House Fire Prevention Tips to your Stow Ohio Home

8/22/2022 (Permalink)

A fire caused severe damage in this Stow, Ohio kitchen.

Fires are unpredictable and seem to start from nowhere, causing damage to the home. Homeowners go to great lengths to avoid fires, but despite years of ad campaigns and awareness advertisements, more than 25% of all fires still occur in the home.

The top causes of house fires and how you can prevent them:

• Cooking: Cooking leads the list as the top cause of home fires and injuries with very little causalities. Unattended cooking is the number one reason that is why almost half of all home fires start in the kitchen. To avoid Want to avoid a fire at home? Stay in the kitchen at the stove or grill while your food is being prepared.
• Heating Appliances: Heating equipment is responsible for 14% of all home fires nationally. A combination of mishaps, equipment malfunctions and flammable materials placed too close to heat sources lead to this scenario, and portable space heaters are the top culprit.
• Electrical Mishaps: Electrical safety has improved over the years as new technology is introduced and building codes are updated. While appliances and electrical devices in the home are generally more efficient and require less electricity, there are more of these devices in the home, driving up the usage of electricity. Faulty wiring and the overloading of circuits are factors that contribute to electrical fires at home. Other top causes are the use of frayed or faulty outlets and appliance cords or extension cords that are damaged.
• Arson: Unfortunately, over 28,000 intentional home firesare started every year. Intentional home fires, or arson, still happens at an alarming rate. Some of the reasons are pyromania, crime concealment and vandalism.
• Smoking/Vaping: According to the CDC, smoking has declined by two-thirdsin the past 50 years after the Surgeon General warned of health consequences. But tragically, despite only being responsible for 5% of home fire occurrences, fires started by smoking materials are the leading cause of civilian fire deaths.

Regardless of the cause of loss, SERVPRO West Akron is here for you if your home or business is affected by fire. Call the professional and knowledgeable team at 330-867-5723 to see how we can help.