Danger? It’s Right at Home

A teenager prepares a frozen pizza lunch while his parents are working, then leaves home himself for the day--and forgets to turn off the oven.

Here’s a suggestion from local fire authorities: Don’t do that!

“Any heat source unattended for a long period of time, you’re asking for trouble,” Fullerton Fire Battalion Chief Gary Dominguez said. “Just a loaf of bread close to the stove could catch fire.”

That teenager happened to be mine, and it was a reminder to me that the home is one of the high-risk areas for accidents.

But fire is not the only home danger. The National Safety Council reports 6.8 million disabling injuries in the home last year, plus 28,400 deaths. The greatest causes of death were falls (9,200), poisons (6,700), fire (3,300), suffocation (1,600) and drowning (1,100).

The council’s safety experts recommend we create a checklist of dangers for every room in the house.

Here’s a kitchen mistake I often make:

“Turn pot handles inward so that children-- and even pets--can’t reach them,” writes Courtney Ronan of Realty Times, a publication that serves the real estate industry.

Ronan also points out that some microwave fires have started because someone hit “20:00” instead of “2:00” on the timer and then left the room.

“We’ve all done it at least once,” she writes, “but it can start a near-inferno in your kitchen.”

Leaving an oven or microwave unattended is our single biggest mistake. The National Assn. of State Fire Marshals says that in 75% of kitchen fires, no one is there when the fire breaks out.

The National Safety Council points out scores of other household dangers. Some parents assume, for example, that it’s safe for a child to sit in a screened window sill. But some children lean against the screen and fall through. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission lists glass doors and window panels as the leading products involved in home accidents (more than 200,000 annually). The next highest, by the way, comes from misuse of home work tools.

Bathrooms can be a problem too. Too many of us refuse to put down safety mats in our bathtubs. But what happens if someone elderly comes to stay the night?

Lori Fernandez, obstetrics education program manager for Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, teaches new parents to crawl around their house on their hands and knees. “It gives you a chance to see the world the way your child sees it,” she said. “You can spot which things are in easy reach and need to be locked away.”

She also noted that children will put almost anything in their mouths, including house plants, many of which are poisonous. Check with a nursery to learn which ones are.

Check the National Safety Council’s Web site (https://www.nsc.org) for more safety tips. Or call the American Red Cross. Rebecca Long of the Red Cross’ Orange County chapter sent me a whole set of safety recommendations, every page filled with useful tips. One example: Never leave portable space heaters on overnight.

By the way, despite my teen son’s kitchen error, don’t think that teens are the big problem. The state fire marshals group reports that less than 5% of kitchen fires are started by those under 18. We baby boomers are the most careless.

Readers may reach Hicks by calling (714) 564-1049 or e-mail to [email protected].