Home Fire Safety: Reducing Pet Fire Risk
By Robert Siciliano July 11, 2012 | 08:00 AMPosted in: Fire Prevention, Pet Safety Did you know that your dog, cat or bird
might be responsible for burning down your house? I didn’t even know they know
how to light a match? I’m definitely not letting my dog smoke in bed. Seriously,
this is a statistic put out by the National Fire Protection Association and
they would know.
Lamps: Here how it might happen, and it
makes sense: You leave a lamp on, and your cat starts playing with the lamp
cord or even the lamp shade if it has those little fabric bally things on it.
Next thing you know the lamp falls down on the carpet, the light breaks and
causes some sparks to fly on the rug. Poof…there’s your home fire.
Candles: Worse, humans might be partly
at fault if they leave an unattended candle out. A cat, dog or bird can easily
knock over a candle causing a fire. For your pet safety, be sure
candles are in secure holders on a hard surface. Candles are just the worst
anyway, get rid of them. Sorry. They’re messy too and they ruin your paint.
Stoves: Cats climb all over stuff which
is why there are no cats in my house. I mean, litter box then your bed? Anyway,
a cat climbing on your stove is likely to turn a stove knob, which if electric
will fry the cat, but if gas will blow up the house. Remove the knobs from the
stove.
Electric heaters: Animals running around
the house can knock over a space heater. Once on its face can burn things. Most
electric heaters today have some form of heat sensor that shuts
it down. Make sure that’s the case and toss old ones that don’t.
Related Articles
Overlooked Fire Hazards in The Home
Pets Behaving Badly
Devising a Family Emergency Action Plan
*Content expressed in Home Security Source does not represent the thoughts and opinions of ADT unless explicitly indicated. Bloggers featured on HomeSecuritySource.com are professionals compensated by ADT. Please visit our Community Guidelines page for additional details.