Key Fire Safety Tips
- Watch your cooking
- Stay in the kitchen especially when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you must leave, even for a short time, turn off the stove.
- The number one cause of house fires is unattended cooking.
- Download a cooking safety flyer
- Give space heaters space
- Keep fixed and portable heaters at least three feet from anything that can burn. Turn off space heaters when you leave the room or go to sleep.
- Smoke outside
- Ask smokers to smoke outside. Have sturdy, deep ashtrays to discard smoking materials.
How to Prevent Wildfires and Protect Your Home
Your first defense against wildfire is to create and maintain a defensible space around your home. This does not mean your yard and landscaping need to be empty.
A defensible space is an area where the vegetation helps to slow the rate and intensity of an advancing wildfire. That gives firefighters and other responders more time extinguish the flames and protect your home, the land, and animals nearby. It will also give you more time and exit options if you ever receive an evacuation order.
Wildfire Preparedness To-Do List
- Rake and remove dry leaves, pine needles, and dry brush 5 feet from the home, as well as under decks, porches, sheds and play structures.
- Remove leaves and needles from roofs and gutters.
- Sweep porches and decks clear of any burnable plant material.
- Move firewood piles at least 30 feet from the house, preferably uphill.
- Transfer items under decks or porches to a storage area.
- Cover any exposed eave or attic vents with 1/8-inch metal mesh screening.
- Ensure home address signs are clearly visible from the street.
- Register for Riley County Emergency Notifications and encourage your friends, family and neighbors to do the same.
- Confirm at least one alternate path out of your neighborhood other than the one most commonly used and be prepared for potential evacuation requiring the alternative route.
Insurance Services Office (ISO) and Public Protection Classification (PPC™ ) Information
To help establish appropriate fire insurance premiums for residential and commercial properties, insurance companies may access up-to-date information about a community’s fire-protection services by visiting https://www.verisk.com/insurance/products/location-fire-protection/