With all the excitement of moving to a new country and setting up a new life, it can be easy to overlook things that are common considerations back home. One of those is the issue of fire safety.

Christmas is coming, and the family home will soon be replete with a jubilee of gifts, lights, decorations and candles, spearheaded of course by a busy mother doing all the work. The potential for fire, therefore, is perhaps enhanced around the festive period, and it is important that you and your family take the necessary steps to prevent a fire breaking out, and should the unthinkable happen, to ensure that your family and home are safe.

The first and most important measure to take is to fit smoke alarms in your home. The statistics are stark – you are twice as likely to die in a fire if you don’t have a working smoke alarm. These are cheaply available from OBI, the Hungarian equivalent of Home Depot or B&Q, and at least one should be fitted per level of your house.

If you already have smoke alarms fitted, or once you have fitted your new ones, you need to check that they are working on a regular basis. A non-working smoke alarm is as good as no smoke alarm at all. Check the battery weekly, promptly fit new batteries when needed, and never, ever, remove the batteries from your alarm – piece of mind is worth the nuisance of it going off every time you burn your toast!

Of course, ideally, you don’t want a fire to start in the first place, and while you can never eliminate all risk, a few simple steps can greatly reduce the likely hood of a fire breaking out. The majority of fires start in the kitchen, so caution there can reduce the overall risk:

• Although you might feel you spend your whole life there anyway, try not to leave the kitchen whilst cooking and turn the heat off, or at least down, on any pans you have going if you do.
• Keep flammable material like tea towels, paper tissue and your own clothing away from sources of ignition, such as hobs, toasters and grills.
• Take care when cooking with hot oil, it catches light very easily. If it starts to smoke, immediately remove the heat and leave it thoroughly cool. Ideally you should use only thermostat controlled electric deep fat fryers that cannot overheat and catch fire.
• If a pan or fryer does catch fire, do not try and tackle the fire yourself and certainly never throw water over it. The heat will cause the water to instantly and explosively vapourise, dramatically escalating the fire. Instead, immediately turn off the heat if it is safe to do so, get everyone out of the kitchen to safety and call the fire brigade on 112
• It is a good idea to keep a fire extinguisher (one suitable for liquid fires) in the kitchen, as well as ones around the house and even in your car, just in case.

Faulty electrics can also be a source of danger:

• Try and avoid using extension leads or adapters, and if you do use them, make sure you don’t over load them. It is a simple case of addition: two, five amp, plugs add up to 10 amps, and if your adapter can only carry a maximum of seven then that is too many.
• Check the appliance has a European safety mark when you buy it
• Christmas lights have the potential for disaster. Only buy them from reputable shops, and turn them off at when you go to bed.
• Check for signs of loose or dangerous wiring, such as scorch marks, hot plugs and circuit breakers tripping for no apparent reason, and replace any old or dangerous cables.
• Unplug appliances when you are not using them, or buy an extension block that has an on/off switch and turn off the entire block when your computer, TV, printer, monitor, etc. are not in use.

Be prepared, make an escape plan

Of course, you hope that the worst doesn’t happen, and if it does, a smoke alarm can buy you vital minutes, but would you know what to do if you were woken in the night by your smoke alarm, your house all dark and smokey? Taking the time to plan an escape route and making sure you and your family are familiar with it could save your lives.

• The best route is the normal way in and out of the house, but make sure you have a plan b in case this route is blocked.
• Take some time to practice your escape plan, and review it if the layout of your home changes.
• Make sure things like window and door keys are where everyone can find them.

If fire does break out, the most important thing is to get out and stay out. Do not try investigate what has happened and or tackle the fire yourself, and don’t waste time trying to collect valuables. Once outside, call 112 and ask for the fire brigade.

House fires are thankfully rare, but taking these few simple precautions now could save the lives of you and your family. If you would like to find out more, the Firekills website, run by the UK government is full of tips for preventing fire and escaping if one does break out in your home, and you can also download leaflets which give comprehensive information in a number of languages (including French and Hungarian). Alternatively the US Government fire safety website offers similar information, and has a section for kids.

Carbon Monoxide

Smoke’s silent companion, carbon monoxide, is another danger to watch out for in the winter. Unlike smoke, carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, and it is unlikely you would be alerted to a leak in your home, unless you have a carbon monoxide detector. A carbon monoxide leak can come from any source that uses fossil fuels to create heat, such as oil and gas furnaces, boilers, water heaters, gas ranges, fireplaces, and space heaters – all popular as the winter descends. To protect yourself and your loved ones from this deadly danger it is recommended you install a carbon monoxide detector within 15 feet (4.57m) of the entrance to any bedroom. These detectors are inexpensive and can be found at OBI

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