Did you know that around 80% of all burns occurs in or around the home? They’re totally preventable in both adults and children! Getting burned is a traumatic experience both physically and mentally, so be cautious and stay safe.
Burn prevention tips from Monitronics
* Keep water heater temperature at 120 degrees Fahrenheit or lower
* Don’t cook at the stove with kids underfoot
* Turn handles of pots toward the back of the store and don’t leave pots unattended
* Never pour hot liquids while holding a child
* Check temperature of bath water before placing a child in it and don’t ever leave a child unattended in the tub
* Put matches and lighters in unreachable or locked location
* Keep key out of the gas control and put a heavy cover in front of the fireplace
* Use safety plugs in electrical outlets
* Avoid chemical burns by moving all dangerous products to an unreachable place
* Slather on the sunscreen when outside
* Install smoke alarms in multiple locations around the house (each floor and bedroom) and test monthly
* Candles are dangerous. Don’t leave them unattended.
Posted in: Home Security, Tuesday tip
I live in a gated community in Dallas, Texas, and I have to admit, I don’t really know my neighbors. There’s Dixie and what’s-his-name who live next door, Mark something down the street, and those two women with the SUVs at the end of the street. It’s a little sad.
Experts tell us that while a monitored security system a front-line defense against crimes like burglary and home invasion, we should never underestimate the value of getting to know our neighbors.
First, there’s the familiarity factor. If everyone in the neighborhood knows who their neighbors are, they’re more likely to know who doesn’t belong, what looks fishy, and who to contact when there’s something suspicious. A moving truck in the McGregors’ driveway could mean a job transfer to another city, or a robbery in progress. An informed neighbor would know.
Second, there’s a sense of accountability that comes from knowing who lives nearby. You start to care because there’s a name with a face. Sometimes, we get so isolated in our houses that flames would have to be shooting out of a neighbor’s windows before we might think of calling the fire department. But if you know Bob and Janet live there, you’re likely to make that call much earlier.
Third, good neighbors help each other out. Going on a weekend trip? Ask them to watch the house and pick up the newspaper. You can do the same for them in the future.
Almost all of us have a list of excuses for not knowing our neighbors: we’re busy, they work different hours, their teenage son looks weird…None of them are very good. It only takes a few minutes to introduce yourself and say hello from time to time. The security payoff could be big and it’s just a nice thing to do.
Posted in: Home Security
Though they make the house smell good and go a long way in helping to create a holiday ambiance, candles are a chief source of house fires during the holiday season. Candles are the third leading cause of home fire injuries, and there are four times as many candle-related fire incidents during the holidays than at any other time of year. Instead of using lit candles, consider these creative alternatives.
Flameless candles
Powered by batteries, flameless candles give the appearance of lit, burning candles without the mess of dripping wax or danger of fire. They are available in a variety of scents and styles and can be safely placed near flammable decorations.
Reed diffusers
Another popular alternative these days, reed diffusers require no heat, batteries or flames and can emit a pleasant fragrance for months at a time.
If you do use lit candles this holiday season, make sure that the candle holders are not flammable, that candles are not placed near any decorations that could easily catch fire, and never leave them burning unattended.
Following these common sense tips can help keep your family from becoming one of the numerous fire statistics this holiday season. For additional protection of your house while you’re both home and away, consider a monitored smoke and fire alarm system from Monitronics. Call us at 800-290-0709 for more information.
Posted in: Home Security, Tuesday tip
This Thanksgiving, as you strain the gravy and carve the bird, take care to stand by your pan. U.S. firefighters responded to about1,300 home fires involving cooking equipment on Thanksgiving in 2007, roughly three times the daily average of cooking fires. If you’ve got something on the stove, don’t leave it unattended, even for a moment. Stand by your pan and stay safe from a stove fire.
Posted in: Home Security
What is security: Keeping my kids safe
North Texas resident Kristine Soto started using Monitronics long before she had children, but their arrival has given new purpose to her monitored alarm system. We asked her to explain what security means to her now. These are her words.
“When we moved into our house, it already had an alarm system in place, and we chose to use Monitronics to monitor it about five years ago, almost six. We really haven’t had any problem. When I leave a window open they are quick to call!
“But that was before we had children. What is important to me is keeping my family safe from predators and burglars. I have two boys who are four and three and they’re not old enough to say no to somebody if that person comes up with candy or special treats. They don’t really know the whole ‘say no to strangers’ thing. We don’t want anybody walking into our house and the alarm keeps that from happening.
Another big concern is fire. The kids are interested in matches now because they’ve seen me light the candle and seen me put the matches away. I have had to move them from the drawer where I kept them, but what if they found the matches and took them upstairs and were playing with them? This is why it’s so important to us that our smoke detectors are monitored. It just doesn’t take long for kids to figure things out. Our alarm system keeps us safe in a lot of ways.“
Posted in: Home Security, What Is Security?
It’s national Fire Prevention Week 2009 from October 4-10, a time to pay special attention to risks around our homes. According to the National Fire Protection Association, last year, fires caused more than $15.5 billion in directly property loss, with $8.6 billion of that being residential.
Many of those fires started in the bedroom, a place that’s designed for comfort and relaxation, but is no safe haven when it comes to home fires: Nearly 6,000 people die annually from bedroom fires, says the United States Fire Administration.
Sleep tight with these safety tips for the bedroom:
- Replace mattresses made before 2007 that don’t meet the new flammability standard.
- Never smoke in bed.
- Make sure that electric blankets, bed warmers, and space heaters are lab tested and do not have frayed electric cords.
- Operate space heaters at least three feet away from flammable objects, like curtains, clothes, bedspreads, sheets, and blankets.
- Keep matches, lighters and candles out of the reach of children. When children play with these items, they often do so in their bedrooms. This is especially critical during the holiday season when the number of house fires by children increases to a peak of 60 fires per day during mid-December.
- Routinely check under beds, in closets, and furniture in children’s rooms for lighters, burnt matches, or other signs that they might be playing with fire.
Posted in: Home Security
For one Palmyra, Tennessee, family, security means knowing they are protected from fire by a monitored alarm system. Lee and Cristina Szlosek left a comment on our website about their Monitronics security system and how it saved their lives. We called them for the whole story. These are Cristina’s words.
A fire that could have killed my family
“Monitronics saved my family from a fire that happened October 21, 2008, at 2:31 a.m. The house we lived in had a fireplace and we lit it up and went to bed. Around two in the morning, the smoke alarm went off and that’s what woke us up. I would have slept right through the fire without the alarm because I’m such a heavy sleeper. We went in the living room and there was smoke filling the room. It turns out the fire was between the walls.
“I thought my husband was joking with me—I was half asleep. But he was not. That fire was real. We got the two kids and the dog and got outside—Monitronics had called the fire department already. When we walked around the house we could see the flames had already melted the vinyl siding. It was a close call.
“If we wouldn’t have had that smoke detector and you all monitoring it, the Palmyra Tennessee Fire Department would have been picking up bodies that night. I don’t want to be in the house without an alarm system after something like that. You guys saved our lives.”
Posted in: Home Security, What Is Security?
