News

The festive season is nearly upon us and we hope you are looking forward to relaxing over the Christmas period. However at this time of year there are often more risks in the home and the extra distractions make it even more important to avoid any accidents. With the help of Kent Fire & Rescue Service here are a few tips to help you stay safe and comfortable in your home.

• Be safe with electricity – don’t overload sockets or extension leads and use an RCD adaptor to protect your circuits. Be especially careful at this time of year with Christmas lights and in particular, you must use an RCD for any lights you put up outside. Never put up Christmas lights or use electrical devices outside if it is raining or the area you are working in is wet
• Charge devices sensibly – don’t charge your phones, laptops or tablet devices overnight as they can get hot and catch fire. Also, do not charge vape devices overnight and never put them under your pillow to charge – fires have been caused by people doing exactly that
• Don’t leave candles unattended – never leave candles or any naked flames, including cigarettes unattended. Always extinguish any naked flames carefully and don’t smoke in bed.
• Make sure your gas appliances are safe – if you have any form of appliance that uses mains gas then you must allow us into your property at least once a year to make sure they are safe. We will take legal action against you if you don’t allow us to do this. Never leave gas hobs, ovens or fires unattended and make sure you switch them off properly. You should never use any form of gas-fired portable heating or cooking appliance because they can be very dangerous.
• Test your smoke alarms every week – this can save your life in the event of a fire. Never remove the batterers from your smoke alarms.
• Know what to do in the event of a fire – make sure everyone in your home knows your escape route in the event of a fire, GET OUT, STAY OUT AND CALL 999
• Locate your water stopcock, boiler isolation switch, and electricity fuse board – if you suffer water leaks, boiler problems or electrical faults the safest thing to do is to isolate the mains supply and contact us for further advice
• Get household contents insurance – if the worst was to happen you need to protect your belongings in the event of an accident such as a burst pipe.