• ​Carbon monoxide (CO) is often called the "Invisible Killer" because it's a colorless, odorless, poisonous gas.
• Improperly used or incorrectly vented fuel burning appliances, such as furnaces, stoves, water heaters, generators and fireplaces, emit CO gases.
• Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
• An average of 430 people in the Unites States die every year from accidental, non-fire related CO poisoning.
• Because CO is odorless, colorless, and otherwise undetectable to the human senses, people may not know they are being exposed. 
• A person can be poisoned by a small amount of CO over a longer period of time or by a large amount of CO over a shorter amount of time.
• Initial symptoms of low to moderate CO poisoning are flu-like.

​Safety Tips

• Home heating systems should be inspected and serviced annually by a trained service technician.
• Never use portable generators inside homes or garages, even if doors and windows are open. 
• Use generators outside only, far away from the home.
• Never bring a charcoal grill into the house or garage for heating or cooking. 
• Never use a gas range or oven for heating.
• An open fireplace damper may help prevent build-up of poisonous gases inside the home.
• Know the symptoms of CO poisoning: headache, fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness.
• High level, CO poisoning results in progressively more severe symptoms, which include: mental confusion, vomiting, loss of muscular coordination, loss of consciousness, and death.

• Working smoke alarms decrease the chances of dying in a home fire by 50%.
• In today’s fires, families have an average of 2 minutes to get out of their homes once the smoke alarm sounds.
• 120 fire deaths occurred across North Carolina in 2020, and in many of those homes did not have working smoke alarms.
• 3 out of every 5 home fire deaths across the nation result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
• Dead batteries cause 25% of the smoke alarm failures; hardwired power source problems cause 7% of the failures. 

Safety Tips

• Place a smoke alarm on every level of your home outside sleeping areas.  If bedroom doors are kept shut, place a smoke alarm in each bedroom.
• Teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like and what to do when they hear it.
• Prepare and practice an escape plan – know at least two ways to get out of a room, crawl low under smoke and plan where to meet outside.
• Keep smoke alarms clean by regularly vacuuming over and around it.  Dust and debris can interfere with the smoke alarms operation.
• Install smoke alarms away from windows, doors, or ducts that can interfere with proper operation.
• Never remove the battery from or disable a smoke alarm.  If your smoke alarm is sounding “nuisance alarms,” try moving it away from kitchens or bathrooms.
• Replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old.

• In less than 30 seconds, a small flame can turn into a major fire. 
• Fire can spread rapidly throughout your home, leaving as little as one or two minutes to escape safely once the smoke alarm sounds.
• Only 47% of families have developed and practiced a home, fire escape plan.
• Every two and a half hours, someone is killed in a home fire. In a typical year, 20,000 people are injured in a home fire.
• Having a working smoke alarm reduces the chance of dying in a fire by nearly half.
• Children and older adults are twice as likely to die in a home fire.
• A closed door may slow the spread of smoke, heat and fire.
• Click here to make your own plan
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• ​Safety Tips
• Draw your home floor plan.
• Label all the rooms and identify the doors and windows. 
• Identify if a ladder is needed.
• Plan 2 escape routes from every room.
• Provide alternatives for anyone with a disability.
• Agree on a meeting place where everyone will gather after you have escaped.

• 49% of home fires were caused by cooking.
• Cooking is the leading cause of home fires and fire injuries in the US.
• 31% of reported home cooking fires and 48% of cooking fire deaths are a result of unattended equipment.
• 66% of home cooking fires start from food or other cooking materials catching on fire.
• Ranges or stovetops, account for almost 62% of home cooking fire occurrences.
• Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires, followed by Christmas Day and Christmas Eve.

​Safety Tips

• Stay in the kitchen when frying, grilling, or broiling food. 
• Always keep at least a 2.5 pound class ABC fire extinguisher in the kitchen and near any open fire or grilling.
• Set a timer to remind you of cooking times. 
• Keep anything that can catch fire away from your stovetop. 
• Ensure a 3-foot, kid-free zone around your cooking area. 
• Turn pot handles away from the stove’s edge and use the back burners when possible. 
• When cooking, wear short, close-fitting or tightly rolled sleeves. 
• If you have a fire in your microwave, turn it off immediately and keep the door closed.
• Small grease fires should be extinguished by smothering the flames,
• For oven fires, turn off the oven and leave the door closed. 
• Do not cook if you are sleepy, have taken medication, drugs, or consumed alcohol. 
• Plug the microwave directly into an outlet and do not use an extension cord that can overload the circuit.
• If your clothes do catch fire, stop, drop, and roll!