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 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
Preparing for Events, Fires(American Red Cross) - http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.86f46a12f382290517a8f210b80f78a0/?vgnextoid=5e06a5f0f013b110VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default
Also available in Spanish http://www.cruzrojaamericana.org/general.asp?SN=200&OP=216&SUOP=251

Overviews

Learn About Fire: The Nature of Fire(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/about_fire.shtm
Also available in Spanish http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/espanol/fswy6-sp.pdf
Your Home Fire Safety Checklist(Consumer Product Safety Commission) - http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/556.html

Specific Conditions

Bedroom Fire Safety(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/bedroom.shtm
Campus Fire Safety(Public-Private Fire Safety Council) - http://www.firesafety.gov/citizens/firesafety/college.shtm
Candles(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=638
Cooking Fire Safety(Public-Private Fire Safety Council) - http://www.firesafety.gov/citizens/firesafety/cooking.shtm
Electrical Safety in the Home(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=288&itemID=19198
Fireworks and Summer Fire Safety(Public-Private Fire Safety Council) - http://www.firesafety.gov/citizens/firesafety/fireworks.shtm
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/
Highrise Fire Safety(Public-Private Fire Safety Council) - http://www.firesafety.gov/citizens/firesafety/highrise.shtm
Holiday Fire Safety(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/holiday-seasonal/holiday.shtm
Also available in Spanish http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/espanol/homefireprevention/holiday.shtm
Hotel/Motel Fire Safety(Public-Private Fire Safety Council) - http://www.firesafety.gov/citizens/firesafety/hotel.shtm
Rural Fire Prevention(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/rural/
Also available in Spanish http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/espanol/audiences/rural.shtm
Smoking Fire Safety(Public-Private Fire Safety Council) - http://www.firesafety.gov/citizens/firesafety/smoking.shtm

Related Issues

Fire Extinguishers(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=277&itemID=18264
Fire Safety for People Who Are Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=289&itemID=18364
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 Visually Impaired(United States Fire Administration) - http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/disability/fswy20.shtm
Also available in Spanish http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/espanol/audiences/disabilities-visimpaired.shtm
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
Make a Fire Escape Plan(Public-Private Fire Safety Council) - http://www.firesafety.gov/citizens/escape/index.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) - http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/english/Files/flv/engfiresafety.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.healthyroadsmedia.org/spanish/Files/flv/spafiresafety.htm

Games

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

Journal Articles

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

Article: The effects of computer-based fire safety training on the knowledge,... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19263929&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Fire safety for maintenance operations. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19209558&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: They like it hot. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=19145958&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/injury/
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

Campus and Dorm Fires(National Fire Protection Association) - http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=711&itemID=19560
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 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