Liberty Mutual Reminds Homeowners of Simple Fire Safety Tips During Annual Fire Prevention Week
BOSTON - Each year, fire kills an average of 4,200 Americans and injures another 25,000. Yet, homeowners can avert tragedy by taking steps to eliminate common fire hazards in their home. For one week a year, Fire Prevention Week (October 9-15, 2005) reminds us all to turn our attention to keeping our homes -- and lives -- safe from fire.
“Prevention means taking action to remove the dangers from your home,” said Tim Sweeney, senior vice president, Personal Market, for Liberty Mutual Group, the seventh-largest home insurer in the U.S. “Far too many lives and homes are lost in this country because of inattention to fire hazards.”
Liberty Mutual offers the following tips to help you get started now and throughout the year.
1. Have working smoke alarms on every level of your home. Test them
monthly, and change the batteries once a year. It will cut your chance
of dying in a fire by nearly half.
2. Never leave cooking food on a stovetop unattended. Cooking fires are
the number-one cause of home fires and home fire injuries.
3. Never leave burning candles unattended or near combustible materials.
Home fires caused by candles have nearly doubled in the past decade.
4. Replace or repair loose or frayed cords on all electrical devices.
Unsafe electrical wiring is the cause of more than 40,000 home fires
each year.
5. Keep portable heaters at least three feet away from all combustible
materials. Heating equipment is the leading cause of home fires in
December, January and February.
6. Keep matches, lighters and candles out of the reach of children.
Children ages five and under are twice as likely as others to die in a
fire.
7. Develop and practice a home escape plan.
8. Only use a fire extinguisher after all others are out of the house, and
only if you have received training on how to safely and properly use
one.
9. Alert everyone to leave your home immediately...call 911 or your fire
department from outside, either from a cell phone or a neighbor’s
house.
10. Never re-enter a burning house to retrieve pets or personal
belongings.
About Liberty Mutual
Boston-based Liberty Mutual (http://www.libertymutual.com/) is one of the largest multi-line insurers in the property and casualty industry. The company is the eighth-largest provider of personal lines insurance in the U.S., and sells full lines of coverage for homeowners, automobile, valuable possessions and personal liability through more than 370 local sales offices, two call centers, payroll deduction, and direct billing to more than 8,500 participating companies and associations. Liberty Mutual today employs nearly 38,000 people in nearly 900 offices worldwide.