Broken Arrow Firefighters Give Tips On How To Prevent Fires

We are right around the corner from daylight savings time and firefighters say that means it is time to check the batteries in your smoke detectors.

Closing your door before you go to sleep, might not be something you think of every night but Broken Arrow Fire Captain Trent Harris says, it should be.

“It provides a barrier from the smoke,” said Harris.

Something as simple as closing the bedroom door could give you extra time to get out of the house if a fire starts.

“Like 40 years ago people had approximately 17 minutes to get out of a home but with modern construction, the contents and stuff, all the synthetic material that are in homes, oftentimes people have less than 3 minutes,” said Harris.

In most cases, fire prevention doesn’t mean making huge, expensive changes. Most of the time, the changes are as simple as not overloading your outlets and having licensed electricians work on your home, so you don’t have to worry about improper wiring. It might even mean checking your smoke detectors each month and changing the batteries two times a year. For twenty to thirty dollars you can add a fire extinguisher to your home.

“The leading cause of fires in the United States is cooking so if you have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen, it significantly increases your chance of getting that fire out before crews arrive,” said Broken Arrow Assistant Fire Chief Mark Steward.

If buying a smoke detector is a worry, call your local fire department. Some departments like Broken Arrow Fire, have programs where they come to your home and install smoke detectors for free.