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Home Safety Tips
You probably don’t like to think about crime, especially when it comes to your new home and neighborhood. But no matter your income, lifestyle or where you live, crime, fires, and other natural disasters are a fact of life. That doesn’t mean you’re defenseless, though. Put the following home security and fire safety tips into action and your new home and neighborhood will be safer and more secure.
Lock Up
Reliable dead-bolt door locks and sturdy window latches help to ensure your home safety. Check to make sure your doors and windows are sturdy and secure.
Install Peepholes
Peepholes with magnifying lenses let you see who’s at your door – without opening it .
Be Careful with Spare Keys
If you leave a spare key outside, be creative. Burglars routinely check under flowerpots andwelcome mats as well as window ledges.
Lighten Up
Secure your new home by leaving your outside lights on at night. If your neighborhood is dimly lit, ask your municipal authorities to add streetlights or replace existing bulbs with ones of higher wattage. Leave one or two lamps on inside your house when you’re not at home. Strategic lighting is a valuable deterrent.
Visible Address
Be sure your address is visible from the street so emergency vehicles can easily identify your street address.
Trim the Hedges
Tall hedges provide hiding places for would-be burglars. Keep yours trimmed so that they’re no higher than your windowsills. Need help from a professional? Find a pre-screened landscaper.
No Notes
Never leave notes on your door, even when you’re at home.
Make your Mark
Permanently mark your valuables to make it easier for the police to return them to you if they are stolen. Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers with a state abbreviation work best. Keep a record of marked objects.
Make Noise
Tune the stereo or TV to your favorite station when you leave the house. To a burglar it means that someone’s home.
Don’t Provide Access
Close and lock garage doors to protect valuables stored there and to prevent access to your house.
Park in the Driveway
Park an additional car in your driveway or ask a neighbor to park there. It gives the appearance that someone’s always home and prevents burglars from backing a van into the drive for easy loading.
Have Your home Watched
Ask a neighbor to collect newspapers and mail when you’re away. If you’ll be gone for an extended period, hire someone to take care of your lawn or even to housesit. Most important, make sure your neighbors know when you will leave and when you will return.
Get Involved
Get to know your new neighbors and team up with them to form a crime watch program to ensure home safety for everyone on the block. Your local police can help you get started.
Install a Home Security System
Make sure the system is easy to use and provides you with an added sense of safety – without limiting your freedom while you’re at home.
Medical and Fire Safety Tips:
- Install monitored smoke/heat and carbon monoxide detectors. With monitored detectors, when smoke or heightened levels of carbon monoxide are present, the monitoring center is notified and emergency personnel are summoned if necessary.
- Clean your gutters regularly. Dry leaves and evergreen needles in rain gutters can easily ignite in some cases.
- Avoid grease build-up in the kitchen and appliances. Cooking fires are a common cause of home fires, never leave cooking food on the stovetop unattended.
- Do not overload circuits or sockets.Make sure every room in your new home has enough electrical outlets to avoid the need for multiple attachment plugs.
- Plan an escape route for your new home. Have an escape route for each area of the home and a designated meeting place outside .