Causes of Home Fires According to the National Fire Protection Association

Understanding what causes most house fires in the United States can help you avoid the traps and stay safe. Here are the five common causes of home fire damage and smoke damage in Arizona:

1. Cooking equipment. Most house fires start in the kitchen, according to National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). The gas stove, mittens, curtains, paper, cookbook, splattered oil, grease, spills, and burning food can all cause fires in the kitchen. Poor cooking methods like deep-frying frozen foods and using the cooking equipment for heating the house increase the risk of a house fire.
2. Heating equipment. Everyone wants to keep warm in winter. However, using poorly installed heating equipment, turning up the heat, leaving heating equipment unattended, using dirty or faulty heating equipment, using the wrong equipment for heating the house, and carelessly leaving flammable materials near the heat source are all possible causes of heater fires in the house. According to the National Fire Protection Association, 14 percent of total house fires are linked to heating equipment.
3. Electrical wiring and gadgets. Poor wiring, overloaded electrical plugs, poorly maintained electrical cords, dangerous use of electrical appliances, uncontrolled surges, damaged, frayed, or exposed wires are some of the things that increase your risk of fire damage. According to NFPA, 7 percent of house fires are linked to electrical equipment and wiring.
4. Smoking. Smoking causes 5 percent of total home fires in the US annually, destroying approximately 17,000 home structures. Before you drop that cigarette butt to the ground, light that pipe or cigar, think about what it could do if it came into contact with the wrong material.
5. Candles. Candles start 21 home fires every day, with the number rising around Christmas. Where you place your candle, how long you let it burn and how you let it burn can bring the entire house structure down. A pet can trip on a candle and cause a fire. Also, when the candle burns out, it can send flames to the combustible material around or beneath.

High-Risk Zones for Home Fire and Smoke Damage

A home fire can happen anywhere in the house and quickly spread to other areas. However, below are the zones where most fires tend to start.

1. Kitchen. Everybody loves the kitchen because that is where the food comes from. However, in the middle of frying, roasting, and operating your gas stove, the flames can spread to the nearest cloth, paper, wood, or even plastic. Most house fires in the US start in the kitchen.
2. Bedroom. The mattress is highly combustible. Charging gadgets while placing them on the bed, plugging too many appliances into the bedroom sockets, and smoking can cause a highly ravaging flame in the bedroom. In addition, smoke from other rooms always finds its way through the bedroom door and windows, causing damage to your clothing and other valuables.
3. Living room. This is where you spend most of your time during the day. While charging your gadgets, heating the house, enjoying the recreational fire, a romantic candle-lit evening, or smoking, you may end up setting the entire living room ablaze.
4. Backyard. Dry leaves, grass, wood, plants, and other organic materials in the lawn easily serve as fuel. Something as small as hot ashes, a cigarette butt that is not completely out, burning trash, or spills from the grill in the backyard could cause a fire that leaves you with massive structural damage in your home. Being in the open field, air will quickly push smoke particles and flames of fire to the house through any opening such as the window, doors, and any hole or gaps on the walls.
5. Basement. Electric cables run in the hidden parts of the basement, and if by bad luck a rodent finds it and starts chewing in secret, it can raze down your entire house. A small fire in the basement can quickly spread to the living space and cause smoke damage.

Tips for Protecting Your Home From Fire Damage

Your home is sacred; it keeps all your secrets and carries all your memories. Your childhood memories, family photos, certificates of achievements are all preserved in your home. Losing all these suddenly is a loss that you may never recover from. Just the same way your house protects you and your precious moments from bad weather, you need to protect the structure from fire damage. Fire damage will often result in both smoke damage and water damage. The toxic chemicals used to put out fires and water damage that firefighters leave behind can cause additional damage to the structural integrity of your home and the destruction of personal property. On the other hand, the smoke odor affects air quality and causes various respiratory diseases, especially to the young and elderly members of the family. Having looked at how and where most home fires start, we can now look at five tips to protect your home from fire damage.

1.Practice Fire Safety Habits

To prevent kitchen fires, do not leave the stove burning unattended. Do not be an absentee chef since the food can spill or burn while you are away. After cooking, clean the kitchen of any spills. Always keep a heavy metal lid and B-class fire extinguisher nearby to prevent any fire from spreading. If a fire starts in the kitchen, turn it off immediately but remember your safety comes first.

If you have a smoker in the house, they should find a safe smoking zone far away from flammable materials or gas.

When using the fireplace, ensure a safe screen to prevent the embers from touching the floor. In addition, ensure the ashes are completely cold before you go to dispose of them. Remember to use the right equipment for heating the house, and avoid using cooking equipment such as the oven for this purpose.

To prevent electrical fires, avoid overloading your ports or passing the cables under rugs or carpets. Replace all damaged wires and ensure you keep the electrical gadgets clean. In the bedroom, avoid using electric blankets. Keep flammable materials away from heat sources and also try using safer alternatives such as a flameless candle. Further, it is recommended that you keep paint tubes upside down, store gasoline in the right containers, and keep all flammable materials out of reach of children.

If you are trapped inside a burning house, wear protective clothing such as wet blankets to cover yourself as you find your way to the nearest exit. If not, lock the doors and block any openings to prevent small particles of smoke or flames from passing through.

2. Use the right equipment to extinguish the fire

An approved B-class extinguisher can put out most house fires. Keep one extinguisher on all floors, in the kitchen, outside the bedrooms, and in the living area.  However, if the fire is small or you do not have the right equipment, cover small kitchen fires with a heavy metal lid or use baking soda or salt. Never use water to put out a fire as it contains oxygen that can increase the heat or flames.

3. Ensure the Smoke Detectors Are Always in Working Condition

Fire damage happens when you least expect it. A romantic candle-lit dinner or a playing pet can trigger a house fire and damage your property in an instant. However, you can constantly do something to ensure that such tragedy does not catch you unawares. Replace the smoke detector after 10 years and opt for newer models that detect both smoke, carbon monoxide, and heat. Test your smoke alarms monthly and replace batteries when needed.

4. Tips To Minimize Further Damage

A trained professional must do all electrical or heating installations to prevent any faults—schedule regular inspections to ensure that your house is ready for a fire outbreak. Keep the stove and dryer clean and keep combustible materials such as curtains, fuel material, paper, and clothing at least 3 feet away from heat sources.

5. Always Be Ready

Even with the highest level of preparedness, your property can still catch fire. If a fire breaks out, escape to a safe place immediately and teach every member of your family how to respond to a disaster by conducting regular fire drills. Always leave the emergency fire exit points clear for faster escape.

Call the Fire Department for Help.

Everybody needs to know the number to call in case of a fire emergency. Call 911 immediately, and give an accurate address to your home. Keep the line open in case of any updates. If you cannot access a portable phone, ask your neighbor for help.

Arizona Construction & Restoration (ACR) is your go-to fire damage restoration partner.

After the fire is extinguished, the pervasive smoke odor will be lingering everywhere on the building materials and clothing. The burned structure will have char and probably dangerous heat that could keep destroying the structural integrity of your home. In addition, the acidic soot will cause further damage to all the affected surfaces, sometimes leaving permanent stains on your valuable items. You may need specialized equipment and a professional damage restoration crew to help you deal with the aftermath, especially to remove soot and smoke residue from the walls and restore water damage caused by the fire.

Arizona Construction & Restoration is one of the highly-rated restoration companies in Arizona. Our holistic fire damage restoration process will often begin with cleaning debris from the property and ends with an inspection of the house to guarantee your safety. The process involves replacing burned structures that are beyond repair, removing smoke odors from surfaces and personal belongings. In addition, our highly trained fire restoration crew will help you assess the damage caused by the fire to have an accurate cost when claiming the insurance company, restore furniture,  remove any standing water in the property to control mold growth, and restore the property to its pre-fire condition.

Arizona Construction & Restoration Company is highly rated for:

• Fast response
• BBB A+ rating
• Available 24/7
• 37+ years of experience

Call our professional restoration company on (480) 531-6862 today for quick-fire damage restoration services.