Keeping your home safe from fire

To help you stay safe from fire in your home, we’ve put together some tips and advice, that could help save your life.

In the event of a fire in your home, keep calm and act quickly. Close the door and make sure everyone leaves the property safely. Call 999 and give an exact address.

Smoke detectors

Make sure you have working smoke detectors in your property and test them weekly. If you think any of your smoke detectors aren’t working or if they’re beeping, tell us straight away. Never cover or remove a smoke detector.

Did you know?

Having a working smoke detector makes it four times more likely that you’ll survive a fire during the night.

Be electrically aware

• Don’t keep replacing blown fuses: get the appliance checked out.
• Make sure all electrical appliances have a British or European safety mark when you buy them.
  Refer to logos here: 
• Report signs of scorching, discolouration or faulty operation on sockets to us immediately.
• Don’t overload sockets with appliances – try to keep one plug to each socket.
• If you need to make alterations to electrical wiring, you’ll need our permission first. Any works must be carried out by a qualified electrician.
• Unplug your electric blanket before you get into bed, unless it has a thermostat control for safe all-night use.
• Secure portable heaters up against walls to stop them falling over.

Did you know?

Faulty electrical appliances, wiring and overloaded sockets cause around 7,000 fires in the home every year in the UK.

Use candles carefully

Keep candles and tea lights in proper holders and away from curtains and clothes.
NEVER LEAVE THEM UNATTENDED.

Cigarettes

• Stub cigarettes out properly and dispose of them carefully.
• If you smoke in your home don’t rest your ashtray on a sofa or chair. Use a proper ashtray that’s deep, heavy and non-flammable.
• Take extra care if you smoke when you’re tired, taking prescription drugs, or if you’ve been drinking. Never smoke in bed.
• Keep matches and lighters out of reach of
  children. Consider buying child-resistant lighters and match boxes.

Charging batteries

• Take great care when charging e-bikes, e-scooters, mobility scooters and mobile phones which use lithium-ion batteries. These batteries have been linked to serious fires.
• Avoid charging these at night, and use a room that’s away from your escape route and has a working smoke alarm. For more advice search ‘Curo lithium batteries’ or ask us for help.

Make an escape plan

If there was a fire in your home would everyone know how to get out safely? Look at your options and make a plan so that everyone in your home knows how to escape in a fire.

• The best route is usually the normal way in and out of your home. If your normal exit was blocked by a fire, how would you exit the property? Think of a second exit route that’s practical for everyone in your home.
• Keep the exits from your home clear so people can escape in a fire.
• Make sure the keys to windows and doors are easy to find.
• If you live in a block of flats familiarise yourself with the evacuation procedure. This will be explained on a ‘fire action notice’ displayed just inside the main entrance of your block. Never use the lift if your building is on fire.

Be vigilant - make sure your escape route is not blocked by items on the stairs or in hallways.

If you need help planning your escape route or think you may have problems evacuating your property please email us at firesafetyteam@curo-group.co.uk. Or call us on 01225 366000. For other ways to contact us visit our Contact us page.

Have a bedtime routine

Get into the habit of closing doors at night. If you want to keep a child’s bedroom door open, close the doors to the lounge and kitchen. If a fire occurred at night this would stop it spreading quickly through the house.

Don’t leave the TV or other electrical appliances on standby, and at Christmas time turn your Christmas tree lights off at night.

Think about your furnishings

Check your furniture meets British Standards and has the kite mark on the furniture label. This means it contains fire-retardant filling and won’t give off poisonous smoke in a fire.

Make sure furnishings are away from heat sources such as fires, heaters and candles.

Kitchen safety

• Be careful when cooking with hot oil. Think about buying a deep-fat fryer controlled by a thermostat.
• Many kitchen fires start while cooking is unattended. If you’re cooking using the hob or grill, never leave the kitchen and don’t leave children alone in the kitchen when the hob or oven is on. Hot fats, oils and food, can easily overheat and catch fire.
• If you’re using the oven, use a timer.
• Cleaning your cooking appliances and extractor fan reduces the risk of fire.
• If you come across a fire in the kitchen don’t try to tackle it. Turn off the heat if you can safely, close the door on the kitchen, leave the property and call 999.
• Never use a camping stove or BBQ indoors.

If you have a balcony:

• Don’t have any open fires, BBQs or other flames on the balcony.
• Try to keep to a minimum anything that could catch fire. A few plants are homely but lots of items could allow a fire to spread.
• Don’t store hazardous materials like gas bottles or flammable liquids on your balcony, including motorbikes.
• Don’t run electric cables out to your balcony in case the weather changes or the cable becomes damaged.
• If you smoke on your balcony, take care to fully extinguish your cigarette into a safe container and empty this regularly.

Keeping your building’s communal areas safe

If you are in a communal area when a fire breaks out, keep calm and act quickly. Close the door and make sure everyone leaves the property safely. Call 999 and give an exact address.

Everyone needs to play their part in keeping your building safe, including you and your neighbours.

Why do communal areas need to be kept clear?

It is important to us that you are safe in your home, and we also have a legal duty to make sure you could escape from your building in an emergency.

Staircases are the routes for the fire fighters to get in as well as for you and your neighbours to get out. Items left in stairwells or corridors could become serious obstacles, especially if the area is smoke-filled or dark.

Everyone living in your building needs to keep communal areas clean and clear of any obstruction. This means that you cannot use communal areas to store your possessions or to dispose of unwanted items.

The things we need to remove include:

• Mobility scooters, e-scooters and e-bikes
• Gas cannisters
• Pushchairs and prams
• Pedal bikes
• Children’s bikes and toys
• Recycling boxes or bags
• Furniture

We will consider exceptions that are low risk on a case-by-case basis. If you'd like permission to store something in a communal area, please contact the Fire Safety Team on firesafetyteam@curo-group.co.uk

If you currently have a mobility aid that is stored in the communal area please contact the Fire Safety Team on  firesafetyteam@curo-group.co.uk or call 01225 366000 and we can discuss possible solutions with you.

Please remember that the most appropriate approach to take can depend upon the specific risks and circumstances within your building.

Remember to keep yourself and your neighbours safe:

• Keep communal areas clear of all possessions and/or rubbish
• Remove any furniture from communal spaces
• Help us to keep areas clear by reporting any items that you find

We carry out regular visits to all communal areas to help you to keep your shared areas clear and safe, and to make sure items are removed as quickly as possible.

Checking fire doors:

Some of the doors in common areas in your building will be ‘fire doors’. Fire doors slow the spread of fire and should never be left open or tampered with. Check that fire doors:

• Close properly.
• Aren’t propped open
• Haven’t been tampered with or damaged - look for obvious holes, or missing panels or glass.

Ask us if you need to fit anything to your flat front door. We’ll help you do this in a way that won’t affect your door’s fire safety rating.

If you need help planning your escape route or think you may have problems evacuating your property please email us at: firesafetyteam@curo-group.co.uk or call us on 01225 366000.

For other ways to contact us visit our Contact us page here.