Preventing Pet Fires in your Springfield Home

2/15/2022 (Permalink)

Protect your pet by preventing home fires in your Springfield home.

For many homeowners their pets are considered part of the family. You might be surprised at how much damage your beloved pet can cause to your home and property.

According to the National Fire Protection Association nearly 1,000 home fires are started each year by the homeowner’s pets, this affects over 500,000 pets.  The AKC and ADT Security offer some tips we thought they would be good to share:

• Extinguish Open Flames- Pets are generally curious and will investigate cooking appliances, candles, or even a fire in your fireplace. Ensure your pet is not left unattended around an open flame and make sure to thoroughly extinguish any open flame before leaving your home.
• Remove Stove Knobs- Be sure to remove stove knobs or protect them with covers before leaving the house - a stove or cook top is the number one piece of equipment involved in your pet starting a fire.
• Invest in Flameless Candles- These candles contain a light bulb rather than an open flame, and take the danger out of your pet knocking over a candle. Cats are notorious for starting fires when their tails turn over lit candles.
• Secure Young Pets - keep them confined away from potential fire-starting hazards when you are away from home such as in crates or behind baby gates in secure areas.

There are other ways to help prepare for such disasters, it’s a good idea to include your pets in your family emergency plan.  Discuss your plan with your family members and determine who is responsible for grabbing your pets during an emergency. Always keep collars on your pets in case firefighter need to rescue your pet.  When leaving your pet home alone, keep them in areas near the entrances of your home.  A pet alert window cling is a good idea, you can identify the number of pets in your home. Sometimes even with all the preparation and planning in place mishaps happen.

At SERVPRO of Springfield/Greene County each year we see many home disasters caused from these cute little furry family members that we all love. From cats turning on water faucets to dogs jumping up and turning on the stove burners, if this happens to your family rest assured the professionals at SERVPRO of Springfield/Greene County know what to do, call us 24/7/365 days a year at 417-865-7711.