(NC)-It is important to be fire safe all year long and with October being Fire Safety Month it's a good time to take a closer look at your equipment and plans to ensure you are prepared. The team at Canadian Tire has put together the following tips to help families review their equipment and stay safe.
Kitchen Safety: According to the Office of the Fire Marshall, cooking is the number one cause of fires in the home.
• Do not leave pots and pans unattended and use oven mitts when removing pots and pans from the stove.
• Take extra care when cooking with oil and grease and ensure you have a lid or spare cooking sheet nearby to cover the pan should grease or oil catch fire. If a fire ignites, do not move the, as this can cause the flames to spread- use a cooking sheet or lid to smother the fire instead.
• If you've overcooked or burnt your food and set off an alarm, do not remove the batteries! While it may seem harmless at the time, it can turn into a deadly mistake. Instead purchase a smoke alarm with a hush feature that enables you to temporarily 'hush' the nuisance alarms but ensures that it is still activated should a real fire start. For more information on the alarm with hush feature, visit canadiantire.ca.
Holiday Safety: Whether it's Halloween or Christmas, many families will be decorating inside and outside the home with decorations that require electricity. It is important for homeowners to treat holiday decorative items the same as they would all other appliances in the home.
• At Halloween, use a flashlight instead of a candle in the jack-o-lantern to safely achieve that illuminating glow.
• Choose Halloween costumes and decorations made of fire retardant materials only.
• Ensure you have a fire extinguisher close at hand and that all family members know how to properly use it.
• Do not leave indoor decorative Christmas lights or electrical decorations unattended or on while you are away or sleeping. The same rule applies to Christmas tree lights. A handy reminder device available at Canadian Tire is the tree safety system; a heat sensor angel that senses heat and sends a warning to an audible alarm, protecting your family and tree.
- News Canada