monoxide detector in your home, at least one by the bedrooms and another by the furnace room

- Have a fire escape plan for your home in the event of an emergency. Know all your exit strategies and have backups in case one of those exits are blocked. Know ahead of time exactly what you will do, where you will go and what you will take if you are able to safely, if you are unsure the LEAVE everything. Things can be replaced, people cannot. Be smart. Make sure everyone in the home knows the plan, especially younger kids, and practice once a year. Being prepared can save lives.

The sad reality is that some accidents cannot be avoided. But if you have the proper precautions in place you can at least improve your odds and getting out safely or minimizing damage. By being smart, educated and being prepared you can greatly reduce the risk of fires in your home. Remember people, be smart and be safe.

Did we miss any obvious risks for fire in the home? Have some other useful tips for people? Be sure to share in the comments below and share this article, you may be saving a life.