With recent events that have hit close to home it has me thinking, are there things that I can do now in case of an emergency, specifically a house fire? I think all the time about our 72 hour kits and making sure we have all the essentials inside of them. But I haven’t put much thought into a house fire and what I can do to prepare myself and my family for one. So I’ve done some research and thought of some things you can do now in case a tragedy, like a house fire, hits your home.

First thing is to check your insurance. See what’s covered and know what to expect. Look at temporary housing, will they cover your housing while you rebuild? What if you lose most of your belongings inside, what will they replace? Think about taking inventory of your items as well. Writing this all down can take so much time so I recommend pictures! Then be sure you back those up or put copies of them in your fire proof safe. If you’re like me you’re thinking to yourself “I’ll take pictures of things when I get the room cleaning up or the closet cleaned out” PLEASE DON’T! A house fire can happen at any time and with almost no warning. You just can’t plan for when it will happen so the sooner you can get those pictures taken the better.

While thinking about your items in your house make sure you have your valuables and important documents in a fire proof safe as well. I’m talking birth certificates, Social Security cards, insurance documents, passports and more. You can find lists of documents you should have a copy of in your safe online, here’s a good one you can checkout. If you also have family heirlooms or other valuables, you might want to consider leaving those in your safe if possible or take photos of them.

Make sure your family knows what to do if you’re house does catch fire while you’re home. Practice and go over with them where the family meeting spot is outside of the home and how to get out of each room. Be sure you also take the precautions you need like cleaning out your duck work, checking your smoke alarms often and changing out the batteries at least once a year. You can also install fire extinguishers in different places in your home. We have one in the kitchen and another in the garage.

Most important thing to remember is that things can be replaced, new memories can be made but people can not. Keep your family safe and ready in case of an emergency. Hug those you love often and let them know just how much you care.