Thinking about fire and the havoc it can wreak on homes and families is a devastating thought. Many of choose to ignore the though altogether in an attempt to not have to deal with the coinciding harsh realities of fires within the home. However simply ignoring the topic is one of the worst things you can do. Being informed and prepared in case of a fire within your home can be one of the best ways to ensure the future safety of not only your belongings but your family as well.

Smoke alarms are paramount to the safety of any home and having them installed in the right places and working properly can be the single greatest fire prevention tactic you can use. Following a few simple tips and suggestions when it comes to installation and prevention of smoke alarms can be the difference between life and death in many instances.

The most important tip, and for good reason, is to outfit your home with a number of working and reliable smoke alarms in a number of different places throughout your home. While many people do indeed follow up with the installation, a number of people forget to maintain them or check the batteries to ensure the alarms are working in the way they were intended. I'm sure you have heard all this before, but it simply cannot be said enough; check your smoke alarms regularly. If you are unsure, check them again. The protection smoke alarms can offer your family is immeasurable.

The best places to install smoke alarms are near appliances that can be fire hazards and as close as possible to the areas where you or anyone in your family sleeps. You should have at least one alarm on each floor and preferably one in each bedroom or guest room just to be safe. Some people will argue that smoke alarms are simply not that important. Many people think that they will know if there is a fire and do not need an alarm. This is simply untrue.

Most deaths that are related to fire are caused through smoke inhalation and not actually through burns. By the time you or your family feels the heat or smells the fire, you will already be breathing in smoke. Smoke alarms can warn you and help you get out of the house before the smoke has taken over your room. These extra few minutes can truly make the difference in terms of getting outside and to a safe place before the toxic gases from the fire start to damage your health.

While some people see smoke alarms as a nuisance, there is simply no set value that you can place on you and your family's safety. Sure it might get annoying to check on the alarms once a month or to turn them off if you happen to burn something, but this is a small price to pay when it comes to a piece of equipment that can save your life.


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You may have heard many stories of homes ruined by fire and you may have seen enough footage of houses being burned to the ground because of accident fires. You may have seen the pain on the faces of the families who have lost their shelter and everything they owned to fire, burglary and natural calamities. Surely, you do not want those things to happen to your family and your home. By simply installing reliable fire alarm systems, you can protect your family as well as your home from being harmed by fire and minimizing the risk of accidental fires. This can be done by sorting through and disposing of any fire hazard items not needed in your home. Similarly, you will need something to protect all your important and personal valuables. For centuries now, the use of home safes has been one of the most reliable devices to protect anything of value to its owners.

There is a saying that goes, "no amount of protection can last indefinitely". No matter how many gadgets we have installed in our homes or how much we have already spent on fire proofing our homes, there is still a lingering chance for the possibility of it getting caught by fire; to some extent, home building materials can stand up to fire. Their capacity of being fire-proof diminishes with age or direct and prolonged exposure to open fire and whilst that saying applies to home building materials, it didn't apply to home safe constructions. If only we can build our homes with similar materials as to their construction. Thanks to modern science, home safes are now easily concealed and fully resistant to fire.

The modern exterior and interior constructions of a typical home safe have been fully developed to absolutely resist fire. Commercially speaking, there are two types of home safe construction in terms of fire protection; the fireproof safe and the fire-resistant safe. Many home safe brands would claim that their safes are fireproof; experts agree that there is no such thing as a fireproof safe. Although their products are heavily insulated, the material construction of the safes still succumbs to the damaging effects of fire with prolonged exposure or at certain level of temperature. In the real world, there is only the fire-resistant safe- the one provides the safest and most secure place to store family valuables and documents for any home. With the ingenuity in the design and construction of fire-resistant home safes, it can now be installed at the corners or spots of your home, which burglars and thieves will definitely find it hard to locate.

When you decide to buy your very own fire-resistant safe, you may choose among a number of designs which are intended to be installed at the typical portions of your home. You may choose among the varying fire-resistant features and sizes of wall safes and floor safes. You may choose at a varying range of fire resisting features or protection ratings, ranging from 800-1200 degrees Fahrenheit peak temperature resistance. Just make sure that the floor or the walls of your home can accommodate the size and the weight of your selected design of home safe. Have it installed by a professional safe installation officer to optimize your valuable's security and safety against fire as well as theft.


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As we approached the year 2000, there was much anxiety and dread over what would happen. The usual "the end is near" crowd warned us, of course, but then we had real world concerns over our computer systems. What chaos might befall us if the machines we had come to rely on suddenly stopped working or, worse, stopped working properly!

Of course, we survived all that with hardly a scratch.

Now, we face the next potential doomsday: the year 2012.

The Mayan clock runs out in December of 2012. There are some interesting astronomical alignments coming in the year 2012. These things, and others, have some warning of impending doom, once again.

Will we be blasted with gamma rays from a distant galaxy? Will the Earth's crust shift, moving the continents into different temperature zones and causing massive land changes? Will some doomsday minded people bring about the end through man-made catastrophes? If any of these things happen, how can we survive?

The first thing we can do is to be prepared. Even without the potential end of the world hanging over our heads, we are always at risk of natural disasters, from tornadoes and hurricanes, to earthquakes and flooding, and so on. Disaster preparedness should be a practice of every household! It definitely should not be something you only think of when prophecy comes knocking at your door.

Be ready to stay put! If a disaster occurs, you may need to be able to survive at home for days or even weeks, depending upon the type and extent of the disaster. You should make sure that you have enough food and water, as well as medicines and other necessities, sufficient to make it through several weeks without outside contact. You might want to keep supplies stored in a mobile plastic container that can be moved easily. In the event of a tornado, you may seek refuge in your basement but, in the event of flooding, you might seek safety on your second floor. So, keep an emergency container where it can be easily found and moved as the disaster may require.

You should also develop an emergency plan for your home with plans for different types of disasters. Have an evacuation plan too. For example, in the event of a tornado, where is the safest part of your house? If you have sufficient notice, will you be safer at home or seeking shelter at a neighbor's home or community shelter?

Be ready to be mobile! Some disasters may require that you abandon your home. Such disasters may include chemical spills, wild fires, earthquakes, etc. You might use the emergency supplies container you store in your home, moving it to your trunk or back seat if leaving your home becomes required. Alternatively, you might want to keep a separate emergency supplies kit in your car. That way, too, if disaster strikes when you're not at home, you won't need to run home to fetch your supplies.

Be kind to each other! If you believe that the end of the world will be a man-made event, then simple acts of kindness may be your best safety net. Spread the kindness around. You may not be able to change the world, but you can change your neighborhood. As the kindness moves along, you may just find that you can change the world after all!

If disaster does strike, whether it's a "normal" disaster or an end-of-the-world-type catastrophe, all the survivors will need to work together to ensure their long-term survival.

If worries about 2012 and the "end of the world" motivate you to get a disaster preparedness kit together, that's a silver lining on the clouds of worry. But, if the end doesn't come, don't abandon or neglect your preparedness plans and kits, as many did after the year 2000. No part of the world is immune from disaster of some form occurring, so be prepared and don't get caught off-guard!



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dan_C._Rinnert

I'm sure most people have heard all the news about obesity problems in America. So in the era of news stories that tell us that we are facing an obesity epidemic, talking about potential food shortages might seem a little strange. But there seems to be a problem evolving and the majority of America may not have grasped the hard truth. With the economic issues of the day - plunging stock market, unsure international crises, potential civil unrest within our country, and others - we need to rethink what we assume to be an unlimited abundance of food producers and distribution network. However, most people don't understand that how fragile this system is, with multiple stress points that could break. It's really simple: if trucks can't get through to deliver merchandise, there will not be food on the the shelves of food stores, and they will empty in a matter of days.

According to most government studies, most people have enough food on hand in their home to only get by one-three weeks. So if you have not taken care of long term food storage, you can get started relatively easy by purchasing pre-packaged food supply. Today there are multiple options available with all the specially prepared canned and dried foods available, making it fairly cheap and easy. Freeze dried foods, dehydrated foods and canned foods are the less expensive option. MRE's are another option but they are are more pricey. I prefer to have a a variety of food options so I have stocked up on a variety of all the above.

General Guidelines For Your Long Term Food Supply

-- Getting the right calorie requirements is very important, and the rule-of-thumb is to consume 1500 to 2000 calories per person/per day.
-- Optimize storage by buying bulk and using foods that pack a lot of volume in small spaces - in other words freeze dried foods, dehydrated foods and canned foods.
-- Spend the majority of your survival money on food that has long shelf lives, again with freeze dried foods, dehydrated foods and canned foods.
-- Keep some portion of your food lightweight in the event you need to evacuate.

The following are question that you need to consider as you finalize your long term food storage plans:

-- do you have space for food storage and how much?
-- are there any special dietary issues that you need to manage?
-- are you willing to make the necessary effort to prepare your food storage plan?
-- what is the emergency strategy you are most likely to make -- staying in your house or going somewhere else?

Although every person will have different issues to consider with long term food storage because of size of house, closet space, etc., choosing the right products will help you keep your family safe even in the worst of times.



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