Request a Fire Safety Inspection with Escambia County Fire Rescue
While there are several ways a fire can be started at your home, Escambia County Fire Rescue encourages residents to stay prepared and protect your property by requesting a fire safety inspection.
Residents can be diligent in making sure they take proper precautions while cooking, utilizing the fire place or fire pit, or ensure candles are extinguished before leaving the home or going to bed. However, a fire safety inspection to your home can identify hazards that could have gone unnoticed.
Recently, ECFR was called to a home in Century for a fire safety inspection. During the inspection, burn marks to three power outlets were discovered in the home. The burn marks were caused by the old wiring in the home taking on too much power from items such as televisions, vacuums and air conditioning units. Wiring for smoke detectors were also discovered, leading to two new smoke detectors to be installed.
“When there is a home that is supplied with older electric wiring, you run a greater chance of the wiring to overheat and possibly catch fire,” said Fire and Life Safety Specialist Ray Melton. “We encourage residents to contact an electrician immediately if they discover this issue in their home.”
The Century resident was encouraged to contact an electrician and has since had their electric wiring replaced.
“I am very grateful for all that ECFR does to keep people safe,” said Century resident Alma Nettles. “I had a pan fire on my stove and realized I needed my smoke detectors inspected. Mr. Melton came out and explained that I have hardwired detectors, but none were install. He installed two battery-powered alarms. Mr. Melton taught me things that I wasn’t even aware of and I am not wasting any time getting the repairs taken care of. I can have peace-of-mind now that I know the dangers that I never knew existed and how to correct them. I am so thankful for Escambia County Fire Rescue!”
Since the free fire safety inspection service began last January, four Escambia County homes have been fully-inspected, leading to preventative actions to ensure safety in the homes.
If you are interested in a courtesy fire safety inspection for your home, contact Ray Melton at remelton@myescambia.com or call (850) 471-6525.