Manufactured Homes

All U.S. homes should have working smoke alarms. Fires can be prevented. A few easy steps can save your life! Have at least two smoke alarms, even if you only have one sleeping area. Test smoke alarms every month, and change batteries once a year. Make and practice a family escape plan. Have two ways to escape from every room. Be sure everyone knows how to work emergency window exits. Have your heating system serviced each year. Check appliances and wiring often. Replace worn or fraying cords. Call an electrician if you find hot outlets or flickering lights. Keep space heaters at least 3 feet from furniture, blankets, paper products, and other items that can burn. Install skirting to keep leaves and other debris from blowing under your home. When buying a new home, ask about fire sprinklers. Manufactured Homes Fire Facts Each year, 17,700 fires occur in manufactured homes, causing hundreds of deaths. The fire death rate is higher for people living in manufactured homes than for those in other types of housing. Manufactured homes are less likely to have working smoke alarms. Young children account for one fifth of fire deaths in manufactured homes. Electrical systems and heating are the leading causes of fires in manufactured homes.

High Rise Homes

All U.S. homes should have working smoke alarms. Fires can be prevented. A few easy steps can save your life! Learn the sound of your building's smoke alarm. Practice your building's escape plan with your family. If windows or doors have security bars, know how to open them. Security bars should have quick-release latches that don't require keys. Never lock or prop open fire exits or stairway doors. Report any signs of damaged or non-working smoke alarms to your building manager. If you smell smoke or see fire, call the fire department right away. Do not assume someone else has called. Never use an elevator during a fire. Before you leave your apartment during a fire, feel the door with the back of your hand. If it's warm, don't open the door. Close all doors behind you as you leave the building. If you come across flames or smoke on your way out of the building, turn back to your apartment. If You Cannot Escape To keep smoke out, cover vents and stuff cracks around the door with towels, bedding, or tape. Call the fire department to tell them where you are. Wait at a window and signal for help with a sheet or flashlight. If you can, open the window slightly, but don't break it. Close the window if smoke starts to come in. Do not try to escape through a window higher than the second floor. High-Rise Home Fire Facts Three-quarters of highrise fires are in residential buildings. The leading cause of highrise fires is cooking. High-rise fires cause more injuries than fires in other structures. By design, high-rise buildings have fewer exits, making escape more difficult.

Older Homes

All U.S. homes should have working smoke alarms. Fires can be prevented. A few easy steps can save your life! If your smoke alarms are more than 10 years old, replace them. Check your older appliances. Repair frayed or worn cords, or replace the appliance. Have an electrician inspect your home's wiring. Replace any old, 2-hole outlets with 3-hole outlets. Install GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter) outlets in kitchens and bathrooms. If you need more outlets in a room, have an electrician add more. Don't use extension cords as permanent wiring. Consider having an electrician replace your circuit breakers with arc fault circuit interrupters. They protect against sparks that can occur in aging wiring systems. If you can't afford to improve your home's entire electrical system, do it in stages. Fix the most dangerous problems first. Older Home Fire Facts Electrical fires are three times more likely to occur in homes more than 40 years old than in homes 11 to 20 years old. Half of the homes in the United States are 50 years old or older. Aging wiring systems may not be able to keep up with today's power demands.

Rural Residences

All U.S. homes should have working smoke alarms. Fires can be prevented. A few easy steps can save your life! Make an escape plan and practice it with your family. Know how to contact fire services in your area. Post home address signs that are easy to see from the road. Keep lawns trimmed, leaves raked, and the roof and gutters free of leaves and branches. Thin trees and brush within 30 feet of your home. Be safe when using fireplaces, wood stoves, and space heaters. Keep items that can burn at least 3 feet away. (Heating Tips ») Store firewood and flammable materials at least 30 feet from your home. Keep a clear path to hydrants, ponds, and other water sources. Follow all local rules about burning leaves and rubbish. Rural Residences Fire Facts People in rural areas are at higher risk of fire death. Heating fires are the leading cause of home fires in rural areas. (Heating is the number two cause of home fires nationwide.) Many rural homes are far away from fire stations, so it takes longer for the fire department to respond. Within minutes, an entire home may be destroyed by fire. Limited water supply in rural areas can make it hard to put out a fire. Fires that start outdoors can easily spread to homes. Woods, dense brush, and other plants around rural homes can fuel fires.

College Dorms

All U.S. homes - including college dorms and fraternity and sorority houses - should have working smoke alarms. Fires can be prevented. A few easy steps can save your life! Know and practice your building's fire escape plan. If the alarm sounds, get out right away. Never ignore an alarm. If the door is hot, don't open it. If the door is not hot, open it carefully and check for smoke or fire. During a fire, don't stop to gather your stuff or look for other people. As you leave, knock on doors and shout "FIRE!" If you can't get out of your room, yell and shout, and hang a sheet from the window. Never tamper with smoke alarms, fire alarms, or sprinklers. Don't prop open stairways or fire doors. Don't overload outlets or extension cords. Never walk away from cooking. Use cooking appliances correctly. Don't smoke if you're tired or you've been drinking. Never smoke in bed. Keep halogen lamps away from anything that can burn. Put out candles and incense if you leave the room or go to bed. College Dorm Fire Facts Cooking is the leading cause of fire injuries on college campuses, followed closely by careless smoking and arson. Misuse of cooking appliances, overloaded electrical circuits, and extension cords increase the risk of fires. Alcohol is often a factor in fatal fires on college campuses. The number of fires in college dorms has not dropped as quickly as other types of structure fires.