Home Fire Safety Checklist

The following information is for your education, and is not intended to replace the expert counsel of your local fire department staff. We assume no liability for making this information available. Consult and review it with your local trained fire department staff. Use at your own discretion.

• Are fuel-burning space heaters and appliances properly installed and used?
• Are all space heaters placed away from traffic? Are children and elderly persons cautioned to keep their clothing away?
• Has the family been cautioned not to use flammable liquids, like gasoline, to start or freshen a fire (or for cleaning purposes)?
• Is the fireplace equipped with a metal fire screen or heat-tempered glass doors?
• Since portable gas and oil heaters in fireplaces use up oxygen as they burn do you provide proper ventilation when they are in use?
• Are proper clearances provided between space heaters and curtains, bedding, furniture?
• Do you stop members of your household from smoking in bed?
• Do you check up after others to see that no cigarette butts are lodged in upholstered furniture where they can smolder unseen at night?
• Are matches and lighters kept away from children?
• Do you dispose of smoking materials carefully (not in waste baskets) and keep large safe ashtrays wherever people smoke?
• Are all electrical cords out in the open -- not run under rugs, over hooks, or through door openings? Are they checked routinely for wear?
• Is the right size fuse in each socket in the fuse box and do you replace a fuse with one the same size?
• Children get burned climbing on the stove to reach an item overhead. Do you store cookies, cereal, or other "bait," away from the stove?
• Do you keep your basement, closets, garage, and yard, clear of combustibles like paper, cartons, old furniture, or old rags?
• Are gasoline and other flammable liquids stored in safety cans (never glass jugs, discarded bleach bottles, or other makeshift containers) and away from heat, sparks, and children?
• Is paint kept in tightly-closed metal containers?
• Are furnace, stove, and smoke pipes far enough from combustible walls and ceilings, and in good repair?
• Is your heating equipment checked yearly by a serviceperson?
• Is the chimney cleaned and checked reqularly?
• For safety against chimney and other sparks, is the roof covering fire retardant?
• Do you have a qualified electrician install or extend your wiring?
• Do all your appliances carry the seal of a testing laboratory?
• Are there enough electrical outlets in every room and special circuits for heavy-duty appliances such as space heaters and air conditioners?