The Home Depot is Keeping Families Safe During Fire Prevention Month and Beyond

When October arrived, thoughts around here turned to things like enjoying the fall leaves changing color, deciding which costume to wear for Halloween and what products we could find in pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness.

But another topic that has really stuck with me this year is that October is Fire Prevention Month. While I have always felt that we have done a decent job keeping our home safe and our family informed, I feel as though my eyes have been opened to many more ways that we could be proactive thanks to The Home Depot.

According to a 2011 report from the National Fire Protection Association, 62% of reported home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. How frightening is that?

The Home Depot, in partnership with the NFPA and Kidde, has been helping raise awareness of fire safety throughout October by offering in-store fire safety workshops for kids and adults.

As I'm always open to finding out what more I can do to increase my family's safety, Big Sister E and I were happy to head over to The Home Depot and see what we could learn by attending a Safety and Security workshop.

Focusing on fire safety and outdoor lighting, this workshop was to draw attention and help you learn more about making fire safety a priority in your home and identifying and fixing fire hazards. While a home fire can be extremely dangerous, the proper knowledge and preparation can make the difference!

All homeowners should take 10 minutes to make sure their home is properly protected from fires by doing things such as:

• Taking inventory that smoke alarms are on every level of the home and inside each bedroom
• Detect carbon monoxide with a carbon monoxide alarm on each level of the home
• Planning and practicing a fire escape plan using fire escape ladders, two ways out of every room and an outside meeting place
• Search for hidden hazards such as damaged electrical cords or overloaded outlets
• Schedule regular cleanings of chimneys and flues at least once a year
• Create a lighting plan to determine the type of security lighting needed for the home
• Install solar powered, motion sensor security lights

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Along with the workshop, it was easy to see that not only does The Home Depot have tips to keep families safe, but they have the products to do the job as well. After checking out those on display from the workshop...

...we browsed the wide selection of outdoor lighting of all kinds...

...and then soon found ourselves looking down an aisle filled to the brim with everything that you could need to keep your home (and family) safe from carbon monoxide and fire.

As an added bonus, along with learning about fire safety, we happened to be at The Home Depot at the same time as their weekly kids' workshop (free every Saturday morning!) and Big Sister E was more than happy to combine her love of construction and her knowledge about all things firefighter to build a wooden firetruck.

This October, The Home Depot has all of the information, tips and products to help keep your family and home safe throughout Fire Prevention Month and beyond. Visit HomeDepot.com to find out more of their fire safety information and be sure to connect with them on Facebook and Twitter as well.

The Home Depot partnered with bloggers such as me to help promote Fire Safety Awareness Month. As part of this promotion, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the products used. The Home Depot believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.