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Preventing Holiday Fires

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The holidays should be a time of celebration, but things can take a deadly turn when fire enters the equation. So this year, educate yourself about holiday fire prevention to help ensure that you and those you love are safe to enjoy all the season has to offer.

How to Celebrate Safely

Let’s talk about lights and electronic displays. First and foremost, make sure you use these in the appropriate space. Not all electronics, including lights, are safe for outdoor use. If a product is not explicitly labeled for outdoor use, assume it’s not, and use it inside instead.

Ensure all your cords are free of kinks, holes, and defects. Again, use outdoor cords outside and those not marked for outdoor use inside. Make sure you have the correct length for the job, so you don’t have to plug cords into one another. And always keep cords away from water.

Be careful not to overload outlets or plug multiple extension cords into a power strip. If you need additional outlets to supply power for your holiday display, call a licensed election and have outlets added to your home.

Defective lights and faulty cords cause 25% of Christmas tree fires, and many of these fires lead to serious burn injuries. So check your lights and all cords to ensure they are in proper working order before placing them on your tree.

In addition to making sure your electric displays are safe, you can help prevent fires this holiday season by:

  • Not leaving stoves unattended
  • Placing candles away from flammables
  • Never leaving a fire to burn unattended
  • Shutting off your displays when you go to bed

Taking these steps can help prevent your causing a fire due to recklessness. However, they may not be enough to prevent you from injury in a fire caused by a defective product or other issues beyond your control.

Have You Been Injured?

If you are injured or a loved one suffers a fatal injury due to a holiday fire that you had no control over, you may be entitled to seek compensation through legal action. The best way to learn about your rights is through a free case review with a qualified attorney.

To find an experienced lawyer in your area, find your state on our attorney locator today.

Fire Prevention Week is Coming

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Fire Prevention Week begins on October 9th and ends on October 15th. Knowing how to prevent fires is one of the best ways to avoid a severe and debilitating burn injury. However, it is equally important to understand how to become alerted to a fire before it causes harm.

Fire Prevention

You can help prevent fires at home by:

  • Watching stoves when they are in use
  • Keeping flammables away from portable heaters
  • Updating your wiring (particularly if you have aluminum wiring)
  • Using a fire screen or closing the glass on your fireplace
  • Smoking outside, on concrete or dirt

These steps can help prevent a fire from starting but won’t necessarily protect you when a fire starts in your home. Having an escape plan and practicing it with your family is an excellent way to know how to react in these unfortunate situations.

Smoke Alarms

One of the easiest ways to avoid injury in the case of a fire is being alerted to the fire before it has a chance to harm you. Hardwired smoke alarms are the best way to do this in your home. However, relying on hardwiring alone is not entirely safe. Fires often impact wiring and can disable smoke alarms that do not have a battery backup. Therefore, check the batteries in your smoke alarms every month.

Smoke alarms should be installed:

  • Inside Each Bedroom
  • Outside of All Sleeping Areas
  • On Every Level of the Home
  • In All Stairways
  • In the Basement
  • In the Garage
  • In the Attic

It is a good idea to install carbon monoxide detectors in sleeping areas and on every level of the home as well. These may need to be installed lower on the wall in areas with appliances that use gas, such as water heaters. Natural gas is lighter than air and will rise, but propane will settle near the ground. Choose the best option based on the type of appliances and gas in your home uses.

Combination smoke/carbon monoxide detectors can be hardwired for optimal effect. Do your research, and don’t cut costs. Not all of these devices are similarly effective. If you rent, insist that your landlord install the safest and most effective models available.

What to do When You’re Injured

If you or a loved one suffers an injury in a fire and suspect factors beyond your control caused it, you may be entitled to compensation. If you are a renter and your injury was related to faulty, inadequate, or missing equipment, you may also be entitled to seek compensation. The best way to learn is through a one-on-one consultation with a qualified personal injury attorney.

Have you been hurt? Use the lawyer locator on this page to find an established and experienced burn injury attorney in your area right away.

Preventing Fires in Your Home

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Home fires are a leading cause of catastrophic burn injuries. From the years 2013-2017, home fires caused about 2,600 civilian deaths annually. The most common causes of home fires are cooking, heating, electricity and lighting, intentional fire setting and smoking, according to the National Fire Protection Association. From 2013-2017, cooking was the leading cause of home fires and smoking was the leading cause of home fire deaths.

Some people falsely believe that they’d have enough time to safely escape a fire in the house. You may not realize that it takes just a few minutes for flames, smoke and temperatures as hot as 600 degrees to fill the home.

All families and individuals should be ready and have a plan in the event of a house fire:

  • Have a fire escape plan. Best practice is to identify two ways to escape a room in case one way is blocked.
  • Install and maintain smoke alarms. Install smoke alarms on all levels of the home, in and outside of bedrooms. Test batteries once each month.
  • Never leave cooking food unattended. Cooking food can cause a fire in mere moments.
  • Don’t store cookbooks, paper towels or any other flammable materials near the oven or stovetop.
  • Have heating systems inspected annually. Keeping them in good working order can prevent a house fire.
  • Space heaters are a common cause of fires. Plug them directly into the wall outlet, not a power strip. The heater must be on a level surface and well out of range of curtains, bedsheets, carpet and other flammable materials.

There are many other ways to prevent fires and you should take some time to research those measures. Prevention can go a long way in keeping you and your household safe.

While home fires are most often caused by a mistake on the part of the homeowners, sometimes the source of the fire can be traced back to someone else’s negligence. A wide variety of home appliances, wiring and other parts of your home could cause a fire if not manufactured or installed properly. In such scenarios, you’d have no way of knowing that someone else’s carelessness set the stage for a catastrophic home fire.

To talk to an experienced burn injury lawyer in your area, please search our directory.

The Dark Side Of 4th of July Celebrations: Fireworks Injuries

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Celebrating the 4th of July with fireworks is a beloved American tradition. Unfortunately, too many fireworks users do not handle them safely. Intoxication, lack of understanding of how to use them properly, and failure to supervise children and guests are among the many causes of fireworks accidents. Fireworks can go off in the hand of the users, they are sometimes dropped on or thrown at others, either intentionally or unintentionally, and a dangerous setup can lead to the unintentional ignition of an entire box of fireworks. Fireworks accidents can lead to house fires, wildfires and more. If you have suffered serious burns as a result of a fireworks accident please talk to an experienced injury attorney today.

Fireworks Injury Liability

Liability for injuries, death, and property damage caused by fireworks accidents typically depends on the cause of the accident. It can include negligent users of fireworks including individuals or the companies, organizations, and other entities holding large displays whether a professional pyrotechnics company, a municipality, or another type of organization. Adults who allow children to use fireworks may be held liable as can those who fail to properly supervise children or guests at home or at private gatherings.

Manufacturers and sellers of defective fireworks can also be held liable for the injuries their products cause, whether due to malfunction or due to inadequate warning labels and instructions.

It is worth noting that the majority of fireworks injuries are caused by legal fireworks.

Sparklers

Sparklers, which are often mistaken as safe and appropriate for use by children, are responsible for nearly one-third of all fireworks injuries. Because they are not explosive, too may people underestimate the damage they can cause. Sparklers burn at temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. They can cause severe burns on their own and often ignite clothing and hair of the holder or those near them, causing burns all over the body. Sparklers can be dropped, igniting other objects and other fireworks.

If you have suffered serious burns or lost someone you love as a result of a fireworks accident, you may be able to recover substantial compensation for your losses, including pain and suffering. Please search our directory for an experienced burn injury attorney in your state.

Kitchen Fires

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The coronavirus has more people cooking at home, whether out of boredom or because restaurants are close. Home cooking is a wonderful thing and we hope that many people will stick with the healthy habit long after sty at home orders are lifted. But more people cooking at home comes with a downside, more house fires. According to the American Red Cross, cooking is the leading cause of house fires and unattended cooking is the leading cause of cooking fires.

Fire Safety Tips for the Kitchen

The first thing is to check the batteries in your smoke detectors and make sure that your fire extinguishers are properly charged. But, don’t rely on your smoke detectors to

alert you to the danger. Stay with your food and stay alert. Defective smoke detectors can fail to go off when there is a fire leaving people in the home unaware until it is too late to get out.

  • Never place pizza or to-go boxes, oven mitts, potholders, paper plates, dish towels, plastic packaging and other flammable items on the stove or in the oven, even when not in use.
  • Do not use your oven as storage space.
  • Remove any clutter decorations and other flammable items from the area. Keep them well away from the stove and oven.
  • Dress properly – no long, hanging sleeves, scarves, shawls, or dangling jewelry, even if you are making a video of yourself cooking.
  • Make sure your stove and oven are clean before you begin. Grease and spilled food items can quickly catch on fire are burners and heating elements get hot.
  • Always look inside the oven immediately before you turn it on to preheat.
  • Never leave food unattended while cooking.
  • Never leave the house when kitchen appliances are in use. This includes ovens, toaster ovens, microwaves and other small appliances.
  • Do not fall asleep with food on the stove or in the oven. Do not slow-cook food in the oven overnight while you sleep.
  • Use a timer in case you do get distracted.
  • Keep pot handles turned in toward the center of the stove to prevent accidents and spills.
  • Never try to put out a grease fire with water or flour. You can smother it with baking soda. If you don’t have baking soda, turn off the heat and smother it with a lid.
  • If something catches fire in the oven, do not open the door. Leave it closed and turn the oven off.
  • If something catches fire in the microwave, leave the door closed, turn it off and unplug it.

If your house fire was the result of someone else’s negligence or a defective product, search our directory for an experienced burn injury attorney in your state.