Secure Home Checklist | Fire Safety

Secure Home Checklist

This checklist is designed to help you improve security in your home

Doors

• Install a wide-angle peep hole.
• Entrance doors should have a solid core.
• Doors should fit tightly into door jambs and strike plates must be secure.
• When closed, sliding doors need a metal bar to fill the inside track.
• Locks on the inside of the door should be at least 40 inches from glass.
• Use deadbolt locks that extend at least 1 inch into the strike plate.
• Locks should be replaced after you take possession of your new home.

Windows

• Metal windows need a lock or metal bar in addition to a catch.
• Windows left open for ventilation should be secured.
• Curtains or blinds should fully cover windows.

Exterior

• Keep shrubs cut below window level.
• Your house number should be easily visible from the street.
• Make sure front and back doorways are well lit or spot lit.
• Keep bicycles, lawn mowers, and other gear inside and out of sight.
• Join Neighborhood Watch and display the decals on your front and back doors.

Garage

• Keep your garage door closed and locked when not in use.
• Remove vehicle keys and lock vehicles in the garage.
• Have a light inside the garage.

Alarms

• Alarms monitored 24 hours by a Central Alarm Station service are recommended and may qualify for an insurance premium discount.
• Alarms should protect the full perimeter of your residence.

While on vacation...

• Stop delivered items such as newspaper subscriptions.
• Store valuables in a safety deposit box.
• Use timers to automatically turn lights on and off.
• Have a neighbor or friend pick up hand bills and mail.
• Arrange to have snow shoveled and the grass cut.
• Do lock all your doors and windows.
• Do leave a radio playing loud enough to be heard just outside the door.
• Do place your vehicle registration in the glove compartment or a non-visible location.
• Do close your drapes and window coverings.
• Do have someone check your home daily especially in the winter months to prevent furnace failure and pipes freezing. Also check freezers and refrigeration.
• Do not leave keys hidden outside the house.
• Do not leave notes outside the house explaining your absence.
• Do not leave a message on your answering machine or voice mail indicating your travel.
• Do not have work associates divulge to callers of your destination or length of stay.
• Do not have identification tags on house and car keys.

Your personal security

• Do not open the door until you confirm the person's identity.
• If somebody asks to use your phone, have them wait outside while you make the call for them.
• Do not give out personal information to telephone solicitors.
• If you arrive home and suspect a break-in, leave and call the police.
• Never indicate that you're not home on your telephone answering machine.
• If you lose your keys, change your locks.

Ten Important Steps to Fire Safety:

1. Have a smoke alarm on every floor, by the stairwell, and near every bedroom.
2. Have an escape plan in case of an emergency. Every major room should have two ways to exit.
3. Close your bedroom door. In the case of a fire, a closed door will keep the smoke and fire out for up to twenty minutes. Try to remember to sleep with the door closed.
4. Roll out of bed if you hear a smoke alarm ringing. The hottest air and thickest smoke rises. Crawl under the smoke and out of the room to safety.
5. Know the safest ways out of your room if there is a fire. If your door is hot (feel it with the back of your hand), DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR. Use an alternate route to escape. If you are on the second floor, yell out the window and wave your pillowcase or blanket to get attention.
6. Never hide, even if you are very frightened. Do not try to get away from the fire by hiding.
7. Feel your door with the back of your hand. If it feels hot, do not open the door. If it is not hot, open it very slowly and peek out of the door before crawling to safety.
8. Plan a safe meeting place outside of the house. Gather there and count heads.
9. After everyone is safe and accounted for, call the fire department by dialing 9-1-1.
10. Every month practice your escape route, and meet in the safe meeting place.