Fire Safety Tips for Living Rooms

Approximately 11% of all domestic fires start in the living room. While in domestic fires where there is a loss of life, around 40% originate in the living room or dining room.

Smokers, the young, the elderly and those with impaired mobility are most at risk of living room fires. The likes of smoking, candles and portable heaters can all add to the risk of a living room fire. Christmastime can also introduce potential hazards.

Here are some practical tips on how to avoid living room fires in your home.

Smoking

• If you allow smoking in the house, provide large, stable ashtrays for people to use. A burning cigarette end can smoulder for hours before igniting.
• Ensure matches and lighters are out of children's reach.
• Do not smoke if you are feeling sleepy or have taken alcohol.

Electrical Leads

• Check all electrical leads and plugs for deterioration, burning or fraying.
• Ensure there are no overloaded sockets in your home.
• Switch off and unplug all appliances when they are not in use - this rule applies everywhere in the house.

Portable Heaters

• Be extremely careful how you use portable heaters.
• Position them away from furniture, curtains and flammable items.
• Ensure portable heaters are switched off and/or plugged out before you leave the room or go to bed at night.
• Never move portable heaters while they are in use.

Stoves, Open Fires and Chimneys

Chimney fires can escalate quickly into a house fire, but there are lots of prevention measures that you can take to avoid this. Read our page about fire safety for stoves, open fires and chimneys for full details.

Candles

• Always ensure candles are placed in a suitable holder.
• Never leave lighting candles unattended.
• Position candles away from draughts.
• Make sure candles are not placed near items that can catch fire, such as curtains.
• Avoid moving lit candles.
• Ensure all candles are properly extinguished before you leave the room or go to bed.

Christmas Decorations

Christmas is such a magical time, but Christmas trees, lights and other decorations can create additional fire safety risks in your home. Check out our full page of fire safety tips for Christmas to help prevent any catastrophes from happening.

Fire Alarms

• Ensure there are fire alarms in every room of the house, including bedrooms as you most likely will not wake up from smoke inhalation if the fire alarm is not in the same room as the fire.
• Ensure your fire alarms are working. Dublin Fire Brigade promotes #testittuesday on social media as a gentle reminder to check your alarms weekly - follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram for updates.
• Fit a carbon monoxide alarm in rooms with a stove, fireplace or gas/oil boiler.

Fire Prevention in Dublin

Making Dublin safe from fires and other emergencies is at the heart of Dublin Fire Brigade's work. Through fire safety programmes, education and advice, we aim to get communities involved in the prevention of fires.

If you would like a fire officer to talk to your school, business or community, get in touch below.