Pets are often considered members of our families and we’d do just about anything to keep them safe. Keeping them safe from fire hazards in our homes also reduces the chances of them causing a home fire.
Pets and wild animals start roughly 750 home fires each year with the help of cooking appliances, fireplaces, space heaters and candles.
- In general, keep your pets away from stoves and other cooking equipment, fireplaces, candles, space heaters and other heat-producing appliances. Maintain a pet-free zone of at least three feet (one metre) from these items.
- Remove knobs from the front of your stove, or protect them with child-proof covers. Stoves and cooktops are one of the most common appliances involved in fires started by pets.
- Use a metal or heat-tempered glass screen on fireplaces. Keep pets away from these screens when the fireplace is being used and in the hours to follow, as they can be hot.
- Keep pets away from a chimney’s outside vents.
- Consider swapping traditional candles for battery-operated, flameless candles.
- Make sure your pets don’t chew through electrical cords; if a cord is damaged, have it checked by a professional. Don’t keep electrical cords in areas where your pets spend time unsupervised.
- If you use heat lamps or space heaters for your pets, make sure they are properly secured to avoid igniting nearby materials. Keep these away from any materials that can burn.
- If you use electrically heated waterers, make sure the cords and plugs are in good condition and are properly grounded.
Help your pets if there’s a fire
- Consider adding a decal/sticker to your front door or window indicating the number and type of pets you have; this lets first responders know there may be an animal in the house that needs rescuing.
- Keep your pet’s microchip information up to date in case your pet gets lost during a fire; this makes it easier to be reunited when they are found.
- Include your pets and livestock in your home fire escape plan, and make sure you have supplies on hand to care for them for at least 72 hours in the event of an emergency.
Learn more about how to prepare for disasters when you have pets and livestock.
