10 Things Firefighters Say You Should NEVER Keep in Your Home (Number 1 Needs No Flame)

Look at the corner of your house where the water heater or furnace sits. What's within three feet of it? A gas can? A propane tank? A pile of boxes? A rag you balled up after staining the porch railing? In this video I count down ten things that fire safety experts say should not be kept in your home, and number one doesn't need a match, a spark or a flame. I'm Frank Malone. I put in thirty years as a firefighter in central Illinois before I retired, and a lot of my time was spent in garages and basements afterward, working out what started it. It was almost never something dramatic. It was something ordinary, kept in the wrong place, for years. In this video: ✓ The light bulb mistake that makes heat a lamp can't handle ✓ Where cigarette butts and ashes cause fires, and what to do instead ✓ Why a white plastic or foil dryer hose is a problem ✓ The three-foot rule for the furnace and water heater ✓ Why you should never stack things in front of your electrical panel ✓ The age at which an electric blanket becomes a risk ✓ How a blocked path costs you time, and how to clear it kindly ✓ Why propane never belongs in the basement, garage or shed ✓ Gasoline: where it can go and where it can't ✓ Number 1: the pile of oily rags that can catch fire by itself, and how to dispose of them YOUR HOMEWORK (about 30 minutes this week): 1. Walk to the furnace and water heater corner with a flashlight and clear three feet around it. 2. Look for rags, gasoline and propane. Lay rags flat outdoors or put them in a metal can with a lid. Get gas and propane out of the house. 3. Check your electric blanket, your lamp bulbs and your dryer hose, and fix whichever one fails. 4. Ask someone to help with anything heavy. Don't lift it alone. TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS: • What's the one thing in your garage or basement that you now know has to move? • How old is your electric blanket? • Which of the ten surprised you most? The best answers will go in the next video. Next time: the holiday weeks. The tree, the candles, the cords and the Thanksgiving kitchen. SOURCES • National Fire Protection Association and U.S. Fire Administration (fire safety checklist for older adults; clutter and hoarding page) • Consumer Product Safety Commission, clothes dryer fire safety • Electrical Safety Foundation International, electric blanket and heating pad safety • San Francisco Fire Department, propane safety • Consumer Reports, oily rags and spontaneous combustion • Minnesota State Fire Marshal, as reported by FireRescue1 • National Electrical Code panel clearance, as summarized by the Kansas State Fire Marshal's office • Gasoline: a utility company's flammable liquids guidance, a gasoline safety guide and a local township fire marshal's storage rules. Local codes differ, so please check yours with your fire department. SAFETY NOTE If anything in your house is smoking, or you smell gas, get everybody out and call 911 from outside. Don't try to carry it out yourself. Don't lift heavy items alone or climb a ladder to do this. Ask for help. This video is general safety information, not a substitute for your local fire department or a licensed electrician. Heat and time. Take one of them away, and everybody goes home.