Fire Prevention Month #SuperPreparedFamily

Disclosure: This Fire Prevention Month post has been compensated by First Alert as part of a campaign for The Mom it Forward Blogger Network

October is Fire Prevention Month. Is your family and home safe? Do you know what you can do to make sure your family and home are protected?

The tragic truth is that every year almost 3000 people die from fires in the home. That is why it is so important to install and properly care for smoke alarms and have an emergency escape plan in place.

I did my own Fire Prevention Month inspection and you are not going to believe what I found.

Fire Prevention Month Home Inspection

October is Fire Prevention Month and the perfect time for you to check your home to make sure your smoke and fire alarms are properly functioning and to make sure you have them properly installed in your home.

While I was working on this post I took a walk around the three bedroom home I rent. I was dismayed to discover only one smoke alarm in the entire house located outside the master bedroom!

I honestly could not believe my eyes as I walked from each area of my home and checked inside and outside each bedroom, looking up at the ceiling where I knew a smoke alarm should have been installed.

My daughters room is on the other side of the house and there was not a smoke or fire alarm anywhere near her bedroom.

I am happy to report she now has a new First Alert 10 Year Battery Atom Photoelectric Micro Smoke Alarm installed inside her room and the First Alert PRC710 alarm that provides both smoke and CO safety installed outside her room in the hallway.

To make matters worse the one smoke alarm that was installed didn't work when I pushed the test button. And when we took the old smoke and fire alarm down to install a new First Alert 10 year battery life smoke and fire alarm I discovered there wasn't even a battery in it!

I have been living in this home for almost 2 years thinking that my family was protected by a smoke and fire alarm that didn't even have a battery installed!

Please don't do what I did and assume your home and family are protected from fire. Do a fire inspection today!

What should be on your annual first safety check list?

Test each fire and smoke detector and replace batteries.
Check the expiration date on all alarms.
Make sure there is an alarm on each level of your home.
Install exscape ladders on upper level floors of your home.
Make sure there is an alarm outside each bedroom.
Make and practice your family escape plan.
Get a yearly and professional service check up on your furnace and dryer.

Where Should You Install Smoke and Fire Alarms?

You should have one properly functioning smoke detector and fire alarm installed on each floor of your home along with one alarm outside of each bedroom as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends.

Read the packaging and make sure the smoke and fire alarms you purchase have been tested by a nationally recognized testing laboratory.

Upgrade your home safety with Fire Alert

Did you know that your smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarms do not last forever. It is a big hassle to remember that you need to check the battery if you have an older alarm installed in your home. You must regularly check them and replace the battery.

Or you can install a smoke and fire alarm that has a 10 year battery life like the First Alert smoke, fire and carbon monoxide detectors.

It is your responsibility to keep your family safe from fire and carbon monoxide!

What if you are like me and rent your home? You are probably thinking that the home owner or property manager made sure your smoke and fire alarms were working properly before you moved in. That might be the case but don't leave your families safety up to someone else like I did.

You can't imagine the look of shock that was on my face as we were removing the one and only old smoke detector that was installed in my rental home and I found the battery compartment EMPTY!

I was appalled to realize that my family had been unprotected from smoke and fire for almost two years. I should have checked the smoke alarm when I moved in. I have always been very diligent when it came to the smoke and fire alarms in the homes I live in.

Why was I verging on obsessively checking the smoke and fire alarms in my homes? Because about 15 years ago we had a house fire. Our dryer caught on fire. A very common cause of house fires is a dryer fire.

Do you need a carbon monoxide alarm in your home?

Carbon monoxide is often referred to as the silent killer. It is a colorless and odorless gas that can not be detected without an alarm. If you heat your home with gas or cook with a gas stove you need a carbon monoxide alarm in your home. First Alert has a number of different combination alarms that will detect smoke, fire and CO.

Where I live in Florida not many people have gas stoves or heat with gas but you might know that our area was recently hit with hurricane Irma. Many people were using generators after the storm.

I am sad to say there there were more than one incident where someone lost their life because the generator was too close to their house and died from carbon monoxide poisoning.

There was also a large family of 12 ranging from the age of infant to elderly where luckily they received medical help before anyone died from the CO poisoning. A combination smoke and CO alarm could have prevented those deaths and have prevented that large family from CO poisoning after the hurricane.

Do You have an escape plan in place in case of a fire?

Make a fire safety plan and make sure the kids know what they should do in case of a fire. Let the kids help make the escape plan and then practice it with all members of the family.

It is very important for the kids to know what they should do in case of a fire. A plan in place will help so they don't panic .

Get the kid involved for Fire Safety Month Here is a fun video from First Alert.

FREE Printable First Alert Fire Safety Coloring Sheets

You can download and print these free fun Fire Safety coloring sheets to get the conversation started.