If you have not lost a loved one to a fire, heard bloodcurdling stories of victims of fires or even witnessed first hand the effect of a fire, this series might not make a lot of sense to you!

But I would wish more than anything in the world that you follow through on this Series.
It could save your Life and Properties or those of other people.

Life is very precious my friends and no point emphasizing that each of us has just one chance to Live.
The goal should be not just to live but to stay alive in the best possible condition!

With every sense of humility I have a background in Health and Safety.
As a matter of fact I'm a certified HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE (HSE), but that's not the story; here's what the story is.....

So I sat in church yesterday and it was testimony time. Someone shared how they walked into their home, put on their switches only for the bulbs to erupt in flames!
Quite scary right?

But that wasn't what scared me, there are different classes of fires and of course specific ways of putting out each type,

So the man continues by saying that he used WATER TO PUT IT OUT, at this point I clutched my heart!

Now from the eyes of a Health and Safety Executive, that was a very dangerous move!

That my Friends, was an electrical fire and using water to quench it would have been a straight ELECTROCUTION in addition to loss of property, if not for the mercies of God!

So many Pictures played out in my head with tags of "what if's?"
Talk about Colossal Disaster!

Beyond the Mercies of God, I realize how uninformed we are on a lot of issues including FIRES!

There and then I decided to share with you guys and as many more people what I know about Fires.

THE GOAL OF THIS SERIES, is to educate you on precautions to take to prevent POTENTIAL FIRES and the best ways to put out FIRES before help comes.

EVERYONE AND ANYONE could be victims of fire!

It's safe to say that fires can be considered the fastest life threatening element that there is!

Fire safety is your PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, Don't wait to count your loses before you learn.

It is on this note I bring to you FIRE PREVENTION!

INTRODUCTION
A fire needs three elements -  HEAT, OXYGEN and FUEL.
These 3 elements form what is referred to as  FIRE TRIANGLE, with one of the elements on each side of the Triangle.

Without HEAT, OXYGEN and FUEL, A FIRE WILL NOT START OR SPREAD.

Pause! Try to picture a Triangle in your head, now hang each of the element I mentioned earlier on one side of the triangle. Beautiful!

Now stay with that picture, it will help you understand the dynamics of fire prevention!

Here is the secret,
A key strategy to prevent fire is to remove one or more of any of the elements - HEAT, OXYGEN and FUEL.

Oh don't be scared, I won't leave you without a clear explanation on how this works but first you'll need to understand these three Elements, know what constituents they are made of.

Before then, I consider it absolutely necessary to show you Some common fire hazards, these include;

• Kitchen fires from unattended cooking, such as frying, boiling, and simmering

• Electrical systems that are overloaded, poorly maintained or defective

• Combustible storage areas with insufficient protection

• Combustibles near equipment that generates heat, flame, or sparks

• Candles and other open flames

• Smoking (Cigarettes, cigars, pipes, lighters, etc.)

• Equipment that generates heat and utilizes combustible materials

• Flammable liquids and aerosols

• Flammable solvents (and rags soaked with solvent) placed in enclosed trash cans

• Fireplace chimneys not properly or regularly cleaned

• Cooking appliances - stoves, ovens, Gas cookers

• Heating appliances - fireplaces, wood burning stoves, furnaces, boilers, portable heaters

• Household appliances - clothes dryers, curling irons, hair dryers, refrigerators, freezers

• Electrical wiring in poor condition

• Leaking Batteries, Car Owners Beware!

• Personal ignition sources - matches, lighters

• Electronic and electrical equipment

• Exterior cooking equipment - barbecue