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Before you head off to bed, some simple fire safety checks can save your life. These will only add a couple of minutes to your day, but will significantly reduce your risk of a fire.
We worry more about fires at night as you are likely to be sleeping, so get less warning to escape. That’s why it’s really important to have working smoke alarms in every room where a fire could start. Your smoke alarms should wake you if a fire does break out, but you can further reduce your risk by carrying out these simple checks before you go to bed.
- Close all your internal doors to prevent smoke spreading if a fire starts.
- Turn off and unplug electrical appliances unless they are designed to be left on – like your fridge or freezer.
- Don’t leave the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher on overnight and unattended.
- Don’t leave mobile phones, tablets or e-cigarettes charging overnight.
- Check that your hob and oven switches are all off.
- Turn heaters off, rake out any open fires and put a fireguard in place.
- Put candles, incense sticks and oil burners out and never leave them burning when you are asleep.
- Make sure cigarettes are completely out – wet them to be sure.
- Never smoke in bed – it’s best to quit, but if you can’t, swap for an e-cigarette.
- Make sure escape routes are clear of anything that may slow your escape down.
- Keep door and window keys where everyone you live with can find them.
- If you or anyone else in the home has mobility issues, ensure mobility aids and methods of calling for help (like emergency pendants) are close to hand in case help is needed to assist with an escape.
Click here for our Safer Home leaflet, which you can download and print off – it includes a bedtime checklist you can pin up somewhere as a reminder.