6 Surprising Causes of Home Fires

1/5/2018 (Permalink)

At SERVPRO, we always treat your family with the greatest empathy and respect, and we’ll treat your property with great care.

Home fires are incredibly scary to think about. In the most unsuspecting of times, homeowners must act quickly to protect their loved ones, their pets, and their most cherished home items. Unfortunately, in the United States nearly 4,000 people are killed each year from fires, that number is more than all natural disasters combined. In fact, approximately every minute and a half a new home fire is reported throughout the country, as reported National Fire Protection Association. While most people think of home fires as something that would never happen to them, the reality is that these occurrences strike far too many families across the nation. Fire damage is a serious problem, even for the smallest of home fires. As such, the ability to prevent a home fire from happening in the first place is absolutely critical.

Most people think that common fire starters like candles and cooking make up the majority of home fires. Nevertheless, it is important to be educated on all kinds of causes in order to prevent fires from starting in the first place. Some of the more surprising causes of home fires are as follows:

1. Dishwashers: many people believe that since dishwashers have water in them they are incapable of causing a fire. However, the motor and heating elements in a dishwasher make it a potentially dangerous appliance.
2. Jars: ant kind of glass object has the potential to catch fire from the reflection of the sun, so flammable liquids should not be stored in glass jars or glass containers of any kind.
3. Outdated Appliances: old appliances have a tendency of having faulty wires and thus cause unexpected fires.
4. Circuit Breakers: if the wiring in a circuit breaker is old or faulty it make catch fire.
5. Smoke Detectors: even though smoke detectors are there to help in the event of a fire, they can actually catch fire on their own if they are malfunctioning. Make sure that your smoke detectors is not missing any batteries or malfunctioning in any way.
6. Children Playing: when kids begin to experiment with things like lighters and matches, accidents tend to occur. Children should be kept far away from matches, lighters, and candles.

Fire damage can be devastating for you and your family. Feelings of confusion and stress are common, and you need a caring expert to guide you through this crisis. At SERVPRO, we always treat your family with the greatest empathy and respect, and we’ll treat your property with great care.