By Gordon Williams

It’s autumn, moving toward winter, making it the right time to put your home through a cold-weather fire safety check. 

Start with your first line of defense against being hurt or killed in a home fire: smoke alarms that grab your attention when fire breaks out. If you awaken to spreading flames, it may be too late to escape to safety. As the National Fire Protection Assn. (NFPA) points out, “Fires originating in a bedroom account for a disproportionately large share of civilian deaths and injuries." To be specific, 21 percent of home fire deaths and 25 percent of home fire injuries occur in the bedroom. 

The obvious answer is to equip your home with the suggested array of home smoke alarms. "Place smoke alarms and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors on every level of your home, and inside and outside of sleeping areas,” says the NFPA. “Test them regularly and replace any alkaline batteries once a year.” 

Through its Home Fire Campaign, the American Red Cross plays a key role in putting alarms in American homes. The campaign aims to put alarms in homes that lack them. The ones in use now have Lithium batteries good for 10 years. Since its start a decade ago, Home Fire Campaign has placed more than a million alarms in homes and saved an estimated 1,300 lives. 

Anything that gets hot can overheat and catch fire. Make certain nothing in your home heating system can cause trouble. Says the NFPA, “Inspect and clean your chimney, fireplace, furnace, and wood stove. Soot and debris building up can lead to a fire.” On a personal note, I once responded to a fire as a Red Cross disaster volunteer caused by stacks of newspaper and dried-out wood left leaning against a poorly insulated furnace. The resultant fire did serious damage to an apartment building. 

It's common to use a space heater to bring extra warmth to a cold room. Make certain that any space heater is a modern one, designed to turn itself off if it tips over. If you do use a space heater, make certain there is nothing flammable nearby that can touch the heating coils and ignite. The same warning applies to fireplaces. Keep drapes or anything else that can burn far away from open flames. 

Clothes dryers are another source of home fire danger. “Lint accumulation is a major fire hazard,” says the NFPA. “Clean dryer ducts and vents regularly to prevent fires.” 

Your home electrical system can be a major source of home fire risk, if you don't put it through a fire-safety check-up. NFPA says that “Local fire departments respond to an estimated average of 46,700 home fires a year involving electrical failure or malfunction.”  NFPA says those electrical fires cause an estimated 390 deaths and 1,330 injuries each year. Fully one-third of those electrical system fires occurred between November and February. 

Check every electrical cord and socket for breakage or wear and tear. If the power cord is frayed or damaged, replace it. The same holds true for plugs and receptacles. Never run a power cord under a carpet. Stepping on it can damage the cord, and you won't see the damage. Never run a power-consuming device off an extension cord. Spend the money to have a new extension installed, and run the device safely through the new extension. 

When it comes to home fires, your kitchen is a prime danger zone. Fortunately, there is much you can do to mitigate the danger. Start by removing anything that might d[p onto an open flame — curtains, dish towels, hanging aprons and housecoats. Train youngsters to keep at least three feet from the stove when it is in use. 

Know how to handle the flames if something cooking on the stove catches fire. Never pour water on a pan filled with flaming grease. It can cause the burning grease to flame up and spread. Instead, slide a pan lid or a metal tray slowly over the flames. The fire will soon go out on its own. Keep a pot lid or cookie sheet close by when you cook, just in case. This is timely advice since Thanksgiving and Christmas Day are the two worst days of the year for fires.  

A fire extinguisher in your home can come in handy if you know how and when to use it. It can help you escape from a home fire, but don't expect it to extinguish a fire bigger than a household wastebasket. Aim the spray at the base of the fire, moving the spray back and forth. 

Remember that fires double in size every 39 seconds. If you exhaust the extinguisher without putting out the fire, get out and call for help. No matter how small the fire is, never let it get between you and an exit to safety. Ideally, have someone watching your back to warn you if fire is threatening your route to safety.