The kitchen
Cooking left unattended, towels and packaging near burners, a grease-loaded hood filter, and flammables stored above the stove.
Fire safety assessments by an actual firefighter
This is the assessment nobody else offers: an actual firefighter walking your loved one's home — testing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, spotting the hazards that cause real fires, and building an escape plan matched to your loved one's real mobility. Older adults face a higher risk of dying in a home fire, and much of that risk can be reduced with simple, low-cost changes.
Plainly put
What is a home fire safety assessment?
A home fire safety assessment is a visit in which a Firefighter/Paramedic checks the alarms protecting a home, looks for common household ignition sources, and works through an escape plan the occupant could genuinely carry out. Findings are written down; nothing is installed or repaired.
It takes a firefighter because the same kitchen reads differently depending on what you have been called to. A power strip behind a sofa is a detail to most people, and a familiar cause to someone who has traced burn patterns back to one.
What's included
What the fire safety check covers
- Smoke and CO alarm check — placement, age, test, batteries
- A sweep for common household ignition sources
- Electrical load and appliance review
- An escape plan built around real mobility, hearing and vision
- Written summary of findings
$99 one-time · no membership required · included in the Peace of Mind plan · See all pricing →
First thing we check
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms
An alarm on the wall is not the same as an alarm that works. We test each one, note where it sits relative to sleeping areas, and read the manufacture date on the back — units have a service life, and one fitted when the house was bought is often past it.
Then the chirp. A low-battery chirp at three in the morning is maddening, and what people do is pull the battery and mean to replace it. Months later the ceiling still holds a silent alarm. We ask about that without judgement, then note which units need a battery, which need replacing, and where a CO alarm is missing.
Where fires start
Ignition sources we look for
Space heaters
Clearance from bedding, curtains and upholstery, whether the unit is plugged straight into a wall socket, and whether it runs overnight.
Outlets and power strips
Strips daisy-chained into strips, high-draw appliances on extension leads, warm faceplates, and cords under rugs or pinched behind furniture.
Smoking materials
Where smoking happens, what serves as an ashtray, and whether it happens near oxygen equipment or in a chair someone dozes in.
Candles and open flame
Candles on cloth, near curtains, or left burning in an empty room — and whether a battery alternative would serve.
The dryer
Lint in the trap and the duct behind it, a crushed hose, and whether the outside vent flap opens when the dryer runs.
The part most plans skip
An escape plan that matches real mobility
Standard fire advice assumes you can move fast, hear an alarm and get low. For someone using a walker, sleeping with hearing aids out or tethered to oxygen tubing, that plan is fiction — and a plan nobody can follow stops a household making a workable one.
So we build it around this person. Which way out is realistic at night. Whether a bedroom window opens. Where the walker is parked before bed. Which neighbour to alert. Whether the fire department should know that someone with limited mobility lives here. Then we walk the route together, lights on and off.
Scope
What we can and cannot do
We assess, advise and document. We do not install alarms, mount extinguishers, replace outlets, open a breaker panel or perform electrical work, and this is not a code inspection or a legal certification. Where a licensed electrician or a landlord is needed, the summary says so.
These visits are booked ahead as preventive work and substitute for nothing. If there is a fire, get everyone outside and call 911 from there.
Good to know
Fire safety assessment FAQs
Yes — $99 as a one-time visit with no membership required, including the written summary. It's also included in the Peace of Mind membership plan.
Many departments run alarm programmes, well worth using. This is a longer visit at a time you choose, covering ignition sources and a personalised escape plan as well as alarms.
It changes a great deal, so tell us when you book. Where the equipment sits, what is kept near it and how tubing runs all get specific attention, and the escape plan is written around it.
Often, yes — commonly with a home safety assessment or an in-home wellness assessment in one appointment. We cover Miami and the wider Miami-Dade and Broward area.
More on fire safety at home
Preventive care
What preventive paramedic care is
How these visits sit alongside regular medical care.
Check the alarms this month
Start with a $99 introductory visit — no membership required, no pressure, honest answers.