Step inside the devastation left by a home fire to see what can happen when a blaze engulfs a house, what you can do to prevent home fires, and what to do if there is a fire in your home.
Every year, people die in house fires. Sadly, most household fires are preventable.
Losing your home to fire is a devastating experience with huge emotional and financial costs.
Watch this short video to find out how you can prevent a fire at home.
A small fire can engulf an entire room in two to three minutes, leaving little time to escape.
Make sure everyone in your household knows what to do:
To extinguish a person’s clothing that has caught fire, follow these steps.
If a person’s clothing catches on fire they should immediately stop where they are. Running will fan the flames.
They should then drop to the ground immediately.
Once on the ground the person should cover their face with their hands to prevent burns to the face and stop smoke entering the respiratory system.
To assist a person with burning clothing roll them back and forth on the ground, or smother the flames with a fire blanket. Never beat the fire as this only increases oxygen flow, causing it to grow.
Smoke alarms can improve your safety as they will alert you if a fire has started in your home and give you time to escape.
It’s recommended that you put a smoke alarm in every room, outside each bedroom and on every level of your home and have them interconnected.
You should never try to put out a fire if it could put your or anyone else’s life at risk.
Fire blankets and fire extinguishers can be used to put out small fires at home.
If you attempt to extinguish a fire: