The Most Common Incidents That Spark House Fires | SERVPRO® of Greater Boulder

5/19/2023 (Permalink)

When fire disaster strikes, call SERVPRO of Greater Boulder to help get your home or business back in action.

No one wants to think about experiencing a house fire. They can be minor inconveniences or can be widespread enough to cause life-altering damage. In fact, more than 350,000 homes suffer damages due to house fires every year in the United States.

In order to keep your family safe and property intact, it is important to understand the most common locations and situations that spark house fires. Once you are armed with this knowledge, you can make simple changes around your home to reduce your house fire risk.

Kitchen Accidents

Half of all house fires start in the kitchen. That shouldn’t be too surprising since we all use heat and flame to cook our food almost every day.

When heat, flammable material or grease come together, a dangerous fire situation can occur without much forewarning.

When you are making your family a meal, do not leave the kitchen. Even if you only want to step away for a minute, that’s all it takes for a wandering spark to catch a towel on fire or for a grease fire to erupt. While you are in the kitchen, try to keep anything flammable far away from the flames or heat, and keep a lid nearby that you can quickly throw over a fire to snuff it out.

Electrical Malfunctions

Electrical fires often happen with no advanced notice. If you have faulty appliances or worn-out electrical wiring, you might not know until the flames are spreading throughout your room. Older homes are usually more vulnerable to electrical fires due to the age of the wiring behind the walls, but any home’s electrical box can become overwhelmed or malfunction.

In addition, lightning strikes can also impact your home. If a lightning bolt hits your house and travels down through your electrical current to reach the ground, the heat it produces can start an electrical fire that can quickly make its way through your house.

Heat- and Smoke-Related Incidents

Thankfully, we are on the upswing in terms of warmer weather right now, but space heaters and portable heaters also hold a significant fire risk. You should never leave them plugged in overnight or in a room that you are not in. A child or pet can easily overturn one and start a fire immediately.

Fires caused by cigarettes are often fatal and can cause disastrous effects for the whole family. Try not to smoke in your house, and certainly do not smoke in bed or when you are tired. Falling asleep while a cigarette is lit can be dangerous for your entire sleeping family.

No matter how your house fire starts, SERVPRO of Greater Boulder is here to help. We will quickly assess the damage and work hard to return your home to its preloss condition with ease and efficiency.

We can help you recover from a house fire. Contact us at SERVPRO of Greater Boulder.