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10 min readAlina writes for MSN, MTV, and CBSNews, blending safety expertise with her passion for simplifying technology. Alina was also trained as a first responder and worked as a volunteer firefighter.
October is home to fire prevention week, but anytime is the right time to review fire safety and prevention.
You have less than two minutes to get out of a burning home before it’s engulfed in flames and smoke.¹ Since there’s so little time to think or act in the moment, it’s vital to prepare yourself with home fire safety education before you ever have to face it in real life.
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We hope that a house fire won’t ever happen to you, but it could. There have been 1,484 home fire-related deaths in 2024 (as of publish date), according to the U.S. Fire Administration. Though the risk of a house fire depends on many factors, you can still learn a lot about the risks from general statistics.
Not surprisingly, if something can heat up, then it has the potential to start a fire. Cooking is the most common cause of house fires, but there are several other culprits. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) there are five top fire causes:
This full list of places where fires occur in the home can help you prevent potential fire hazards.
Home fires are more common during the fall and winter, with the highest numbers of fires in December and January. This risk might heighten when people light more candles, use fireplaces or space heaters, or don’t water the Christmas tree.
From day to day, fires seem to start when people are more likely at home. House fires commonly occur on a Saturday or Sunday and between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.—times that people are often home.2
Smoking kills in more ways than you may think. It is the leading cause of home fire deaths, killing an average of 590 people per year.3 Overall, house fires are responsible for approximately 2,620 deaths each year and cause around $7.2 billion in property damage each year.4
Learn more about home safety risks from our safety stats and facts resource.
The best fire is one that doesn’t happen. Here are our top fire prevention tips:
Learn about electrical fires, common electrical hazards, and how to fix them.
Print out our room-by-room fire prevention checklist:
These fire safety products can help prevent fires from getting out of hand:
Emergency escape plans save lives. Do you have one for your home? Knowing what to do in a fire can make getting out safe easier.
First, start by drawing a map of your home including windows, doors, and hallways. Identify main emergency exits like the front and back door. Come up with a primary emergency escape route and then contingency routes to follow if one way is blocked.
Remember, in an actual fire, flames, and smoke can make passageways impassable, so it’s important to think this through when planning an escape route. For instance, if you have upper floor bedrooms, you can buy fire ladders that unravel to help people escape quickly.
Once your fire escape plan is ironed out, try a fire drill. Again, use different scenarios to achieve better preparedness. For starters, have everyone lie in their beds to simulate a night fire. Then, practice escaping from common areas like the kitchen and living room.
Also, consider the fact that smoke can decrease visibility significantly. Try a fire drill in complete darkness or with everyone’s eyes closed. Practice counting doors and sensing your whereabouts by touch instead of sight. The more practice you have in more scenarios, the better prepared everyone will be in an actual emergency.
Print out this form and use it as a guide when making your fire escape plan:
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Here are the most important things to do during a house fire:
Remember, everything can be replaced except for your life. If you remember nothing else from this guide, remember the four steps above. The following tips delve a little deeper into what you should do if there is a fire in your home.
Above all, stay calm. We know it’s hard with the smoke, heat, and the smoke detector blaring. Panicking can make you forget the steps you need to survive, though.
If there’s already a lot of smoke, stay as low to the floor as possible. Heat rises, so staying low keeps you cooler and keeps you below the smoke so you can breathe easier. If you can’t get below the smoke, cover your mouth with clothing or a towel and crawl on your hands and knees to the nearest exit.
If you catch fire, the stop, drop, and roll guidelines you learned in school still apply. Stop, drop to the ground, and roll around to smother the fire. Cool any burned skin by pouring water over it for three to five minutes.⁵
Smoke and heat are often more dangerous than flames in fires. House fires can cause areas near the ground to reach 100℉ and up to 600℉ near eye level1. Smoke and toxins in the air are extremely dangerous and could kill you.
If a fire starts in your home, call the fire department immediately while assessing if you can put the blaze out yourself. Go with your gut. If there’s too much smoke and a lot of heat, get yourself to safety.
As long as professional help is on its way, though, you can attempt to use a fire extinguisher to put out small flames. This will prevent the fire from getting worse, if nothing else.
The only non-replaceable items are people and pets. Resist the urge to grab your laptop or jewelry. Instead, attend to family members and pets first. Rank them in order of who needs the most help (e.g. a baby or disabled family member).
If there’s enough time, you can gather important documents like your driver’s license, birth certificate, marriage or divorce certificates, and photo albums. If there isn’t, forget about it. Preserving life is much more important than saving electronics or personal effects.
Don’t walk into any room without touching the doorknobs first. If there is heat, it’s probably not safe to enter. Opening doors can also increase airflow and accelerate the rate the fire spreads. Close the doors behind you as you leave.
Once everyone in your family is out of your house, stay out. Don’t go back inside for anything—it’s too dangerous! The firefighters will be able to go back inside to save anything they can. That’s what they train for, and they have gear to protect themselves.
Also, remember to stay back. Explosions are uncommon but could cause you to become injured if you’re too close.
Never take an elevator during a fire. You could become trapped or suffer a fall if the elevator fails or gives out. Always use the stairs or fire escape instead of an elevator.
If you’re trapped in a room during a fire, take a deep breath and remember this:
Before you do anything else, get medical attention for you, your family, and your pets—even if you think everyone is okay. Simply inhaling smoke can endanger you and your furry companions. If you’re unsure if you need medical attention, consult with the first responders on the scene.
After a house fire, it’s normal to feel a lot of emotions, from fear, to shock, to grieving. We know how important it is to take time to process your situation. The American Red Cross offers 24/7 counseling and support for those in distress from a disaster. You can call or text the Disaster Distress Helpline at +1-800-985-5990.
When you’re ready, there are a few things you should do after a house fire:
Call your mortgage company to inform them of the fire.
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Click on your state below to see a list of local fire safety and prevention resources.
Have a smoke alarm in your home. Here’s where to install smoke alarms and how to maintain them.
We recommend having a smoke alarm/carbon monoxide detector combo. Check out our top picks for carbon monoxide detectors.
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