Insider Secrets From a Former Fire Chief

Done using the can? Turn off the bathroom fan

Bathroom fans can build up dust over time. If it’s kept running for long enough, the little electric motor can overheat, especially the older ones, and that’s a bathroom fire waiting to happen. These vents are easy enough to clean — just remove the cover and run a vacuum hose over it for a minute or two, making sure you’ve got all the dust and dirt out of there. 

Even if you’re doing that every few months, that doesn’t mean you can just flip on the bathroom fan and forget about it. Make it a habit to turn off the fan every time you leave the bathroom. And if you notice the exhaust fan is making a lot of noise or working harder than usual, it might mean the motor is starting to overheat. Contact an electrician and have them check it out.

Get yourself a few fire blankets

A fire blanket is made of fire-resistant materials like woven fiberglass and can be an incredibly powerful tool. A fire blanket doesn’t make a mess like most fire extinguishers do, and many (though not all) are reusable. Keep a fire blanket in the kitchen and near the backyard grill. If something flares up or you inadvertently use too much lighter fluid, just throw a fire blanket over the flames to quickly smother the blaze. You can find them online or at multiple retailers for around $35.   

Don’t sleep with your phone

Nearly 75 percent of baby boomers sleep with our phones within arm’s reach. I’m not going to lecture you about the psychological damage of co-sleeping with a phone, because that’s not my area of expertise. But I do know a thing or two about fire, and a phone — or any electronic device you might use in bed, like a laptop or an iPad — can heat up pretty fast, especially if it’s plugged in. It’s designed to sit on a hard surface so that it’s ventilated all the way around. But if you’re in bed with it, and it’s tucked under your comforter, and maybe you’ve got a heating blanket, too, you’re starting to build a lot of heat inside that device that it is not designed for. If you must keep it next to you at night, put it on a hard surface like a nightstand or dresser. 

Close your bedroom door at night

Hopefully, you have smoke detectors not just in your bedrooms but also in the hallways. If it goes off and your bedroom door is closed, that’ll give you some time to escape: probably around 20 minutes for a hollow-core door before it starts burning through the door. If you have something more substantial, like a solid core door, that could give you up to an hour. But even the cheapest door will buy you a good 20 minutes. Additionally, a closed door slows down a fire’s spread by limiting the amount of oxygen it’s getting. The fire is still growing, just not as quickly as when all the doors are open and it’s got an airflow to help it grow. If you can get out through a window, that’s ideal, but if you’re on a second story or higher, make sure to feel the door to see if it’s hot. If it’s still cool to the touch, you can peek out and see if it’s safe to make an escape.

Most home fires still start in the kitchen

Back when I started as a firefighter, most house fires were started by cigarettes. But that’s changed in recent years due to declines in smoking and because we’ve started using noncombustible upholstery. Today, almost half of all residential fires begin in the kitchen. A lot of times, someone left something on the stove and forgot about it. But it could also be a loose, flowy shirt sleeve that gets too close to the stove’s burner. Or somebody cleans a kitchen counter with a paper towel, then leaves the towel next to the burners without thinking. I’ve heard of houses that went up in flames because of something so innocuous you’d never think it could be a danger, like drapes in a kitchen window that get kicked up by a breeze and hit a range oven at the right angle at the wrong time. One spark is all it takes.

Don’t touch your oven’s self-clean button without checking inside first

There’s a notorious story shared among firefighters about a fire station where they were cooking a Thanksgiving turkey and somebody accidentally switched on the self-cleaning option. When that happens, the oven door locks, and temperatures reach 800°F to 900°F. The turkey caught fire, and it was absolutely chaotic. It’s an important reminder that even fire professionals need to pay attention when they’re in the kitchen.

When you use the self-cleaning cycle, it’s important to thoroughly check inside your oven first to remove big chunks of food, melted cheese or anything else that could catch fire. Given that the self-cleaning function works by heating the oven to a temperature high enough to burn all of the splattered food and grease from the inside, not using that function is definitely the safest option. However, if you intend to use this function, be sure nothing is in the oven, wipe up any excess oil from food, and use it per the manufacturer’s instructions. Run the exhaust fan over your stove and open any nearby windows and doors, as your stove will smoke up a little even when the self-clean is done properly.

Make sure everybody knows the fire exit strategy — including your neighbors

I encourage everyone to have an exit drill in their home and to talk to their whole family about what to do and where to go in the case of a fire emergency. When a fire happens, panic takes over, but if you already know where you’re going and how to get out as quickly and safely as possible, you won’t have to think, “Where do I go? What should I do?” 

Doing a practice run with everyone is not a bad idea, so there are no surprises. It’s especially important as you get older to think about not just how you’re going to get out quickly but also safely. Are there stairs that you can navigate in the dark? Make sure your exit paths aren’t blocked with boxes or other tripping hazards. Are you familiar with how to unlock the doors in a hurry? Is there someone near to help you? If you live in an apartment building, you should talk to your neighbors about what to do in a fire evacuation, and how to help each other, especially if you have limited mobility and need assistance.

Run your dishwasher when you’re nearby

In general, most electrical appliances are fine to run at night while you sleep. But there are always exceptions. Just last year, a woman from Kansas shared on TikTok and with the local media that her dishwasher malfunctioned during the night when she and her family were asleep, and they woke up to find it engulfed in flames. This isn’t all that typical, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of the realm of possibility. All appliances, whether it’s a dishwasher or washing machine or anything else, always run the risk of breaking down, and you definitely want to be close by if it happens. And not just because of the fire hazard; a malfunctioning dishwasher can cause a water leak, which can flood the inside of your house. If you’re asleep or away from home, you won’t be around to shut off the water and stop the leak before it does a lot of damage.

Your garage might be a minefield of potential fires

There are so many hazards inside our garages because we tend to use them to store flammables like paint thinners, solvents and gasoline. If you have a gas mower, that’s something else just adding to the fumes. All it takes is one spark and you’ve got an inferno on your hands. A lot of homes have water heaters in the garage, and that can be a source of ignition for any type of flammable vapor. Either invest in an electric water heater, or if you’re stuck with gas, make sure it’s at least 18 inches above the floor, so the vapors from spilled flammable liquids have a chance to evaporate. Also, if you use your garage to store anything with lithium batteries, like household tools, toys or garden appliances, make sure they’re not being charged continuously, as this can cause them to overheat. Charge them before you need to use them, but never leave them plugged in.