If your home is to ever catch on fire, the best thing you can do for yourself and your home is to be prepared. You need to know and understand the dangers of fire, and you must have a plan if something is to ever happen. According to American Strategic Insurance the six steps to preparing yourself for a house fire are the following:

• Install smoke alarms outside bedrooms on each level of your home. - Make sure they are located away from air vents.
• Test the alarms regularly and change batteries at least once a year. - Never disable or remove smoke alarm batteries.
• Develop a fire escape plan and practice with small children.
• Review all ways to exit each room of the house.
• Make sure safety bars on windows can be opened from inside your home.
• Escape the dwelling first and call for emergency assistance.

Once you are prepared, you must practice prevention measures throughout your home. You should never let your guard down when it comes to practicing safety measures, because one slip up can be a disaster.  American Strategic Insurance has also provided the following nine fire safety tips to follow in your home.

• Replace space heaters with central heat.
• Never leave cooking unattended.
• Keep flammables and combustibles away from stove burners and other heat sources.
• Turn off all appliances before going to bed or leaving the house.
• Never overload an electrical socket.
• Don’t use appliances with frayed cords or wires.
• Never leave burning items unattended. For example: cigarettes, candles, or fire places.
• Keep up with chimney cleaning maintenance and use metal mesh screen while fire is burning.
• Keep lighters and matches out of the reach of children

         The previous steps are just a guideline to help you  prepare for the worst, but please never forget to use good judgement in case of emergency. If you have any questions about fire coverage on your home, please do not hesitate to ask.