Are you Playing with Fire?

As the season changes, most of us are staying longer indoors watching TV, spending time cooking, reading or hanging out with loved one ... at home.

It is also the time of the year that we need to be cautious about home safety, particularly fire and carbon monoxide. U.S. Fire Administration estimated in 2009, there were 410 deaths caused by fire because of carelessness and 360 deaths caused by smoking.

There is a 7 percent increase because of carelessness but 30 percent decrease because of smoking. Good news and bad news …

Why the increase in carelessness?

To find out, I posted a question to my readers: What advice did your parents give you that you now wish you had listened to? There were 55 replies, the answers were:

You marry too young.

Save money.

Stay out of debt and always have savings.

Don’t marry him. He is not good for you.

Are we playing with fire when we don’t listen to advice? Would it be the same as carelessness in our life now?

As a real estate agent in Livingston, here are my 5 tips for fire prevention and to teach fire safety to your family:

Smoke detector: Install smoke detector in every bedroom and make sure they are in working condition. Most of the time smoke detectors do not operate because of non-working batteries (dead or not connected properly). Set a day each year to change and check the batteries on your smoke detector -- maybe on daylight saving day.

Fire extinguisher: Have fire extinguishers in the kitchen and garage. Learn to use it before something happen. Many times homeowners have the extinguisher but some family members may not know how to use them during emergencies.

Be cautious with candles and decorative lights: It is the time of the year where more candles are used and also time to bring out the decorative lights for Halloween, Hanukkah and Christmas. They can be hazardous if we are not cautious.

Cooking safety: Be sure to turn off all stoves and oven after use or before you leave your home.

Check appliances and fireplace: All appliances are in working order. Your fireplace and stand alone heating unit are being used with care.

Children are unaware of the dangers of playing with fire. Imagine Johnny is fascinated with the fireplace and decide to place a stick with marshmallows while the babysitter was there?

It is never too early to teach fire safety to our children.

Another important tool necessary for each bedroom is carbon monoxide detector. National Fire Protection Association calls carbon monoxide the silent killer. It is invisible, odorless and colorless. Heating and cooking equipment are potential sources of carbon monoxide poisoning.

We cannot play with fire. We have to be educated as homeowners about the danger of fire and carbon monoxide poisoning. Recently a woman in Florida died of carbon monoxide poisoning because her neighbor forgot and left his car running in a garage below her apartment. She died while sleeping in her bedroom.

That is a death because of carelessness of a neighbor. Let’s not play with fire.