What you can do to protect your home from a fire

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130)- Three people were tragically killed in an apartment fire in Port Hardy last week, a fire destroyed a North Vancouver home just before Christmas, and one man in Burnaby is dead after a house fire early this morning. So what can you do to make sure that your home is safe?

Captain Gabe Roder with Vancouver Fire Prevention says the cause of the fire in Port Hardy is the number one cause of fires in most homes. “The number one cause of fires in homes on a regular basis is kitchen fires. Most of those fires are caused by people who leave pots on stoves who leave and forget that the pots are on there and unfortunately that can create large house fires”.

Its cold this time of year, and to deal with the chill many people use space heaters to warm up their homes, Captain Roder says this can affect the likelihood of a fire in your home. “This time of year, particularly with the colder weather, what we are finding is that people are tending to use appliances that are heat oriented. They use heaters that they plug into walls and on top of that they run fires. So people need to be extra cautious this time of year that all of those appliances are in working order”. He adds that you should never use space heaters to dry socks, towels, or gloves and make sure nothing that can catch fire is too close to the heater.

You should also test your smoke alarm once a month to make sure it is in working order, and replace the batteries once a year.