Top 10 Fire Safety Tips for Chicago Homeowners

Unlike David Letterman’s

popular Top 10 lists

, there’s nothing funny about the following 10 fire prevention tips.

These useful strategies, from the fire damage restoration professionals at ServiceMaster Restoration by Simons, could spare you the devastating effects of a house fire. Carefully review the tips, discuss them with your family over dinner, and put them into action.

10. Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home. Test the alarms monthly, keep them free of dust, and replace their batteries at least once a year.

9. Place fire extinguishers near high-risk areas, such as the kitchen. Review the instructions and teach your family members how to use them.

8. Give the pots and pans on the stove your undivided attention when cooking. If the telephone rings or a family member needs assistance, shut the stove off and remove the pot or pan from the heat.

7 .Follow all manufacturers’ safety precautions for large and small appliances. Immediately shut off and unplug appliances that sputter, spark or emit an unusual odor. Replace them or have them professionally repaired.

6. Smoke outside and douse cigarette butts with water before disposing of them.

5. Switch from traditional candles, among the most common sources of home fires, to battery operated ones.

4. Refrain from placing extension cords under rugs, over nails or in high-traffic areas, and replace when them they’re worn or frayed. Use one plug per receptacle.

3. Secure a sturdy metal screen in front of a wood-burning fireplace to prevent hot ash from escaping. Let ashes cool before disposing of them in a metal container.

2. Keep anything combustible at least 3-ft. away from portable space heaters and shut them off before leaving the room or going to bed.

And the number one fire safety tip for Chicago homeowners... (drumroll)

1. Inspect and maintain the primary heating source in your home, whether it’s a gas or oil-fired furnace, wood stove, or electric baseboard heating.

If you’re the unfortunate victim of a devastating house fire and you live in the Chicago area, call the compassionate and highly skilled

fire damage restoration professionals

at ServiceMaster Restoration by Simons. Using the industry’s most advanced products, equipment and procedures available, we’ll get you and your household back to normal as quickly as possible.

Contact us today

!