Home accidents caused by stove, cleaning fluids and cristmas trees -how to prevent it? and remedies

THE STOVE

Do not light a gas stove or gas oven if there is a distinct odor of gas. Open a window. If the odor persists, call a repairman. Never keep a coal or gas stove or a gas grate burning unless there are vents or flues to take away the gases. Keep a window partly open. And if you leave the kitchen, turn off the gas, even if this strikes you as inconvenient. Remember, pots that boil over may put out flames, creating a risk of gas explosion. 

Almost every cook sooner or later is confronted with a grease fire, perhaps while broiling meat too close to the flames. Keep equipment, such as sand and fire extinguisher, at hand to put out such fires. If you Home Accidents and Their Prevention / 505 have no fire extinguisher, use plain baking soda or salt. Water is ineffective and sometimes dangerous for oil or grease fires. And teach children to keep away from the stove. Many burns and scalds would be avoided if children, as a rule, were kept out of the kitchen when hot foods were being prepared.

CLEANING FLUIDS

 If you must keep flammable liquids around the house, store them in tightly closed metal containers (never glass), in a cool, well-ventilated place away from anything else that might catch fire. Use cleaning fluids only in a well-ventilated place, making certain there is no open flame, lighted tobacco, or electric spark nearby. Keep such liquids where children can't get to them. Never use kerosene or any other cleaning fluid to start a fire in the furnace, wood stove, or fireplace. 

CHRISTMAS TREES

 These are special fire hazards. As a tree dries out, it becomes a potential torch which can be set off by a cigarette, candle flame, or a short circuit in a string of lights. You might consider buying a fire-retardant synthetic tree. Or buy your tree as late before Christmas as possible, get rid of it as soon afterward as you can, and in the meantime keep its base in a pan of water. Use only flame proofed materials for decoration. Avoid candles; use only lights approved by one of the major fire-testing laboratories.