Dangers of fire
• Always keep a special watch on children and elderly people when fires and heaters are in use. (Remember, it is illegal to leave a child under the age of 12 in a room with an open fire.)
• Keep portable heaters away from furniture and curtains and in a safe place where they can’t be knocked over. Keep oil heaters out of draughts. Never dry clothes over or near a fire or on the cooker.
• Keep all fires and heaters well guarded. A good guard covers the whole fireplace area, not just the actual fire itself.
• Use a spark-guard in front of real fires whenever you leave the room and overnight.
• Never leave lighted cigarettes or matches on upholstered furniture. When buying furniture look for the ‘Resistant’ label. This means that the furniture’s covering is less likely than other coverings to catch fire but it is not fireproof.
• Never smoke in bed.
• Never overload power sockets with too many plugs.
• Use only the recommended fuse wire in your fuse box-never use thicker metal of any kind or you could start a fire elsewhere in the house. Electrical fires are still a major cause of domestic fires.
• Replace worn cables or flex at once.
• When deep-frying always watch the pan carefully to ensure that it doesn’t overheat. Never fill the pan so that it is more than a third full with the food in.
• If there are children around keep matches and lighters where they can’t find them.
Store inflammable fluids such as petrol, paraffin and oil out of the sunlight and where they can’t come into contact with heat or flame. Keep them in recommended containers with tops that fit.
• Plan your escape from your home so that if your home catches fire you will know exactly what to do. Find out where your nearest outside phone is (perhaps with a neighbour) to call the fire brigade.
• Always call the fire brigade for any fire, however small.
• Keep fireworks in a closed box. Take them out one at a time and put the lid back on at once.
• Follow the instructions on each firework carefully. Read them by torchlight-never a naked flame.
• Light fireworks at arm’s length-preferably with a safety firework lighter or fuse wick.
• Stand well back.
• Never return to a firework once lit even if you think the flame has gone out-it may go off in your face.
• Never throw fireworks.
• Never put fireworks in your pockets.
• Keep pets indoors.
• Never fool with fireworks.
• Watch that bonfire too:
- Site the bonfire away from the house, garage or shed.
– Light with firelighters-not paraffin or petrol.
- Keep a bucket or two of water handy, just in case.
- Pour water on the bonfire embers before going indoors.
Having taken all these precautions enjoy your firework party. Ten million people do every year-safely.
*76/72/5*
