Preventing Fires in Miami and Miami Beach

5/24/2017 (Permalink)

Educate kids about the dangers of fire . . . and steps to take on how to prevent fires! This Miami Beach child is ready to be a Fire Prevention Hero!

The statistics on fires in the U.S. are staggering.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (click here) there were 1,345,500 fires reported in the United States in 2015.

These fires caused 3,280 civilian deaths, 15,700 civilian injuries, and $14.3 billion in property damage.

• 501,500 were structure fires, causing 2,685 civilian deaths, 13,000 civilian injuries, and $10.3 billion in property damage.


• 204,500 were vehicle fires, causing 500 civilian fire deaths, 1,875 civilian fire injuries, and $1.8 billion in property damage.


• 639,500 were outside and other fires, causing 95 civilian fire deaths, 825 civilian fire injuries, and $252 million in property damage.

The 2015 U.S. fire loss clock a fire department responded to a fire every 23 seconds. One structure fire was reported every 63 seconds.

• One home structure fire was reported every 86 seconds.


• One civilian fire injury was reported every 34 minutes.


• One civilian fire death occurred every 2 hours and 40 minutes.


• One outside and other fire was reported every 52 seconds.


• One highway vehicle fire was reported every 3 minutes 1 seconds.

The focus has to be on prevention. 

Here are a few tips to prevent a fire at your Miami Beach / Miami / Surfside home or business.  These are courtesy of the American Red Cross (click here):

• Believe it or not, many people in Miami and Miami Beach use space heaters! Many times this is done in a commercial settings -- workers are frequently in offices with very cool air conditioning, and can't take it. Make sure to keep items that can catch on fire at least three feet away from anything that gets hot, such as space heaters.


• Talk to children regularly about the dangers of fire, matches and lighters and keep them out of reach.


• Turn portable heaters off when you leave the room or go to sleep.


• Install smoke alarms on every level of your home and outside every sleeping area. Also, install a carbon monoxide alarm in a central location outside each separate sleeping area.


• Check electrical wiring in your home.


• Avoid overloading outlets or extension cords.


• Make sure wiring is not under rugs, attached by nails, or in high traffic areas.

Simple steps can go a long way to protect all of us in Miami and Miami Beach. Let's join the fight together!