October is National Fire Prevention Month

October is National Fire Prevention Month and if you’re like me, you would do whatever it takes to protect your family. Fortunately for fire prevention, this DIY project only takes a moment.

This post was sponsored by Kidde Fire Safety as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

Ever have an event happen that shook you to your core?

Just this last week, a dear friend of mine woke up to find her detached garage engulfed with flames. She lost both her vehicles and all the contents of her detached garage where her husband stored all his tools for his construction business.

It devastated her in addition to being extremely lucky that the flames didn’t reach her house.

In fact, I’ve prayed for and supported two friends who have suffered loss to fires over this past year. 

It’s a devastating and heart-wrenching event, and something I think families don’t prepare for as much as we should.

For the past few weeks, knowing that I haven’t addressed this has been worrisome enough that it has woken me up a few times with concern.

You see, our 80s fixer has dated and poorly placed smoke alarms. Only three to be exact. Not nearly enough coverage for our 4500 sq ft home.

We moved into our home a year ago, and are slowly updating each room. But one of the most important renovations has been overlooked. We changed the batteries in our smoke alarms when we first moved in, but noticed something critical. There isn’t a single smoke alarm in any of our bedrooms! 

I searched the web and found that most state codes require that smoke alarms are placed in each bedroom. Also each hallway outside of the bedrooms, each floor, and should be no more than 30 feet apart from each other.

So, after reading that, I realized that we needed 10 smoke alarms for our home. 8 battery operated ones and 2 hard-wired replacements.

The first step I took was to have working alarms and other fire safety essentials from Kidde. I choose Kidde because they are one of the world’s largest manufacturers of fire safety products. In addition, they have been in service for more than 100 years.

Installing smoke alarms is such an easy DIY project.

I finished installing the battery operated smoke alarms in less than 30 minutes. I would have been finished with the hard-wired ones, but our circuit breaker box isn’t labeled! 

But in less than an hour, all my worries started to subside.

Inside and outside of each bedroom now has smoke alarms. So we covered any other areas that were more than 30 feet from another alarm.

We sat down with our boys and discussed an evacuation plan in case a fire happened. This weekend, we plan to give it a practice run.

I also checked our fire extinguishers. We have 2 and they recommend to replace those every 5 to 10 years.

Since one of the most common fires involve cooking appliances, I keep one in my kitchen and another in my basement kitchenette.

I also heard a great suggestion once that I’ve adhered to for years. Twice a year, we set our clocks either forward or back and that’s a great time to replace the batteries in all of your smoke alarms.

This most important and extremely simple DIY project is one that could save your life.

So, let me ask you something.

What steps are you taking to address fire safety in your home?

The most critical moment in a home emergency could be the moment you take to prepare for that situation right now.

October is National Fire Prevention Month and this is a great time to shop for Kidde Fire Safety essentials, from smoke and carbon monoxide alarms to fire extinguishers.

I hope this encourages you to think about fire prevention today and how it can help protect a lifetime of moments to come. 

Visit Kidde’s website to learn more about Kidde Fire Safety systems for your home during National Fire Prevention Month.

If you’re like me, you would do whatever it takes to protect your family. Fortunately for fire prevention, this DIY project only takes a moment. Take the time today to protect your home and family with Kidde’s Fire Safety essentials, available at The Home Depot or Walmart.