Bringing a new baby into the family is the perfect time to review home fire safety and UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) is reminding new and soon-to-be parents to add these three life-saving tasks to their babyproofing checklist:
Install and Test Smoke Alarms
Having working smoke alarms in the home gives you the earliest warning possible that there is a fire, so you can get out of your home quickly and safely. Roughly three out of five home fire deaths occur in households with no working smoke alarms or no smoke alarms at all, which is why it’s important that smoke alarms are installed on every level of the home including the basement, as well as in every sleeping room and outside each separate sleeping area.
If you already have smoke alarms installed in your house, it’s important to check the battery – you don’t want that chirp from a low battery waking up your baby! To test the smoke alarms, push and hold the test button on the alarm. If working properly, you’ll hear a series of loud beeps. If the sound is weak or no sound comes out, it’s time to replace the batteries, or the whole device if it is a sealed-battery alarm. In addition, if smoke alarms are more than 10 years old, install new alarms and look for products that are third-party listed or certified.
Create A Fire Escape Plan
If there is a fire in your home, there won’t be time to plan a way out in the moment – especially now that you need to get yourself and the baby out. Create an escape plan for your home and practice it with your family so you’re ready for a fire emergency. Make sure your Fire Escape Plan includes a plan A, B and C:
- Plan A: Exit your home through the closest door, close the door behind you and go to your meeting place. Then call 9-1-1 and make sure the fire department knows if/when everyone is out.
- Plan B: When you can’t safely escape through the closest door, use an alternate exit such as a window and if you can, close the window/door behind you as you leave. Then go to your meeting place and call 9-1-1.
- Plan C: If you can’t get out, get behind a closed door, turn on the light and call 9-1-1, telling the dispatcher where you are inside the home.
Close Before You Doze
Whether the baby is sleeping in your room or their own room, always Close Before You Doze. A closed door can be an effective barrier against deadly levels of carbon monoxide, smoke and flames, and may give you more time to respond to the smoke alarm. In fact, there can be a 900-degree Fahrenheit temperature difference between a room with an open door and one with a closed door. While a room with an open door may reach 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, a room with a closed door may only reach 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Recent surveys indicate many parents sleep with their doors open to hear their kids, which we understand but the fire safety risk is too high. Baby monitors are a great way to stay connected so you can still see and hear the baby while you are both in your rooms with your doors closed.
Implementing these three simple fire safety steps into your babyproofing plan will help mitigate the risk of life threatening fire situations and help ease your mind as you welcome your new baby into the home.
