October is National Fire Prevention Month! Here are five free ways to help prevent a fire in your home.

Test your smoke alarms. The U.S. Fire Administration suggests testing smoking alarms once a month and changing their batteries twice a year. Press and hold the test button, and a loud siren should emanate from the smoke detector. If the sound is weak or nonexistent, make sure to replace the batteries.

Maintain a clean home. Clutter throughout your home is one way that fires can start and spread. By keeping less clutter in your home, you will be able to cut down on your risk and also make it more likely that you can save your home in the event of a fire.

Turn off heated appliances when you leave the house. Things like your dryer, dishwasher, and space heaters use a decent amount of heat. These are all things you shouldn’t leave running when you’re not home because they could easily catch fire.

Unplug items you’re not using. Excess electricity flowing through items in your home can always be a potential fire hazard. Things like computers, game systems, and more use electricity even when they are not turned on.

Use surge protectors. At the very least, you want to make sure that all of your electronics are plugged into surge protectors. Often, surges are low-level pulses that occur as a result of the unsteady flow of electricity within homes. By plugging items into a surge protector, you don’t have to worry about that excess electricity getting to the item and causing a fire.

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