Health Tip: Install Smoke Alarms at Home
Smoke alarms are an inexpensive, yet vital, way to alert you and your family in the event of a fire.
The Home Safety Council offers these guidelines to help you install smoke alarms:
- Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home, even in the basement.
- Install a smoke alarm inside each bedroom, and outside sleeping areas.
- Affix smoke alarms in the middle of the ceiling or high up on the wall, a few inches away from the ceiling.
- Don't install smoke alarms close to doors or windows, where drafts could hamper their performance. Also, avoid putting them in bathrooms, where steam could set them off, or in the kitchen, where cooking odors could set off "nuisance" alarms.
- Test smoke alarms frequently, and replace the batteries once a year.
Health Tip: Safe Use of Candles
Many people enjoy burning candles to enhance their home's cozy atmosphere. But candles can be a fire hazard if not used correctly.
The City of Fairfax, Virginia, offers these candle safety tips:
- Never leave a room with a candle still burning.
- Light a candle in an area far from flammable materials, such as drapes, bedding, furniture, paper or wallpaper.
- Make sure that a burning candle can't be reached by children or pets.
- Only burn a candle that is in a sturdy, non-flammable base.
- Keep the candle wick trimmed to about one-quarter of an inch.
- Don't burn candles right next to each other, near doors or windows, or on a surface that may catch fire or melt from the heat.
- Throw a candle away when the wax is down to about 2 inches from the base.
- Don't use a candle that has flammable materials (such as twigs or pinecones) inside the wax.
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