A house fire is nearly every homeowner’s worst nightmare, but fires take on extra peril when you have some family you can’t teach about the dangers ahead of time. Firefighters stress the importance of having a fire exit strategy that all family members know and have practiced before, but with your pets, that can be trickier. For National Pet Fire Safety Day, here are some tips to keep your pets safe.
Prevention
We should always follow safety instructions, keep our electricity up to date (and not overloaded), and know how to operate all our appliances safely. Besides not leaving grills, candles, and anything cooking unattended, there are some pet-specific first safety tips you should also keep in mind.
Experts recommend having a 3-foot “pet-free zone” around fireplaces, candles, space heaters, and anything else with an open flame. While most (but not all) pets will instinctively avoid touching a fire, they may get spooked and knock something over. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!
Some pets are chewers, especially when they’re young. Keep cords out of reach so they don’t fray an electrical wire and cause a fire. If some cords are impossible to hide, keep an eye on pets while they’re around them and consider using something like bitter apple spray to make chewing them unappealing.
In addition, install smoke detectors in the kitchen and every bedroom and change them at their recommended intervals. At a minimum, each floor should have one smoke detector. Sensors wear out, so you should replace them at least every ten years.
Evacuation
All families should have a fire evacuation plan. When all the humans in your home know it, the pets will be safer, too. If you have pets, their evacuation should be part of the plan. Ensure that each family member knows their role.
For example, if a pet sleeps in someone’s room, that pet can be that person’s responsibility. Or mom may grab the cat while dad brings out the dog.
Know your pets’ hiding places. Being able to grab them where they are quickly can be the difference between surviving or not.
Keep your pet’s information up to date on their collar and microchip, so if they get away in the commotion, you can quickly locate them.
The Key to Pet Fire Safety is Training
One nice thing about dogs is that they are typically trainable. A well-trained dog is a safer dog, so one fire safety tip is to ensure your dogs respond when they’re called or told to go outside.
If they have a treat they really love, you can use it to train them during a fire evacuation plan. Consider setting off your smoke alarm, calling the dogs outside, and then giving them that special treat. Then, phase out the calling so that the smoke alarm becomes the cue!
Just be sure that if the alarm ever inadvertently goes off, you still provide the special treat, even if it’s inconvenient.
Burns
If your pet ever gets burned, you should follow the same procedures you would for a person. First, get them safe, then treat the wounds. Treat any wounds that you can with first aid and make a follow-up appointment with your local veterinarian as quickly as possible.
Pet Fire Safety During a Real Fire
If the worst case scenario happens, use what you learned about pet fire safety during the emergency. Stick to the plan.
If you could not get a pet out of the house, let emergency responders know immediately when they arrive on the scene. If your pet gets away in the commotion, check local shelters, immediately put up lost pet signs, and inform the neighbors.
No one wants to deal with a fire in their home, and even thinking about one can be very stressful.
When you use these pet fire safety tips, you are much less likely to have a fire in your home and far more likely to have a positive outcome if you do.