Three easy steps for a safer home:
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Look for the Make Life Safer (Blue) Tag when buying new furniture.
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Follow the latest family fire safety tips below.
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Sign up for free quarterly safety reminders.
UFAC texts will keep you updated about advances in family fire safety:
- Smoke alarm technology. There are now different types of alarms for different settings in your home. There are also long-life batteries, so you don’t have to remember to change batteries twice a year.
- Electrical fire safety. You can install protective devices in your circuit breaker panel to protect against short circuits and arc faults.
- Kitchen fire safety. Cooking is, by far, the leading cause of all residential building fires and injuries. Learn how to minimize the risks.
Protect your family.
Explore our Family Fire Safety pages and implement what you learn.
Most people think that fires cannot happen to them, but fires are more common than most people believe.
Every year, there are an average of 364,000 fires in the United States. Fires cause 2,400 deaths, 11,000 injuries, and $6.5 billion in property loss annually.*
Fire safety has changed greatly since UFAC began advocating for consumers 45 years ago. There are many new ways to protect yourself and your family from disaster.
In these Family Fire Safety pages, we’ll walk you through easy household tips, like cleaning your dryer’s lint trap, and essential fire safety information like how to choose and install smoke alarms. Learn how to spot an arc fault, why you should never overload a socket, and just how often you’re supposed to check your smoke alarms.
Push the button on your smoke alarm to start your home fire drill. Practice what to do in case there is smoke. Get low and go. Get out fast.
How do fires start?
Fires involving cooking equipment account for an estimated 71% of residential fires annually. Fire departments estimate that they respond to an average of 188,800 cooking fires each year in residential buildings throughout the US.
Kitchen fires lead to an average of 195 deaths, 3,800 injuries, and $463 million in property loss annually.
The second-largest cause of fire ignitions in the home are heating and cooling equipment fires, with an estimated 12.6%. Electrical distribution equipment, such as lighting or wiring, is reported to cause 3.7% of fires annually.
Cigarettes and other smoking materials make up 2.8% of the total estimated non-equipment-related residential fires. Cigarette lighters cause 2.4% of residential fires and candles ignite 1.6% of the total estimated residential fires.
Fire spreads quickly. A fire can burn through cabinets, floors, walls, insulation, as well as interior furnishings, such as draperies, furniture, mattresses, dressers, and clothing.
