Fire Prevention, Safety Measures To Consider As Spring Approaches

Spring will be here soon and it's a great time to consider fire prevention and safety as you check smoke detectors and start grilling outside.

Andy Little with the Tulsa Fire Department was here to talk with LeAnne Taylor and go over some helpful reminders.

How often should you check on your smoke detector?

"So traditionally, in the past, we've always told people to change those batteries when you change your clocks. And that's still something you want to do if you have an older detector. But now all the newer alarms have 10 year batteries. And so that does several things. It keeps you from having to change the battery, but it also keeps you from stealing the battery for your remote control, or whatever else. So we want those batteries to do what they're supposed to do as this is the most important piece of safety equipment in your home," Little said.

Is a fire extinguisher necessary to keep at home?

"It's certainly handy when you're cooking, you know. Especially, you know, if you have children in the household, but there are so many things to think about cooking safety. You know, if you do have these, it's important that you make sure that they're not out of date. And if they are, you need to replace them, you know. The M.e.t. in Tulsa will accept old ones. And you can pick these up at a hardware store for $20. So they're pretty inexpensive," Little explained.

Why is it important to check your grill?

"A lot of people grill throughout the year. But if you're one of those folks that waits and doesn't grill throughout the winter, and you're just getting ready to break that out, it's important that you check that to make sure that it's functional. Make sure that it doesn't have bird's nest or things inside there. And make sure there's no rust or make sure there's not any leaks in there. One thing that we recommend people do is you can mix a spray bottle with 50% soap and 50% water and you can spray that down. So you open the lid, turn the knobs to off and then you turn your tank on and you spray around there. And if you see bubbles, that lets you know there's a leak," Little said.