A warm summer’s evening spent enjoying the Seattle skyline, a grilled feast and the company of good friends. When residents move into apartment and condominium buildings with rooftop decks, that’s the scene playing in their minds. Most of the time, that’s also the reality, at least when the weather cooperates.
Read MoreTopics: Home safety, Washington state, Home Fire Protection, Hazards
It’s unfortunate but true: people get fed up with smoke alarms and disable them. Most often — 73% of the time1 — we simply want to stop nuisance alarms caused by burned food. If people forget to re-enable the alarm, though, they’re putting themselves and property at risk.
Read MoreTopics: Home safety, Home Fire Protection
It’s easy to overlook fire hydrants — until a fire starts. Then hydrants become crucial. Without them, firefighters are less effective at saving your home or business. Although firefighters carry water on their trucks, it may not be enough to put out a large fire.
Read MoreTopics: Home safety, Disaster preparedness, fire hydrants, fire departments, Home Fire Protection
It’s nearly here: the Fourth of July. Time to celebrate freedom with friends, family, fireworks and food. It’s also time to remember that two of the best parts of Independence Day — grilling and fireworks — create fire risk. Let’s explore how you can protect yourself and those you care about so your holiday is fun and safe.
Read MoreTopics: Home safety, Holidays, Home Fire Protection
No one wants to contemplate what it would be like to have their home catch on fire, but if yours does, you’ll want firefighters to extinguish the flames as quickly as possible. Fortunately, you can help firefighters respond swiftly. In fact, one of the biggest factors affecting firefighters’ speed in putting out a home fire is what you do long before a fire sparks. Taking a little time now could make a huge difference later, reducing property damage and possibly saving lives.
Read MoreTopics: Home safety, Washington state, Disaster preparedness, fire departments, Home Fire Protection
Insurers have a long history of giving customer discounts for installing devices in their homes that reduce risk, such as alarm systems and automatic water-shutoff valves. Today’s smart home technologies are evolving quickly and giving consumers new ways to protect their property and belongings.
Read MoreTopics: Home safety, Washington state, insurance, Home Fire Protection, insurance agents, renters insurance, home owners insurance
We usually think of Western Washington as wet or at least damp, putting it at low risk for wildfires. But a reputation for rainy weather is not, unfortunately, protection against wildfires.
Read MoreTopics: Home safety, Washington state, wildfire, forest fires, fire departments, Home Fire Protection
We all take for granted that, if a fire strikes, firefighters will respond to protect our homes and businesses from devastation. What many people don’t realize is just how many of those firefighters are volunteers.
Read MoreTopics: fire departments, Home Fire Protection, FEMA, public protection
It may not surprise you to learn that fire is one of the major causes of loss in the United States. But it may come as a shock to realize that many fires are started on purpose.
Read MoreTopics: fire protection classes, fire departments, Home Fire Protection
If you live or own property in a community adjacent to a wildland area, you may realize you’re at a greater risk for wildfires. But even if you don’t, you still may have reason to be concerned. Just because a house is located outside of the designated Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) zone doesn’t mean it’s out of the woods, as far as wildfire is concerned.
Read MoreTopics: wildfire, forest fires, Home Fire Protection
