Fire Safety Tips for Fall

Each new season presents its own fire hazards, but as the weather starts to cool, the average number of residential and outdoor fires increases. Simply being cautious can go a long way in protecting your home, but here are some special considerations for fire safety as the weather starts to cool.

1.Fire Alarm Systems

f you already have installed security systems in your Washington. home, you are off to a good start. An important part of home security in Seattle is having a fire alarm that is activated if a fire is detected. Security systems in Washington homes alert an alarm company in the event of a fire, and the alarm company then notifies the local fire department. This is just one way home security in Seattle helps protect the people and things that mean the most to you.

2. Space Heaters

Many people like to use space heaters to make a room toasty warm in the winter. Space heaters can also prevent the need to use a furnace to heat the entire house when only one room needs to be heated. However, they can be extremely dangerous. Here are some good rules to follow when using space heaters:
- Purchase a space heater with an automatic cut-off switch that turns the heater off if it overheats or gets knocked over.
- Never place clothing on a space heater to dry.
- Keep all drapes and furniture a safe distance from the space heater.
- Turn your space heater off when you are not home.
- Any objects that can easily catch fire should be kept far away from the space heater when it is in use.
- Space heaters might overheat if the air intake gets blocked. Make sure there is a minimum of three feet of space on all sides of the space heater.

3. Home Heating

People use different devices to heat their homes during the cold months. Before turning on your heating device for the first time, thoroughly inspect the unit and make certain it is working correctly. Many problems can develop in a heating device when it sits over the spring and summer. Checking your heating device will not only help to keep you safe from a possible fire, it will also decrease the chances that your device will break down in the middle of the winter when you need it most.

4. Fireplaces

If you use fireplaces to heat your home, or just to add supplemental heat, here are a few things to keep in mind:

- If you have a natural gas fireplace, have a technician check out the connections and lines prior to the cold weather arriving.
- Once every year, have your chimney cleaned and inspected.
- Use a screen to prevent sparks from shooting out of your fireplace.
- Never use gasoline to start fires in the fireplace.
- Make sure someone is always watching the fire.

5. Battery Changes

Devices used to detect smoke and carbon monoxide need regular battery changes. If this task is neglected, there is a chance they will not work when they are needed. Set up a routine for yourself. The easiest thing to do is to change the batteries in all of your devices during Daylight Savings Time. Use this time to also check your fire extinguishers.

6. Leaf Burning

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends discarding yard debris in other ways since burning leaves produces dangerous cancer-causing chemicals. Since many families still prefer to burn their leaves, however, here are some tips to help keep the fire contained:
-Always keep a water hose handy.
-Burn leaves and yard debris in barrels, if possible.
-Keep the fires away from buildings, fuel sources and trees.
-Check the weather report, since this activity should not be attempted on windy days.
-Wear a protective mask, since burning leaves produces cancer-causing chemicals.

Outdated Security Systems Cost Seattle Residents in Money and Aggravation - Is Your Security System Up-to-Date?

The security system in your home is like any other electronic component you may have lying around the house. It is only a matter of time before it becomes outdated and obsolete. It is important to know when this occurs, especially since you are relying on the security system to protect the people you love and the possessions you have worked hard for.

We are fortunate to be living in an amazing age of technology. Because of this, there is constantly new and improved equipment available on the market, so much so that it is often difficult to keep track of all the different technological advances. The home security field is one of those industries that is always developing new ways to keep you and your family safe.

If you feel like your home security system is not as good as it can possibly be, an expert can come to your house and examine your current system to find out if your home security in Seattle is outdated. However, the following items should give you some idea as to whether your security system is outdated or not:

1. No Outside Surveillance

While a home security system should monitor all parts of your house to make sure they are safe and secure, the best security systems today offer the ability to monitor all of your property's outside perimeters. It is wise to have cameras watching your driveways or parking area. If you park your car outside, you should always have a camera pointing directly at it. Intruders are often scared off if they trigger outside alarms, preventing them from getting close to your house. You should upgrade if the outside of your house is not adequately protected.

2. Wiring

If a criminal wants to disable security systems in Washington, one of the first things they will attempt is to neutralize the wiring. Often, it only requires a pair of wire cutters to render an expensive security system inoperative. However, new security systems are designed with back-up power sources. This type of back-up makes it impossible to defeat the system by simply cutting the wires. If you have a security system that has wired sensors, or if it is dependent on an analog system or a keypad, you need to upgrade to a more secure system immediately.

3. Low-Camera Resolution

Obviously, if a crime occurs at your home, you want to be able to see who committed it. Any hope of finding and arresting the people responsible rests with the video images being as clear as possible. If your home security system video resembles the video from a black-and-white convenience store security camera, you need to get a better camera. Luckily for homeowners, the resolution quality of cameras that serve as the eyes of security systems in Washington has increased dramatically in recent years.

Hopefully, you will never have to experience someone breaking into your home. However, these things do happen, so you need to be prepared in order to protect your family. Many burglaries and home invasions happen in neighborhoods that are considered safe. Therefore, many people lower their guard, thinking it will never happen to them. Do not make this mistake. For the safety of you and your family, upgrade your home security in Seattle today.

Washington Security Company Helps Explain Summer's Sizzling Crime Rates

Summertime is the most anticipated season of the year. Children are out of school, swimming pools offer relief from the rising temperatures, and families finally have time to bond on getaways and excursions. But with rising temperatures also comes rising crime rates. In fact, police departments throughout the nation urge citizens to be vigilant and use common sense throughout the summer months when both violent and non-violent property crime rates skyrocket. According to statistics from the prior years, homeowners, car owners, and citizens are all at a greater risk of becoming the victim of an assault, a robbery, or even a homicide during the hottest and most anticipated season of the year. If you are wondering why such a fun time has become a time for criminals to run rampant, here is a straightforward explanation from an experienced and respected Washington security company.

School's Out For Summer

Most people are familiar with the song, but what you may not realize is that when school's out for summer, there is a lot of time for mischief. While the crime rates are higher in every category, police officials acknowledge that the most common type of crimes committed in the summer are vandalism and robbery. School-aged kids are to blame for some of these property crimes, but seasoned criminals are also aware of the fact that getting away with valuables is much easier during the summer heat.

Why Is There Easier Access?

With summer comes heat, and when it is hot, it is common for homeowners and vehicle owners to crack their windows or leave their doors open in an effort to improve airflow in a space. Thieves with experience know that it is common for homeowners to leave their windows open to reduce cooling costs during the nighttime hours. They also know how to get past flimsy screen locks without so much as making a noise. With easy access comes more stolen valuables, more vandalism and more crime as a whole.

Why Home Security is Important

You may be wondering how you can combat crime before you become one of the long list of victims that are making police reports in Seattle each summer season. While there is no full-proof way to avoid becoming a target, there is a way to deter would-be vandals and criminals by working with a home security Seattle expert. Here are some tips you can use to your advantage as the heat and the crime rates in Washington continue to rise:

Only leave windows open on the second level. First-level windows give intruders easy access.

Ask neighbors to keep an eye on your home during the day or while you are on vacation.

If you have children, get them involved in an activity, so they do not participate in mischief.

Pay attention to your surroundings and report suspicious activity.

Do not leave valuables visible through the windows of your cars or in your home.

Invest in a home security system that is monitored by a reputable and local Washington security company.

The FBI has done a lot of research on crime rates in the summer, and they have found that the heat is to blame for a 10 percent rise in crime. While there are a number of causes, frustration, substance abuse and chemical changes due to heat all play a role in why criminals prefer to strike in the heat. Take notice of the problem, deter the criminals with help from a team of home security Seattle experts and stay safe.​

A Washington Security Company Offers Tips on Protecting Your Home While on Vacation

Homeowners leaving to take the family on vacation mull over whether or not they locked the front door or left the light on in the living room as everyone heads on down the road. However, there is more to protecting your home while away on vacation. In addition to the basic tips of having someone keep the lawn mowed or the snow shoveled, our Washington security experts at Security Solutions share their best advice for keeping your home safe while on vacation.

1. Stop the Mail and Newspaper Deliveries

An overstuffed mailbox and newspapers piling up on the porch are beacons to burglars signaling instantly that no one is home. Putting a hold on mail delivery as well as any other deliveries that routinely come to the house is a standard trick most homeowners already do before leaving. However, our experts in home security in Seattle recommend having someone you trust pick up the mail, the paper and any packages that may be delivered while the family is away on vacation. This way, neither the paper delivery person nor anyone at the post office is aware that the house is empty. This also means that the house will be visited every day it sits empty.

2. Effective Use of Timers

Any criminal worth his or her salt is going to be looking for patterns. Most can readily identify senseless use of light timers. Instead of just randomly picking a time for a timer to turn a light off and on, think about normal routines in the house. What gets shut off as everyone goes to bed? Typically, the living room lights and TVs are on until bedtime. Then a light goes on in an upstairs bedroom and bathroom for a time. Then the last light to go out is often the one next to the bed. Also consider what is on during the day. Since most televisions are not compatible with programmable timers, use a portable radio instead.

3. Managing the Drapes

Some homes always have the window shades, blinds or drapes closed. Other homes may open them during the day and close them at night. Deviation from the routine is a red flag that gets noticed by both good and bad people. Your good neighbors will notice any break from a routine just the same as you would notice a change in their routines. Any neighbors who are interested in stealing what is in your home will notice too. If the drapes are going to be closed while away on vacation, begin by closing them a couple of weeks before departure while everyone is still at home.

4. Lock Everything That Has a Lock

This includes the garage door as well as the door from the garage into the home. Most homes have locks on bedroom and bathroom doors that can be locked from the outside using a small screwdriver inserted through the tiny hole in the handle. Make it inconvenient for anyone who may enter the home to get around. Lock every window too.

5. Dealing With Appliances That Use Water

Since the clothes washer uses rubber hoses as water inlets, it is not a bad idea to shut off the water supply to the washer before leaving. The hoses on clothes washers can burst much more easily than metal pipes. Also, if there is a toilet in the house that has a leaky tank valve, shut off the water to it to prevent it from running nonstop while no one is home.

6. Monitored Home Security

Having a system installed that provides 24-hour monitored home security in Seattle is a great way to protect any home. Home alarm systems deter burglars, and the systems also automatically alert the monitoring center of any emergency condition. Sensors installed in your home by our Washington security experts detect intrusion, smoke, fire and carbon monoxide. We also have specialty sensors to detect movement, breaking glass, temperature extremes and even flooding. So, even though no one is at home, the home security system is guarding everything.

Every family wants to protect their home whether they are there every day or away on vacation. Following some simple protocols can prevent a home from being targeted while a family is away on vacation. A home security system will be there every day no matter if family members are asleep in their own beds or a thousand miles away enjoying a tropical paradise vacation.

Advice from a Washington Security Company: Avoiding Fires During Peak Grilling Season

Security Solutions, a full-service company providing state-of-the-art home security in Seattle, wants to help keep you safe this summer from grilling fires. Statistically, home fires started by grills average out to a little over 1,400 per year. Outdoor grilling is supposed to be both a fun and delicious time shared with family and friends, not a time to call the local fire department. Here are some tips from our Washington security specialists to help keep you safe in grilling season.

Grill Placement

Fires that consume more than the grill are most often due to grill placement. All propane and charcoal grills are designed for outdoor use only, but proper placement of grills helps to protect homes from fires. Most people place that shiny new grill on a wooden deck up against the perimeter railings or close to a wall of the house. A propane or charcoal grill of any size is capable of creating enough radiant heat to catch nearby combustibles on fire.

Also, to avoid grilling in the hot sun or rain, many place a grill under the roof of a porch or deck. Vinyl siding and vinyl ceiling covering materials are found on many homes. This material cannot take the heat of a grill that is in close proximity. The vinyl begins to deform, and then will turn into a hot liquid that eventually catches fire. Dry deck railings, nearby lawn furniture and other items are also a problem.

Read and heed the manufacturer's instructions on how far the grill must be kept from combustible materials. Ideally, a grill should be placed on a concrete pad with nothing above or around it on all sides. This includes tree branches that can burn if the grill itself catches fire.

Things Never to Do When Grilling

Never use gasoline to light a charcoal grill.

Never light a dirty grill.

Never leave a lit grill unattended.

Never dump out charcoal that is still hot.

Never attempt to light a grill that is leaking propane.

Never let children or pets near a grill.

Never use a grill indoors.

Never squirt charcoal lighter fluid onto hot coals.

Fire Prevention, Protection and Early Warning

Grills are not the only home fire hazard, especially during the summer months. Many homes now use fire pits of both the permanently installed and portable varieties. Summer also includes the Fourth of July holiday and even though personal fireworks are illegal in Washington, there are still many incidents of home fires caused by them. A still burning bottle rocket or Roman candle landing on a combustible surface can start a home fire blocks away from where it was launched.

Following common sense fire safety rules is the first step in prevention. However, even the best safety measures may not be enough. The next level of protection is a fire extinguisher. When grilling, always keep a spray bottle filled with water to extinguish tiny flare ups. You should also keep a 10-pound or larger dry-chemical fire extinguisher nearby.

Early warning is the next level of protection, and it comes from having round-the-clock monitored home security in Seattle. As your Seattle, Washington security specialists, we install residential alarm systems to protect your home and family not only during the summer grilling season but year-round.

Fire Prevention Plays Integral Role in Washington Security

Fire prevention should be synonymous with home security in Seattle because it is the most prevalent form of financial damages and loss of life in residential structures. The state of Washington has made great strides in laws, regulations and fire codes, but many people remain unprotected in homes that that have inadequate fire prevention and detection measures in place.

Seven People Die Daily in House Fires

Recently, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) introduced new statistics that emphasize the need for better fire prevention and detection in homes. According to the NFPA’s report, seven people die every day in a house fire. In addition, those fires account for more than one billion dollars in damages, and in a majority of them, there is no smoke alarm present or the smoke alarm is not operational.

Protecting Your Home

The first step in protecting your home is to have a working, tested smoke alarm at each level of the home, including the attic and the basement. An optimal layout will have dedicated alarms in attached garages, kitchens and bedroom areas. Ideally, a Washington security firm will monitor those smoke alarms around the clock. Without monitoring, you rely on the residents being able to hear and react to the alarm, which isn’t always possible.

Monthly Inspections

The next step is to review your home every month. Home security in Seattle may take care of the testing for you, but if not, you should test the device and check the battery level. It is also important to examine ignition zones inside and outside the home. Inside, common ignition zones include damaged electrical outlets and frayed wires. Outside, common ignition zones include the roof and the area directly around the base of the home.

Cooking Dangers

The NFPA report indicates that cooking is the most likely cause of residential fires. What usually happens is that someone leaves a stove or other appliance on and unattended and then forgets about it. To avoid such an accident, establish a rule that you turn off any appliance when you leave the kitchen. Brief loss of heat isn’t going to ruin a meal, and if you forget, it’s better to lose the meal than start a fire.

Smoking Dangers

The NFPA report also indicates that smoking is the leading cause of fire-related death. The best solution is to ban smoking in the home. If you need a smoking area, designate one outdoors. Preferably, it should be at least three feet away from the home or any nonflammable items. If that isn’t possible, have a Washington security firm come in, secure the area and install an external smoke detector.

Security Solutions

If you’re a homeowner in need of fire and home security in Seattle, then contact Security Solutions, Bellingham Lock & Safe. Security Solutions is a leading Washington security firm that has been in business since 1904. Since 1971, it has been a leader in electronic security solutions, and it specializes in developing security plans that are uniquely suited to the client and his or her residential space. For more information, please visit www.ssnw.co.

Fire Prevention Plays Integral Role in Washington Security

Home security in Seattle because it is the most prevalent form of financial damages and loss of life in residential structures. The state of Washington has made great strides in laws, regulations and fire codes, but many people remain unprotected in homes that that have inadequate fire prevention and detection measures in place.

Seven People Die Daily in House Fires

Recently, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) introduced new statistics that emphasize the need for better fire prevention and detection in homes. According to the NFPA’s report, seven people die every day in a house fire. In addition, those fires account for more than one billion dollars in damages, and in a majority of them, there is no smoke alarm present or the smoke alarm is not operational.

Protecting Your Home

The first step in protecting your home is to have a working, tested smoke alarm at each level of the home, including the attic and the basement. An optimal layout will have dedicated alarms in attached garages, kitchens and bedroom areas. Ideally, a Washington security firm will monitor those smoke alarms around the clock. Without monitoring, you rely on the residents being able to hear and react to the alarm, which isn’t always possible.

Monthly Inspections

The next step is to review your home every month. Home security in Seattle may take care of the testing for you, but if not, you should test the device and check the battery level. It is also important to examine ignition zones inside and outside the home. Inside, common ignition zones include damaged electrical outlets and frayed wires. Outside, common ignition zones include the roof and the area directly around the base of the home.

Cooking Dangers

The NFPA report indicates that cooking is the most likely cause of residential fires. What usually happens is that someone leaves a stove or other appliance on and unattended and then forgets about it. To avoid such an accident, establish a rule that you turn off any appliance when you leave the kitchen. Brief loss of heat isn’t going to ruin a meal, and if you forget, it’s better to lose the meal than start a fire.

Smoking Dangers

The NFPA report also indicates that smoking is the leading cause of fire-related death. The best solution is to ban smoking in the home. If you need a smoking area, designate one outdoors. Preferably, it should be at least three feet away from the home or any nonflammable items. If that isn’t possible, have a Washington security firm come in, secure the area and install an external smoke detector.

Security Solutions

If you’re a homeowner in need of fire and home security in Seattle, then contact Security Solutions, Bellingham Lock & Safe. Security Solutions is a leading Washington security firm that has been in business since 1904. Since 1971, it has been a leader in electronic security solutions, and it specializes in developing security plans that are uniquely suited to the client and his or her residential space. For more information, please visit www.ssnw.co