Carelessness

Sometimes, forgetfulness can result in an accidental fire. Putting a kettle to boil water on a gas stove and forgetting about it can be disastrous. When all water has evaporated, kettle becomes red hot, melt and spread molten metal around.

LP gas leaks are also dangerous. If fuel-air mixture is in just right proportion, an explosion can occur when a heat source is introduced in. Many accidents have occurred when a light is switched on in an explosive environment. The correct thing to do then is to free room of any gas by shutting off source of gas and letting in more fresh air into room.

Chemical reactions can also cause heat and fire. Mixing acids and alkalis, mixing components of some household glue like epoxy resins and hardeners can generate quite a substantial amount of heat that can lead to fires. The containers used and amount of chemical used can have a great effect on heat produced. Plastic containers are known to melt and burn when large quantities of thermosetting plastics like epoxies are mixed with hardeners.

Fires are also known to be started by careless smokers who throw lighted cigarette butts indiscriminately. Many bush fires are started this way. Some areas are especially vulnerable to careless acts like these. People working in garage at home should be very careful not to cause a fire, especially with open petrol cans and other volatile fuels around them. Sometimes, smokers fall asleep while smoking, and their bed or sofa catches fire. The rubber foam mattress used for bedding can catch fire easily.

Although most electrical equipment is quite safe as far as fire is concerned, use of sub-standard and poorly designed equipment may give rise to overheating and fires. Carelessness in area of electrical appliances can cause fires as well as electrical shocks. Many households use multiple power points because they have many electrical equipment that must be used at same time. Videos, television, fans, radios, and fancy lights may occupy only one electrical socket. When a multiple adapter is used, usually connection pins cannot be fitted very tightly. The loose power connections are a source of sparking and deterioration of insulation materials and can lead to fires.

This will be worst if high powered appliances are used because electrical current drawn from these will be very much higher and so wires and connections gets hotter.

Preventive Measures

Since we know that all three conditions of heat, fuel and oxygen must be present in order for a fire to start; our basic fire prevention strategy must be to keep them isolated from each other. Heat sources must be kept away from combustible materials and if possible, from oxygen.

We should take a critical look at all sources of heat in home. They are potential fire hazards. It is good to make an audit of our own homes and make a list, or at least be aware of all heat sources in home. Electrical wiring, appliances, gas stoves, kerosene lamps, candles, electrical light bulbs, ovens, electrical kettles, barbecue fires, burning garden refuse, and so on, are some of them. Even spells of dry weather should be looked at with vigilance.

The sources of heat are many. Below are some of sources of heat that we have to exercise caution, so that we can be especially careful not to let them come into contact with combustibles:

· Kitchen Gas Appliances - The normal appliances in kitchen are gas stoves, and kerosene stoves. These are normally safe, efficient and seldom gives trouble. However, conditions of kitchen stoves are often spoilt by spillage of soups, gravies, and other food materials from cooking processes. After a long time of use, and especially with cooks who do not take special precautions, gas stove become blackened with carbon, oil and other debris. Gas orifices and nozzles get choked up. Carbon deposits pile up. The carbon deposits become its other source of fuel. The soot fire can burn if it is heated long enough.

The environment in a busy kitchen can make it a fire risk. Gas hoses are especially prone to deteriorate if material used can be attacked by presence of oil. Cooking oil is ever present in kitchen environment. Hoses coated by a layer of oil will produce leaks. Any leak in gas hoses is dangerous. It can shoot flames of fire all around place uncontrollably and spread fire.

Do a regular check on your gas hoses and service your gas stove regularly.

· Electrical Installations and Appliances - Mains electrical wiring and their components can be a hidden source of heat that can cause a fire. Sometimes, due to loose contacts in terminals of electrical switchboxes, some sparking will occur. If this is not found out early and rectified, sparking will become worse, and heat produced becomes more. Carbonization of insulation materials will occur. Once carbon gets deposited on insulation materials, it becomes a conductor of electricity. Short-circuiting of electrical wiring will occur leading to overheating of wiring. If electrical protection devices do not work, overheating will cause insulation materials of wiring to even melt or decompose. When decomposition gases given out by insulation materials catch fire, whole house can be burnt down.

Do a regular check up of your electrical wiring in your house, and quickly call in a qualified electrician to rectify any fault.

Electrical appliances also have to be used properly. When people modify equipment indiscriminately, sometimes they leave out or bypass certain safety features put in by manufacturer. Appliances can become overheated and cause burning. It is better not to do any modification unless you know what you are doing.

As you decide which items to keep, we do offer a word of advice. Keep those items that truly stir your heart or capture important events, and allow yourself to release rest. In her book, The Gift of Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh compares our lives to process of collecting seashells. Imagine that you are exploring beach, gathering shells along way. Each time you uncover a shell, you carefully consider its beauty and uniqueness. You decide whether or not it is worth keeping. By carefully choosing which shells to keep, you end up with a small collection of beautiful shells that bring you joy. If you had insisted on keeping every shell, then your beautiful shells would be lost in mass of other shells.

The same can be said for your memorabilia. If you insist on keeping every item that is attached to a memory of an event or special person in your life, then you will soon be overwhelmed, and your truly precious keepsakes will be lost among masses.

If you need more convincing, then just remember major side benefit of purging. Your task of organizing your memorabilia will be so much easier!

Once you decide which items to keep, you can make secondary decision on how to store or display items. Whichever method you choose, you should be sure to protect your keepsakes from acid, lignin and PVC. Here's a quick explanation of these hazards:

* Acid: A chemical substance that can weaken paper and cloth, causing it to brown and become brittle.

* Lignin: An organic substance that is present in wood pulp. It becomes more and more acidic as it deteriorates. (The yellowing effect of a newspaper is an example of lignin.)

* PVC: (also known as polyvinyl chloride) A chemically active plastic that, when combined with moisture in air can emit hydrochloric acid.

This may sound complicated, but you don't need to worry about remembering details.

Just remember that acid, lignin and PVC will damage photographs and memorabilia! For ultimate protection of your precious keepsakes, be sure that all of your storage and display materials are acid-free, lignin-free, and PVC free.

If you would like to include your memorabilia in a scrapbook album, you have several options:

1. Test item. A pH-testing pen will allow you to determine level of acidity in your item. It might be acid-free, in which case you can put it directly into your album. pH pens are very simple to use; most have a color and pH chart on outside of pen. You simply mark your item in an inconspicuous place and check color against chart.