It’s always important to make sure both you and your pet are safe from any kind of fire-related incident – indoors and outside. Here’s how to stay prepared for a fire accident and to keep your pet fire safe at all times.

1. Make sure your dog or cat doesn’t start the fire! Never leave your pet alone with fire – in a fireplace, bar-b-q, space heaters, halogen lamps, or candles. Curious pets can be drawn to flames, and cats are notorious for knocking over-lit candles with their tails. 
2. Plugged-in extension cords can look like a toy to a cat or dog, and even chords from plugged-in appliances like televisions or lamps may seem like a chew toy to a pup, so secure chords to the wall and unplug extension cords when not in use.
3. Design an evacuation route and practice it with your pets. As part of that plan, leave treats and leashes for each of your pets at all your exits.
4. Clear glass bowls on a wooden deck can focus sunlight like a magnifying glass and can start a fire.
5. Make sure you have smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in your home, and with pets, it’s a safer option to invest in monitored smoke detection. This way, if they are alone, the fire department will be alerted and will arrive sooner with a better chance of saving them.
6. Post stickers on your doors and windows indicating how many and what kinds of pets are in your house so firefighters know to search for them.
7. Make sure your pets wear collars with tags and are micro-chipped in case they get lost during a fire.
8. If you keep your pets in closed rooms when you are away, try to keep them near the front of the house so that they can be found quicker and saved more easily.

Especially as we enjoy these long summer months, it’s important to keep these easy prevention tips in mind to make sure your furry family members are kept safe.