Household fire is the most common type of fire around the world. Household fire usually starts from a single source and engulfs items and combustible material around it. The fire tend to spread in the matter of seconds as household is packed with combustible materials.
A brief explanation of fire:
Fire requires 3 element to start burning. The 3 elements include oxygen, heat & fuel. For instance, cooking gas is a form of fuel and with sparks and oxygen, it will start to burn. Fire will not happen without any of the element as mentioned above.
Common Causes of Household Fire
1.) Cooking Stove
This number one cause of household fire is very common. Cooking gas leakage, overheating of cooking oil usually will cause household fire and it engulfs the kitchen cabinets and other combustible material around the stove. Intense heating of oven will also causes extreme heat. With the extreme heat, gas cylinder near the oven may explode and cause household fire. Paying extra attention and equip your kitchen with a smoke alarm & fire extinguisher is the best way to avoid household fire. The fire extinguisher must be placed in a visible yet accessible places to allow users to react to fire situation swiftly. Usually, fire extinguisher is placed near the exit of the kitchen.
2.) Decorative Lighting
Decorative lighting is often used to decorate for special occasions or to celebrate holidays seasons. However, these lighting can be a fire hazard due to wiring problems and quality issue. Decorative lighting which starts to burn will diffuse poisonous smoke and it will bring harm and fatal to human. Ensuring the decorative lighting is turned off when you go to bed or leaving your house. The lighting should not be left unattended. In the event of fire, switch off the electric of your lighting and discharge your fire extinguisher on the lighting or covering it using a fire blanket.
3.) Smoking
Smoking at home often causes household fire. Cigarettes which is left unattended in the ashtray or not ensuring the cigarette butt is fully extinguished will lead to household fire. Cigarette's ash which is dropped on a carpet may start burning too. This will quickly lead to a large fire if not extinguishing it immediately. To avoid this, smoking outdoor is the best solution and ensuring the cigarette butts are fully extinguished.
4.) Candles
Lighting up candles has been a trend lately in household. Most fire incidents is due to the negligence and leaving the candle unattended. Numerous flammable material near the lit-candle can spread the fire in the matter of seconds and hence engulfing the whole house. Candle should not be placed on a flammable material such as sofas or near curtains. Equipping a fire extinguisher near the exit of your house may save lives and also countering situations like this.
5.) Faulty Wiring & Power Overloading
Electricity which is very helpful to human tend to be dangerous. Overloading a power point may cause the wire of the power point to overheat and causing massive fire and even explosion. Short-circuits may also happen if the household wiring is faulty. The rubber insulation of wires will be engulfed in flames and it will diffuse hazardous smoke. This smoke is very toxic and it is harmful and fatal to human. Ensuring the power point is not overloaded and perform checkup on the household wire is important to avoid these type of fire.
Fire extinguisher plays a very important role in household to combat these kind of situations. Fire extinguisher should be placed in locations which is visible, accessible and away from heating source to ensure that it will come in-handy in emergency situations like these.