Home safety: fire, smoke alarms and gas

A fire at home can spread in minutes. Working alarms, a plan you have practised and knowing what to do about gas can make the difference.

Smoke alarms and heat alarms

• Fit smoke alarms in rooms where a fire could start, on the ceiling, and away from steamy kitchens and bathrooms. One single alarm is not enough.
• Use a heat alarm in the kitchen, since cooking fumes would set off a smoke alarm.
• Test alarms monthly by pressing the test button.
• Choose alarms with a 10-year sealed battery where possible, and interlinked alarms that all sound together if anyone may struggle to escape.
• Never take the battery out because of a false alarm from cooking. Open a window and wave the smoke away instead.

Make and practise an escape plan

• Agree the main way out and a second route, and make sure everyone in your home knows them.
• Keep exits, corridors and stairs clear, and keep door and window keys where everyone can find them.
• Before opening a door in a fire, feel it with the back of your hand. If it is warm, do not open it.
• In smoke, stay low where the air is clearer. Never use a lift in a fire; use the stairs.
• Once out, stay out. Never go back in for belongings, and do not re-enter until Civil Defence or the fire service says it is safe.

Living in a tower block

• Find out your building's fire plan: some buildings tell residents to leave immediately, others to stay put unless fire or smoke reaches them.
• If you evacuate: close your door behind you, use the stairs, and call for help once you are safe. Do not assume someone else has called.
• If your escape route is blocked: go to a room as far from the fire as possible, ideally with a window, close the door, block gaps with towels or bedding, and call for help, giving your exact flat number and floor.
• In the UAE, call 997 for Civil Defence (fire). In the UK, call 999.

If you smell gas

• Do not use flames or sparks: no lighters, matches or smoking, and do not switch electrical switches on or off.
• Open doors and windows to let the gas escape.
• Turn off the gas supply at the meter or valve if you know where it is and it is safe to reach.
• Leave and call the emergency gas service from outside. In the UK, that is the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. In the UAE, call 997 if there is any danger of fire, and your gas supplier or building maintenance for a leak.
• Find out now where your home's gas valve is and who supplies the gas.

Carbon monoxide, especially abroad

• Carbon monoxide (CO) is a gas you cannot see, smell or taste. It comes from faulty or poorly ventilated boilers, gas fires, cookers and heaters, which are common in UK and European homes.
• Symptoms include headache, dizziness, nausea, tiredness, confusion and shortness of breath. They can feel like flu and often ease when you go outside.
• If you suspect CO: turn off the appliance if safe, go outside into fresh air, and get medical help. In the UK, call 999 if someone is struggling to breathe or has collapsed.
• Fit a CO alarm in every room with a fuel-burning appliance. Never use a barbecue, charcoal burner or camping stove indoors or in a tent: a barbecue keeps producing CO for hours even after it has gone out.
• In UK rented homes, landlords must have every gas appliance checked each year by a Gas Safe registered engineer and give you a copy of the record.