Fire fighting training: Top Household Fire Hazards and Safety Tips

• 1 July 2021

Household fires are truly devastating. They put your life, your family’s life, and your pet's life at risk of severe injury or death. Within a few minutes all your precious family heirlooms, photographs, and treasured items can be destroyed. After the fire, you are left without a home, no belongings, and financial hardship. Read through our guide on fire hazards at home and learn how to keep yourself safe with Emcare fire fighting training and our extra tips. 

Top Household Fire Hazards: 

Knowing the fire hazards in your home is an important step towards ensuring you, your

family, and your home stay safe from fire damage. 

Cooking: 

Most household fires take place in the kitchen. These are a few of the various ways a fire can start whilst you are cooking. 

1. Unattended Cooking: You have just popped a pot of water to boil on your gas stovetop to make your Gigi Hadid pasta, and you walk away for “just a minute”. We often get distracted whilst cooking by family members, reading recipes, or checking our phones. Leaving cooking food unattended can result in household fires. 
2. Metal in the Microwave: After a long workday, you place your left-over dinner with the fork still in the bowl into the microwave to reheat it, and sparks start flying. Placing metal in the microwave often happens as a mistake, but this mistake can be destructive as certain types of metal will ignite in a microwave and cause a fire. 
3. Frying: Heating oil in a frying pan is often the first step in numerous recipes. When doing so, you need to keep a close eye on the oil. The oil that gets too hot will begin to smoke and then can catch on fire. 
4. Clothing: People often cook without thinking about the clothing they are wearing. Wearing flowy or loose clothing whilst cooking over an open flame is a fire hazard. 

Faulty Electrical Equipment: 

Houses are inundated with electrical equipment. From the kettle to the TV to your bedside lamp, in every room of your home, there is the possibility of a fire hazard as a result of faulty electrical equipment. Electrical equipment can become faulty as a result of malfunction, overuse, and misuse. 

Gas Leaks: 

As electricity prices increase, many South Africans are turning towards installing gas into their homes. Gasoline is a highlight flammable substance. Should your gas bottles have a leak and the gas comes into contact with an open flame or hot surface, there will be a fire or explosion. 

It is important that when you get gas installed in your home that you are provided with a Certificate of Conformity. This certificate ensures that your gas installation has been checked for any faults and is leak-free. You should also regularly check existing gas bottles, pipes, and appliances for any damages or degradation. 

These are a few signs that there is a gas leak in your home. 

• Hissing Sound: A hissing sound around the gas bottle is a clear sign that the gas is leaking. 
• Strong Smell: A strong gas smell in your home will indicate a gas leak. 
• Dead House Plants: Dead house plants are an indication that there is a slow gas leak that may not be detectable by smell or sound. 

Heaters and Electric Blankets: 

There is nothing better than cuddling up next to a heater or jumping into a toasty bed during Winter, but there is a fire risk when using heaters and electric blankets in your home. Electric blankets that have malfunctioned or overheated are exceptionally hazardous as they are covered by your bedding and can cause your bed to ignite. 

Candles: 

As a result of load shedding, the use of candles in South African homes is increasing. A lighted candle can create a beautiful ambiance and have a beautiful smell, but it can also be the cause of household fires. If a candle is knocked over, left unattended, or allowed to burn fully, it may catch on a flammable item and cause a fire. 

Children Playing with Matches: 

It seems fairly obvious to not let children play with matches, but there are numerous accounts where a household fire was caused for this reason. Children will see you lighting a candle with the matches and want to try it out for themselves. Children do not understand the hazards of a fire, and leaving your child unattended with matches can be exceptionally dangerous for the child and your home. 

Overloaded Sockets: 

An overloaded socket can cause an electrical fire which will destroy your home and endanger the inhabitants in your home. Overloaded sockets can overheat and spark, and if they are near something flammable, a fire will occur. Overloaded sockets are an easily avoided fire hazard but are often the cause of household fires. 

Smoking: 

Fires caused by smoking are usually caused when a person discards a cigarette or cigar that is not properly extinguished. If the semi-lit butt is carelessly flicked away, it could land on flammable material and cause a household fire. 

Emcare Fire Fighting Training: 

Most people associate fire fighting training with becoming a firefighter or view it as only important if there are obvious fire hazards in your workplace. The risks of fires are always present in every household, and therefore every person should consider having basic fire fighting training. 

The Emcare fire fighting training courses are structured to equip you with the skills and knowledge to stay calm and safe when faced with a fire in any situation. There are two Emcare fire fighting training courses that we recommend for having a basic understanding of preventing and handling a fire in a home. 

The first is the Emcare Basic Fire Awareness Course. This course provides you with the knowledge and skills to prevent fires in the home, having a prepared plan in the case of a fire, and how to handle a household fire safely. The Basic Fire Awareness course takes half a day, and on completion, you will receive an accredited certificate that is valid for two years. 

The second recommended Emcare fire fighting training is the Basic Fire Fighting Course. This course takes one day to complete and builds onto the Basic Fire Awareness Course. You will learn extra fire fighting techniques and add to your fire handling confidence. The Emcare fire fighting training can take place at any one of our branches based in Johannesburg, Polokwane, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Cape Town, and Hoedspruit. This makes the Emcare fire fighting training for everyone across South Africa. 

All Emcare fire fighting training is facilitated by trained professionals. Our trainers are fully accredited and experienced to offer you the best skills and knowledge to prevent and stay protected from household fires. 

Doing one of the Emcare fire fighting training courses will help ensure that you reduce the risk of a household fire and equip you to keep your loved ones and home safe in the event a fire starts. 

If you are interested in taking your fire fighting training further, Emcare offers additional courses that will equip you. 

Safety Tips for Household Fires: 

Fire fighting training is the best tool to arm yourself with for fire safety in your home. You can also follow these extra tips to keep yourself and your home safe. 

Fire Extinguisher: 

Every South African household should be equipped with a fire extinguisher. Make sure that your home has one that is easily accessible. It is also important to ensure that you know how to use the fire extinguisher should the need arise. Check your fire extinguisher regularly for any faults. 

Install a Fire Hose: 

If your home does not have a fire hose, you can get one installed on the outside of your home. Fire hoses are exceptionally useful in a fire emergency and can help save your home from destruction. 

List of Emergency Numbers: 

You should have a list of emergency numbers loaded onto your phone and written down somewhere easy to find, such as pinned on the fridge. Included in this list should be the Fire Department, the South African Police Department, ER24, and an emergency contact for a friend or family member.  

Have an Emergency Exit Plan: 

Have an emergency exit plan in place for the event of a fire. Sit everyone who lives in your home down and explain the plan and then walk them through it. Your family may think you are being paranoid, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. 

Follow Electrical Appliance Regulations: 

Always follow the safety protocols when using electrical appliances. This includes turning off appliances when finished using them, avoiding covering electrical appliances like heaters, and not allowing electrical appliances to get wet. 

Check Electrical Cables Regularly: 

Electrical cables that are frayed or have cuts in the insulation can cause electrical fires in your home. Doing routine checks of all your electrical cables in your home is a simple and quick way to keep your home safe from this potential fire hazard. 

Do Not Leave Open Flames Unattended: 

You must never leave an open flame in your home unattended. This includes your gas stovetop, candles, fireplaces, and braais. Should you need to leave the room, even if you think you will be quick, you should always extinguish the flame or ask someone to monitor the flame. 

Do Not Use Water to Put Out Electrical or Oil Fires: 

Do not ever use water to put out electrical or oil fires. In certain cases, the water can exacerbate the fire and become an electrocution hazard. The first thing to do, if possible, is to either unplug the ignited electrical appliance or switch off the electricity. For oil fires, you should smother the fire with a non-flammable object if it is safe enough to do so. 

Install a Smoke Detector: 

Many South African homes do not have smoke detectors involved. Installing a smoke detector is encouraged as this will alert you to a household fire, and can be especially useful whilst you are sleeping. Smoke detectors are affordable, easy to install, and worth the effort. 

Cover Your Mouth and Nose with a Damp Cloth: 

If you are faced with a household fire, and you are able, cover your nose and mouth with a damp cloth. This will minimise your inhalation of smoke and allow you to get out of danger quickly and safely. 

Do Not Pack a Bag: 

As devastating as the thought is to lose your cherished belongings, staying in your home that is on fire to pack a bag of your things is dangerous. The most important thing in your home is your life and the lives of your loved ones and pets. 

Stay safe from household fires with Emcare basic fire fighting training and our extra safety tips.