Home fires are one of a homeowner’s worst nightmares because they can cause significant fire and smoke damage and serious injury to those within the home.  There are many common causes of house fires such as smoking, dysfunctional heating equipment, and electrical problems and the two biggest causes are cooking and dryer vent fires.  It is important for homeowners to take the necessary preventative actions in regards to cooking and their dryer vents to help avoid the disaster of a house fire.  The following tips will help you prevent in-home fires from the two biggest causes.

Cooking Fires

The leading cause of house fires in the United States is cooking related activity as the U.S. Fire Administration estimates that approximately 160,000 fires per year are started by stoves, ovens, deep fryers, grills, and other cooking implements.  The following are some easy tips to prevent starting an in-home fire while cooking for your family:

• Do not leave your stove, oven, or grill unattended while in use
• Do not cook in loose clothing that could touch the stove or grill
• Clean all cooking surfaces before and after use
• Make sure the stove is off before leaving it unattended
• Install smoke detectors near the kitchen.

Dryer Vent Fires

The second leading cause of house fires in the United States is clothes dryer fires caused by lint that builds up in the dryer and dryer vent.  According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, approximately 15,500 house fires are started by clothes dryers and result in millions of dollars worth of damage annually.  The following tips will help you prevent house fires started by clothes dryers or dryer vents:

• Clean the dryer’s lint trap before and after each use
• Make sure the dryer vent is free of debris
• Do not leave your home while the dryer is in use
• Clean out the hose that leads from the dryer to the vent at least twice a year
• Remove all dust and lint from the dryer and the vent
• Install smoke detectors near your laundry area.

By following these fire prevention tips, you can greatly reduce the risk of an in-home fire from the two leading causes of house fires in the United States.  However, even with these preventative actions it is still possible for a fire to happen and if this should occur, it is important to call for fire damage restoration services from a professional company such as RestorationMaster of Montgomery, Frederick, Howard & Washington Counties once you secure the safety of your family.  Hopefully taking the proper fire prevention tips will help you avoid the stress and losses that are caused by house fires.

About Vince Sandri

Vince Sandri is a content writer and blogger with more than 12 years of experience. His expertise is in creating content related to disaster restoration, including information about preventing and reacting to natural disasters like flooding, water damage, fire and smoke damage, mold growth, storm damage and more.
Vince has been the main contributor to RestorationMasterFinder.com since 2014. Over that time, he has written numerous service pages and blogs for disaster restoration providers featured on RestorationMasterFinder.com. Vince has done extensive research and covered a wide range of topics relating to disaster restoration to help homeowners, business owners, and property managers better protect their property. He understands the problems that disasters like flooding, fire, smoke, and mold can cause as well as the best ways to respond to these issues to limit the damage.
Vince completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Aurora University and his master’s degree at DePaul University. He has been writing SEO website pages, blogs, and press releases since 2012. Vince is also a musician and can be seen playing in the Chicago, IL area.