Wherever you live, you can reduce the risk of fire in your home by taking some simple steps: from checking your smoke alarm regularly to making an evacuation plan. We have also included advice on the common causes of fires in the home and how to avoid these.
Do monthly checks
- If you're a tenant, it's your responsibility to test your smoke alarm and any carbon monoxide detector at least monthly by pressing the button. This is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself from fire or carbon monoxide poisoning.
- This is a helpful short video about how to test your smoke alarms
. If the alarm doesn’t sound, replace the battery - or contact us immediately if you have a mains-powered smoke alarm, so we can arrange to fix it. - Please contact us if you can't test your alarms and detectors, and don't have family or friends to help. (If you live in one of our Housing for Older People schemes, we may be responsible for checking these so please ask.)
- If you have battery-powered alarms, replace the batteries each year or when the alarm sounds to show that they're running low.
- You could consider fitting additional battery-powered alarms yourself. These are best located in the centre of the ceiling, at least a foot away from any fittings (like lights).
Make an evacuation plan
Make a fire evacuation plan so that everyone in your home knows how to escape.
- Smoke makes it almost impossible to see when you're trying to escape - so plan how you’d escape if a fire did break out, and then practice it with your family.
- The best exit is usually the nearest exit but have a back-up plan in case it's blocked. You could include any ground floor windows in your plan.
- Make sure everyone knows the escape plan.
- Keep keys near doors and windows so it’s quicker to get out. (For security reasons, don’t keep them within reach from outside.)
- If there’s smoke, keep as low as possible as the air’s clearer there.
- Check doors before you open them – if they’re hot, there’s fire the other side so use your plan B exit.
- If you’re the last one out, close the door behind you to slow the progress of the fire.
Prevent fires in your home
- Don't leave cooking unattended.
- Switch off heaters and cookers when you’re not using them – and check they’re off before you go to bed.
- Never use BBQs, including disposable ones, indoors or on a balcony. They pose a fire and carbon monoxide risk.
- Keep mains powered electrical appliances and leads away from water and don’t use them in bathrooms.
- Make sure electrical items are CE marked: this indicates a product has been assessed by the manufacturer and deemed to meet EU safety, health and environmental protection requirements.
- Faulty appliances are a common cause of fires in the home - check your electrical appliances to make sure there’s no evidence of faults, loose or exposed wires. Cheap or faulty phone chargers have also caused several fires in SNG homes.
- You can register your domestic appliances to be the first to find out if any safety issues or recalls affect you. It's easy to do and free.
- Make sure that cables from electrical appliances (including extension cables) don’t run underneath carpets or rugs
- Don't overload sockets or daisy chain sockets together (where you plug multiple extensions into each other) – this is extremely dangerous.
- Keep extension leads uncoiled to prevent overheating.
- Switch off the TV and other non-essential electrical equipment at the socket when not in use.
- Don't charge leave electrical goods on charge at night, when you're asleep or if you're out (as you won’t be around to spot any problems).
- Avoid running appliances like washing machines, tumble dryers or dishwashers overnight or when you’re out. Clean lint from tumble dryers.
- Keep matches and lighters out of the reach of children.
- If you smoke - don’t leave materials unattended, stub out any cigarettes completely and dispose of them carefully.
- It’s safer to smoke outside and away from your home or other buildings and from anything flammable (such as fencing or bark chips on a garden border). This is especially important in very hot or dry weather.
- Avoid smoking on balconies but, if you do, make sure you don't discard cigarettes or smoking materials on or over the balcony. Use a sturdy ashtray with a small amount of water in it to make sure material is extinguished.
- Be careful with candles and night lights – or preferably use LED ones as these are safer.
- If you do use real candles, place them in or on a fire-resistant dish/holder on a sturdy base. Keep them away from anything that could catch alight (such as curtains, carpets, furniture, bedding and other flammable items) or which generate heat, including light bulbs.
- Don’t use or store devices that run on a gas cylinder.
If your home has a balcony, it's important you take preventative measures to reduce the risk of a fire breaking out, or spreading, via your balcony.
Smoking is the leading cause of balcony fires but matches, candles, electrical faults and BBQs are other leading causes.
Please remember, if you live in a property owned or managed by us, you are not permitted to use a barbeque (BBQ) on your balcony. Using a BBQ on your balcony will be a breach of your tenancy or lease.
Some other measures you can put in place to prevent a fire on your balcony are:
- Not using any cooking equipment on balconies
- Not using fire pits, patio heaters and chimineas on balconies
- Keeping balconies clutter-free: they shouldn't be used for storage as they can be an important escape route for you or an access point for firefighters
- Never store flammable or hazardous materials on balconies (such as gas cylinders) or large quantities of combustible materials (such as cardboard).
- Do not store or use white goods, like tumble dryers, on balconies. These could a fire risk and balconies are not designed for storing heavy items.
- Do not modify your balcony or install combustible screening.
- Do not use or set off fireworks or sky lanterns from balconies.
Avoid smoking on balconies. If smoking is permitted (check your tenancy agreement or lease):
- Never leave lit cigarettes or cigars unattended
- Always make sure you stub out cigarettes properly and dispose of them carefully - do not discard cigarettes or smoking materials on or over the balcony.
- Always empty ashtrays carefully, ensuring all smoking materials are stubbed out and cold. Use a sturdy ashtray with a small amount of water in it to make sure material is extinguished.
- Avoid items like plastic plant pots on balconies where smoking takes place.
Please keep lofts clear at all times as they’re not part of the living space in your home.
- Storing items in the loft can restrict access to cables and water tanks, which could be a fire risk.
- If there is a fire in your home, stored items in the loft could act as fuel and allow the fire to spread and cause more damage.
Please also remember that ceiling joists and horizontal rafters in a loft are only designed to hold up the ceiling below. Storing your belongings there may cause the ceiling to bow and crack, or fall down. You could even be injured or killed if you're in a loft and stand on the ceiling below by mistake as this can’t take a person’s weight.
Using your loft for storage can also disrupt the airflow or crush the loft insulation, increasing the risk of damp and mould.
And a cluttered or messy loft can potentially cause a pest infestation, damaging your belongings as well as the fabric of your home – and making it hard to access the loft for any repair.
If you’re having a BBQ, always take care so you have a fun and safe experience.
Here are some tips on how to make sure your BBQ is safe:
- Place the BBQ on flat ground and not near anything flammable like sheds, fences, trees or shrubs. Extreme hot and dry weather also mean that grass, hedges and other natural materials like wooden fences are at a far higher risk of catching fire and of a fire spreading quickly.
- BBQs are not permitted on balconies.
- Never use any sort of BBQ indoors.
- Don't use petrol or paraffin to light a BBQ – firelighters are a much safer option.
- Always watch the BBQ and never leave children unattended when it is lit or hot.
- It’s always best to keep a bucket of water, sand or a garden hose nearby in case of emergencies.
- Be aware of the wind direction and who else is affected by your smoke as they may not appreciate it.
- Dispose of ashes safely – make sure they’ve cooled down before you move the BBQ or get rid of them.
- Allow the BBQ to cool down fully before storing it away.
- Clean removable parts of a BBQ with soapy water to stop fat from building up.
Please remember, if you live in a property owned or managed by us, you are not permitted to use a barbeque (BBQ) on your balcony. Using one on your balcony will be a breach of your tenancy or lease.
The London Fire Brigade offers the Home Fire Safety Checker – suitable wherever you live. This is a free online tool which guides you through an assessment of your home, helping you to uncover fire risks and giving you tailored advice.
If you live in London, for more vulnerable residents or those at higher risk, you can book a Home Fire Safety Visit from your local fire crew.
If you live in other areas, you can request a 'Safe and Well' Home Visit - find out how to contact your local fire service on the Fire Service website.
Advice on what to do if there's a fire
If there’s a fire in your home
- Alert everyone in your home.
- Phone 999 and ask for the Fire Brigade. Tell them your address and where in the building the fire is.
- If possible, close the door to any room where fire is burning.
- Close your front door as you leave.
- Use the stairs. Never use the lift.
Fires in maisonettes/block of flats
Know the fire safety arrangements for your block: what’s the evacuation policy?
All our blocks of flats display Fire Action Notices in the communal areas. These give the fire safety procedures to follow in the unlikely event of a fire, so please read these and, if you’re not sure, contact us.
If your flat or maisonette is being affected by fire or smoke and your escape route is clear:
- Get everyone out, close the door and walk calmly out of the building. Do not use the lift.
- Call 999, give your address, the number of your flat and state which floor the fire is on.
If there is a fire or smoke inside your flat or maisonette and your escape route is not clear:
- It may be safer to stay in your flat or maisonette until the fire brigade arrives.
- Find a safe room close the door and use soft materials to block any gaps to stop the smoke.
- Go to a window, shout “HELP, FIRE” and call 999.
- Be ready to describe where you are and the quickest way to reach you.
If there is a fire in another part of the building:
- Purpose-built maisonettes or blocks of flats are generally built to give you some protection from fire. Walls, floors and doors can hold back flames and smoke for 30 to 60 minutes. (Check the Fire Action Notices within the communal areas for the fire procedures that apply where you live.)
- You are usually safer staying put and calling 999. Tell the fire brigade where you are and the best way to reach you.
- If you are within the common parts of the building, leave and call 999.
Our Fire safety in flats page also includes more detailed information for customers in these homes.
More information
Learn more about helping to prevent the most common ways fires begin in homes.
The government's Fire Kills website also has lots of tips or contact us if you’d like advice on any aspect of safety.