Could Your Pet Cause Fire Damage To Your Bristol Home?

8/20/2020 (Permalink)

For help with fire damage in Bristol, call SERVPRO of Bristol at (860) 582-3330.

SERVPRO Advises Bristol Pet Owners To Be Aware Of Fire Damage Risks

Bristol pet owners love their four-legged friends and want to keep them safe. Having a pet is a great way to relieve stress, and it is always lovely to come home from work or errands to an enthusiastic greeting. No one thinks of their pet as a health hazard, but there are some risks surrounding pet ownership.

Of course, a pet cannot purposefully cause fire damage in a Bristol home. The responsibility for fire safety lies firmly with the adult humans in the house! But that said, some unexpected fire damage risks come with pet ownership. It is good to be aware of the dangers now so you can take action to mitigate them.

What are some fire damage risks associated with pets?

SERVPRO wants local homeowners to be aware of the following potential risks:

    •    Pets can chew on power cords, and once they are damaged they can spark or short and start a fire
    •    Any animal that roams free around your room can knock over a candle and start a fire
    •    Dogs and cats have been known to drag their bedding around – unfortunately, this sometimes includes pulling it towards a space heater or candle
    •    It sounds unlikely, but it is not unheard of for pets to turn on the stove by jumping up and catching a knob
    •    If you let a pet lie on an electric blanket, it could chew it and damage the wires, or have an accident and cause an electrocution risk

What can I do to prevent a pet-related fire?

For every potential pet-related fire risk, there is an easy solution. Most fixes boil down to looking at possible fire hazards through a curious pet's eyes and making sure there is nothing in their path that can be chewed on, knocked over, moved, or switched on by mistake.

SERVPRO of Bristol suggests taking the following precautions:

    •    Always roll up and hide excess power cord, so there is less to chew – try to hide as much of the power cord as possible
    •    Use flameless LED candles or string lights instead of real ones – they create the same warm ambiance but with much less risk
    •    Place dog and cat beds in rooms that do not contain fire hazards such as space heaters or open fires – you can also install toddler gates to stop your pets roaming to places they should not
    •    Stove knob protectors were designed with small children in mind, but they also work well to prevent pets accidentally turning the dials
    •    Never let your pets lie on an electric blanket

Are pet bowls a fire risk?

Believe it or not, pet bowls can be a fire risk. If you have glass pet bowls and place them outside on wooden decking, there is a risk of sunlight filtering through the glass and setting fire to the wood. You can easily avoid this by the use of stainless steel or ceramic pet bowls.

How should I look after my pet in the event of a fire?

In the event of a fire, your pet is relying on you to get them to safety whatever the cause. SERVPRO recommends always keeping a few weeks of food and medicine, plus a few bottles of water, some bedding, and vaccination and vet records on hand, in case you and your pet need to make a hasty escape.

You can also get stickers to put on your front door, alerting firefighters to the type and number of pets in residence. This helps emergency services respond quickly and gives your pets a better chance of being found.

What can SERVPRO do to help?

Once you and your pets are safe and the fire service has extinguished the blaze, it is time to call us. We train our technicians to handle every aspect of fire mitigation, so you can trust us to restore your home, “Like it never even happened.”

We begin by assessing the situation and taking any immediate steps to secure the premises, such as boarding up the door or putting a tarp on the roof. We also check for potential health hazards.

Once we have assessed your home, we will discuss our proposed course of action with you to be sure you are happy with our plans.

The first step is to remove any water leftover from firefighting efforts, which we do with a combination of pumps, extractors, and extraction wands. If your soft furnishings are particularly water-logged, we dry them.

We clean your home and belongings thoroughly, using a mix of mechanical cleaning techniques (such as scrubbing) and chemical methods (such as spot-cleaning upholstery). Soot is challenging to tackle, but our technicians know how to handle it. Before we leave, we deodorize your home to make sure it smells as good as new.

For help with fire damage in Bristol, call SERVPRO of Bristol at (860) 582-3330.