Arson comes in two sizes, large and small. While it’s difficult to picture a cuddly three-year-old felon who swaps Tickle Me Elmo for a pack of matches, 54-percent of all fires are set by children according to the United States Fire Administration. Annually, arson destroys $2 billion in property and 700 lives.

We’ll deal with the larger variety first. It’s nearly as difficult to defend against arson as it is to defend against random muggings, but here are a few recommendations:

• Don’t make it easy. Keep leaves, firewood and any combustibles away from buildings on your property.
• Keep doors and windows locked whenever a building is unoccupied.
• Change locks or retain keys from employees or associates who no longer have a need for them. A disgruntled employee or former friend may choose arson for revenge. If a parting of the ways is particularly nasty, change locks whether you get your keys back or not.
• The same precautions you might take against burglary–security lights, alarms, etc.–could deter an arson. A sprinkler system and/or smoke alarm with an exterior alarm will also help.
• Report any suspicious activity in your neighborhood or rural community.

Child Arsonists

Now for the pint-sized arson. According to experts, fire setting by children falls into four categories basically defined by age and motivation.

Curiosity Fire Setters are usually boys between 3- and 7-years old. As the name implies, the reason is simple curiosity. These fires are set in his hiding places: a closet, under the bed, wherever he feels hidden. Matches and lighters are the weapon of choice with whatever combustibles are available. This year’s Arson Awareness Week, in early May, focused on novelty lighters made to look like motorcycles, guns, etc. A child knows a toy when he sees one and these types of lighters give some credibility to the idea of “playing” with fire. The greatest danger of this type of fire setting is that the child may panic and probably flee the site. Afraid to tell a parent or caretaker what he’s done, the fire could go from fairly harmless to dangerous in a short time. The best way to deal with this type of fire setting is fire safety education.

Crisis Fire Setting focuses on symbolic fuels, someone’s possessions or a significant location. The arsonists are, again, boys from 5 to 10 who are under stress and in trouble. The experts identify these fires are “cries for help” from a child too young to voice his frustrations. The chances of this behavior continuing are great, at least until the child receives counseling or develops better coping skills.

Delinquent Fire Setting involves groups of girls and boys from 10 to 14. The sites are generally outdoors. This form of arson is an off-shoot of the kind of vandalism that should express itself by toilet papering someone’s front yard. Restitution and fire safety education are the best remedies.

Problem Fire Setting requires serious counseling. The setters are boys, from 7- to 12-years old, with a history of problems and aggressive behavior. The target is usually in or near the home and the chances of recurrence are high.

Some of the warning signs include evidence of fire play: burnt matches, clothing or other combustibles and the smell of smoke in the child’s hair or clothing. Some children will show an inappropriate interest in firefighters or fire trucks and place frequent calls to the fire department or 911. Matches or lighters in the child’s room or pockets is another sign. Also, asking or trying to light cigarettes or candles for adults.

If you know or suspect your child is setting fires and is past the curiosity stage, don’t assume the phase will pass. Talk to your child, teach him about fire safety and get counseling if necessary.

You’ve heard the old saying about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure. That ounce of prevention plays an even more vital role for people with physical limitations, especially if they live alone. Even if the disabled or elderly person lives with family members or an on-site caretaker, special precautions are twice as important simply because of the logistics of evacuating the home.

Which brings us back to the smoke alarm. There are special smoke alarm adaptations designed specifically for physical limitations. For the deaf or hard of hearing, smoke alarms can be purchased with a vibrating pad or flashing light. Smoke alarms with strobe lights outside the home alert neighbors or passers-by of the problem in the home.

Independence is important to both those with physical limitations and the elderly. But the fact remains that, as a group, they are at greater risk. They cannot react as quickly; medications may be involved with side effects that limit the ability to make quick decisions. As important as independence may be, survival is more important.

Don’t be reluctant to ask for help. The local fire department should be able to help with escape plans as well as conduct a home fire safety inspection and offer suggestions on smoke alarm placement and other safety equipment. Also, you can provide your special needs information to the local emergency service providers.

If you have mobility difficulties and use a walker or wheelchair, check all the exits to make sure the equipment can easily get through all doorways. Ramps at exterior doors will also make evacuation quicker and safer. Also consider locating bedrooms for people with mobility issues on the ground floor, near an exit. You may be able to put up with some inconveniences in your daily life, but during a home fire, those minor inconveniences can slow the evacuation process down to a lethal pace.

Other specific recommendations include:

• Specific rooms in the home, activities and appliances have been identified as danger zones. Be especially aware of these zones.
• Most kitchen fires start when the cook leaves a lit stove or oven unattended. It would be worth the effort to make the kitchen a comfortable place to sit as well as a safe place to cook.
• Loose clothing may be comfortable, but can also be dangerous around the flame of a gas range top.
• Cooking oil fires can be extinguished simply by putting a lid on the pan and turning off the burner. Water will only spread the fire. Be especially careful to keep range tops clear of spattered oil and grease.
• Do not leave smoking materials unattended. Use safety ashtrays with wide lips. Empty ash trays in the toilet or metal container, not a wastebasket. Never smoke in bed,  that includes catnaps on the sofa.
• Use only UL approved space heaters and use only the recommended fuel in each heater as well as observe the manufacturer’s recommendations on placement. There should be a three-foot distance between space heaters and combustible materials like drapes or upholstered furniture.
• Do not use electric space heaters in the bathroom or other wet areas.
• Space heaters are not end tables. Do not put anything on top of them.

Children deserve their own category in the fire safety dialogue for two reasons.

• Children under five are twice as likely as all other age groups to die in a home fire.
• An average of 300 people each year die in fires caused by children.

What this means is we have to protect our children from home fires and protect our homes from those same children.

Escape Plan Considerations for Young Children

One of the most important elements of a family’s escape plan is how to ensure young children get out of the home safely.

• Give special consideration to the role of each parent and to older children in the family. Who rescues who and how? One suggestion: Keep a baby harness near the crib so a parent can carry the baby and still have hands free for another child, to check doors, crawl at floor level if the home has filled with smoke or navigate out a window.
• Once the logistics are resolved, play out the same scenario assuming one parent, or older child, is absent.
• For older children, practice the escape plan on a regular basis and quiz them in between drills.
• Show them how to check doors, cover their mouths and noses and crawl along the floor below the smoke.
• Learn the Stop, Drop and Roll technique if clothing catches on fire and include the drill in the practice sessions.
• Make sure they can open windows, remove screens and release security bars easily in the dark. If this proves too difficult, revise the escape plan.
• Stress the importance of evacuating to the designated spot outdoors.

Give yourself more time to respond to fire danger by installing and maintaining smoke alarms. This topic will be dealt with on its own page, but for families with young children, it bears repeating over and over again. If your childrens’ bedroom doors are closed at night, install a smoke alarm in their room in addition to an alarm in the bedroom hallway.

Teaching Your Children About Fire

Flames attract moths and children with equal allure. Youngsters are curious about fire, which is your opening to start teaching them about the dangers.

• Keep matches and lighters out of reach and out of sight until they are old enough to fully understand that neither are toys.
• Limit your lighters to those identified as child resistant.
• Establish the child-free zone around the stove, fireplace, portable heaters and other sources of heat and flame.

As adults, we are often lax when it comes to fire safety common sense. We know not to spill flammable liquids or knock over candles. If that liquid spills or the lit candle falls over, we can react quickly and safely. Children operate more by Murphy’s Law. If there is an open can of turpentine, a child will kick it over. An unattended, a lit candle becomes an extreme fire hazard in the presence of a child. Once your child starts to crawl, your world changes and you must make it firesafe and childproof.

Now, some of the details to help prevent home fires: This checklist is divided into things we can all do, simple fixes and not so simple fixes. The difference between the two is economics. Not all of us live in sophisticated urban areas or in new housing. Not all of us own our homes. The statistics on fire damage, injury and death go up significantly in areas of “sub-standard” housing. Few people choose to live in older, sub-standard homes, they have no choice. That doesn’t mean you’re a sitting duck for disaster; it just means you have to be that much more careful.

Things to Do and Simple Fixes

Planning

• Develop an escape plan escape plan with two exits from every room. Consider the physical mobility and age of each family member in this plan and make accommodations to get everyone out safely.
• If windows are included as escape routes in this plan, make sure the occupants can easily open them.
• Keep all exit routes clear so they can be easily navigated in the dark.
• Keep all important documents in a fireproof safe or box.

For Children

• Never leave small children alone or unattended.
• Go over the escape plan with your entire family. The smaller the children, the more frequent the practice drills should be. Use these practices as a fire safety teaching tool for the family.
• Make sure baby sitters know your escape plan.
• Make sure your children as well as their baby sitters know how to notify the fire department in case of a fire.
• Keep matches, lighters and lit candles out of the reach of small children.
• Initiate a three foot child-free zone around potentially dangerous areas like the range and oven in the kitchen, the garage or storage areas for flammable materials.

The Disabled or Elderly

• The bedrooms of those in your family with mobility issues should be located on the ground floor and near an exit.
• If hearing is an issue for a family member, check into a smoke alarm with strobe lights to alert them.

Safety Equipment

• If your home or apartment has no smoke alarms, install them. Check the batteries every month and replace them annually.
• Consider a fire extinguisher for your home; learn how to use it and instruct others in your family.

Electricity

• Never run an extension cord under a rug or hooked over nails. In fact, avoid extension cords whenever possible. If you have to, make sure the cord can handle the wattage required by the appliance plugged into it.
• If a fuse blows or a breaker trips, figure out why and resolve the issue. Remove excess appliances from a breaker circuit that trips frequently.
• Make sure the right size fuse is in each socket in the fuse box. If not, fix it.
• Lighting fixtures will have a maximum bulb wattage recommendation. Do not use a higher wattage bulb than is recommended.
• Allow air space around the television set to prevent overheating.

Heating and Cooking

• Furnaces, stoves and smoke pipes should be kept in good operating condition and inspected regularly. Chimneys for wood stoves or fireplaces should be cleaned annually.
• Keep upholstered furniture a safe distance from wood burning stoves.
• Use a fireplace screen to prevent sparks from flying or logs from rolling out.
• If you use portable heaters, follow all of the manufacturer’s instructions on maintenance, fueling and placement.
• Keep portable heaters at least three-feet away from combustible materials.
• Keep combustibles — sleeves, hair, dish towels, packaging — away from stove top burners.
• If cooking oils ignite in a pan, put a lid on the pan and turn off the burner. Do not use water or flour to douse the flames. The former can spread the fire, the latter can cause an explosion.
• Do not leave lit burners unattended. Do not leave the house when the oven is on.

Housekeeping

• Out-of-sight storage areas: attics, basement, sheds, closets, and garages should be maintained with a minimum of combustible materials. Take the time and energy to assess stored materials. If you forgot you had it or do not use it, toss it. Never stack storage containers near furnaces or other heat sources.
• Store flammable liquids in safety containers away from heat and children. If you have to store multiple flammable liquids — gasoline for lawn equipment and kerosene for heaters — use identifiably different containers. Do not store kerosene in a can that has been used for gasoline and vice versa.
• Refuel lawn equipment when that equipment is cool.

Not So Simple Fixes

• Fireplaces or wood burning stoves should be surrounded by non-combustible materials with enough tile or stonework to keep embers, sparks or logs from falling on carpeting or wood floors. Building codes require setbacks from walls.
• If your wiring is old or substandard, replace it.
• If your gas range’s electrical ignition does not work, have it fixed. That annoying click lets you know the natural gas or propane is on.
• If your gas range does not have an electrical ignition, replace it. Even with the three foot child-free zone, stove dials look like play toys.
• Consider fire ladders for second story windows identified as escape routes in your escape plan.

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That’s especially true when it comes to home fires. But, before we start measuring out either, you need to understand the nature of the home fires you’re trying to prevent.

Fire Defined

In scientific terms, fire is a chemical reaction that occurs with the rapid oxidation, or burning, of a fuel. Three things are necessary for this reaction to take place.

1. Fuel: Anything combustible, solid, liquid, gas, qualifies as fuel.
2. Oxygen: The air we breathe is about 21% oxygen. Fire requires an atmosphere with a minimum of 16% oxygen.
3. Heat: This is the catalyst, the energy needed to raise the temperature of the fuel to the point that vapors are given off and ignited.

Eliminate any one of these three elements and you have no fire. Eliminate any one of these elements once ignition has occurred and the fire goes out.

Fire Classifications

Fires are classified according to their fuel and the prevention of each of the four classifications depends on removing that fuel from its source of heat. Pretty simple stuff.

Class A fires involve ordinary combustibles like wood, paper, cloth, rubber and some plastics, basically anything and everything in a home. The prevention of Class A fires requires keeping storage and work areas free of trash and removing combustible materials from proximity to open flames or other sources of heat.

Class B fuels are flammable liquids or gases, including cooking oils or fats. To keep these fuels from igniting, keep them away from heat or spark sources.

Class C fires involve electrical equipment like home appliances and components of the structure’s electrical system. Prevention focuses on the proper use of extension cords, appropriate fuses and light bulbs that do not exceed the recommended ratings, not overloading wall outlets and the replacement or repair of worn wiring and fixtures.

Class D fire fuels, flammable metals, are not usually found in homes. Metals like magnesium and titanium take a very high temperature heat source for ignition, but once this occurs, they are difficult to extinguish as they produce their own source of oxygen. The best measure of prevention with Class D fires is avoidance, unless you know how to handle flammable metals safely in a work setting.

So, there’s prevention in a nutshell which brings into play another old saying: the devil’s in the details. Every room in your home, every activity, every season presents its own unique potential for danger. Keep reading to learn the details that will help fire proof your home.