Every year in North America, more than 600,000 homes – single-family dwellings, duplexes, apartments and mobile homes – are damaged or destroyed by fires that are started by accident.
Each year more than 4,500 people die in fires in the home, and another 19,750 are burned – many seriously.
About80 percent of all accidental fires can be traced to one of the following sources: heating and cooking equipment, electrical systems, smoking materials, matches and lighters, candles, tapers and open flames.
Heating Equipment causes more than 195,000 blazes a year – about a third of all domestic fires in North America. Potential hazards include: central-heating systems (furnaces, boilers, etc.); water and space heaters; portable electric and kerosene heaters; chimneys and fireplaces. Chimneys – even those serving central-heating systems – catch fire if soot collects in them over long periods. And fire in them can, if unchecked, spread to the rest of the house. Have your chimney cleaned once a year.
Cooking Equipment is another major cause of domestic fires – nearly 123,000, or more than 20 percent of the total – and the fires are often started by blazing deep fat fryers and frying pans. But stoves, ovens, microwave ovens, electric kettles and cooking appliances, such as toasters and waffle irons, are also involved in household fires.
Electrical Systems are the source of some 55,000 accidental fires a year. The blazes are often set off by faulty wiring, incorrect fuses, and overloaded sockets.
Smoking Materials include cigars, cigarettes, pipes, matches and lighters, which start about 50,000 fires a year. Particularly dangerous is the fire started by a cigarette left on an upholstered armchair or sofa. It can roll down the back or side of the seat and the upholstery can smolder slowly, giving off poisonous fumes while the people in the house are asleep.
Matches and Lighters (used for other purposes than smoking) start about 33,000 blazes a year. Often they are left too close to fires or are lit by children who are playing with them.
Candles, tapers and open flames from blowtorches and welding equipment cause around 30,000 fires each year.
Source: Reader’s Digest Action Guide: What To Do In An Emergency
Knowing these dangerous sources in the home that cause fires every year, you can now be a little more careful to ensure your home never joins such statistics. Stay Safe!