Fire Safety (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Fire prevention

Preventing fires is an important part of fire safety. In the United States, cooking is the main cause of home fires. Cigarettes are a big risk too - they are the leading cause of fire deaths. Here are some fire safety do's and don'ts.

Don't leave the stove or oven unattended when they are on.
Don't let children use kitchen appliances unsupervised.
Don't smoke in bed.
Do make sure your smoke alarms work.
Do have fire extinguishers on every floor and in your kitchen.
Do have an escape plan.
Do make sure your electrical appliances and cords are in good condition.

Start Here

Fire(American Red Cross) - http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_584_,00.html
Also available in Spanish http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/foreignmat/resfispn.html
Fire Safety(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/home/fire.html
Also available in Spanish http://kidshealth.org/parent/en_espanol/seguridad/fire_esp.html

Overviews

Your Home Fire Safety Checklist(Consumer Product Safety Commission) - http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/556.html

Latest News

Reductions in Smoking Show Promise for Reducing Home Fire Deaths(08/08/2008, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2008/r080808.htm

Specific Conditions

Bedroom Fire Safety(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/bedroom.shtm
Campus and Dormitory Fires(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=711&itemID=19560
Candles(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=638
Electrical Safety in the Home(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=288&itemID=19198
Fire Safety Topics(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/
Also available in Spanish http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/espanol/
Gas, Propane, Other Fuels(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=248
Heating Fire Safety(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/heating/
Holiday Fire Safety(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/holiday-seasonal/holiday.shtm
Rural Fire Prevention(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/rural/
Smoking Material-Related Fires(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=294&itemID=19303

Related Issues

Fire Extinguishers(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=277&itemID=18264
Fire Safety for People with Disabilities and Their Caregivers(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/disability/fswy22.shtm
Also available in Spanish http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/espanol/fswy22-sp.pdf
Fire Safety for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=289&itemID=18364
Home Escape Planning(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=393
Household Extension Cords Can Cause Fires(Consumer Product Safety Commission) - http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/5032.html
Live Safely in Your Manufactured Home(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/manufactured/safehome.shtm
Also available in Spanish http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/espanol/audiences/manufactured.shtm
Portable Fire Extinguishers(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) - http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/portable.html
Residential Sprinkler Systems(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/sprinklers/
Smoke Alarms(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/alarms/

Videos

Fire Safety at Home(Healthy Roads Media) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/english/Files/flv/engfiresafety.htm

Games

USFA's Kid Page(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/kids/flash.shtm

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Fires(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Fires%22

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: The ABCs of inspecting dry chemical fire extinguishers. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18457205&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Responding to a fire emergency. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18431203&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: The selection of skin care products for use in hyperbaric... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18349735&tool=MedlinePlus
Fire Safety -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=safety[mh]+OR+safety+management[mh]+AND+(fires[majr]+OR+burns,inhalation[majr]+OR+smoke+inhalation+injury[majr]+OR+fires/pc[majr]+OR+flame+retardants[majr])+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+3+Years&tool=MedlinePlus

Organizations

Consumer Product Safety Commission - http://www.cpsc.gov/
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/
National Fire Protection Association - http://www.nfpa.org/
United States Fire Administration - https://www.usfa.dhs.gov/

Newsletters/Print Publications

Fire Safety Publications(Consumer Product Safety Commission) - http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/fire_sfy.html

Statistics

Overall Fire Picture - 2007(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/quickstats/
U.S. Fire Loss for 2007(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/publicJournalDetail.asp?categoryID=1674&itemID=40244&src=NFPAJournal
U.S. Fire Problem(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=953

Children

Sparky the Fire Dog(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.sparky.org/
Teaching Children Fire Safety(United States Fire Administration) - https://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/parents/curious.shtm
Also available in Spanish http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/espanol/fswy1-sp.pdf
What to Do in a Fire(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/watch/er/fire_safety.html

Seniors

Fire Safety Lasts a Lifetime: Fire Safety for Older Adults and Their Caregivers(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/older/caregivers.shtm
Nursing Home Safety(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=809&itemID=20757

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Burns - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/burns.html
Fires - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/fires.html
Safety Issues - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/safetyissues.html

Fire Safety - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/firesafety.html