History UsefulNotes / FireAndExplosiveSafety

** '''Do not even ''dream'' of using double-male adapters.''' If you need one, you didn't string up your Christmas or Halloween lights right, and you're going to have to redo them. There is a reason why most hardware stores will put up notices around the holidays telling you as much, and if you find any online, they're illegal foreign contraptions that are probably also of very questionable build quality. Restringing lights that you spent over an hour putting up sucks, but burning your house or business down the minute that a strong gust or someone not paying attention (or an animal) disconnects the adapter sucks a hell of a lot more.

!! The most common fire hazards are, obviously, anything that involves a fire or open flame (or burning/ignited object) itself. If you are working with or doing anything that requires fire/open flames/explosives, realize that there is a risk of said fire/explosion getting out of control, and take proper measures to prevent it.

* Never, ever, EVER use a barbecue indoors. Even if the flames don't catch something on fire, the smoke will be a problem itself for damaging property, and using barbecues indoors can and will cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

* Do not use candles as emergency lighting. In an emergency/disaster/power outage, there are far more likely to be natural gas or propane leaks (see later), which a candle's flame or lighting a candle could cause to explode. Also, candles in closed spaces such as basements or the like are dangerous fire hazards, and more easily knocked over in such situations. When stocking for emergency lighting, get flashlights and battery-powered bulbs/dome lights for the immediate time, and oil-fueled "hurricane lamps" (which are harder for the flame to escape and burn longer than candles) for the longer term (e.g. if power is not restored after it's safe to light flames again.)

** Do not even ''dream'' of using double-male adapters. If you need one, you didn't string up your Christmas or Halloween lights right, and you're going to have to redo them. There is a reason why most hardware stores will put up notices around the holidays telling you as much, and if you find any online, they're illegal foreign contraptions that are probably also of very questionable build quality. Restringing lights that you spent over an hour putting up sucks, but burning your house or business down the minute that a strong gust or someone not paying attention (or an animal) disconnects the adapter sucks a hell of a lot more.

** Do not overload power strips. That power strip can probably handle your gaming setup (unless you have a really high-end PC), most of your home office, or that lamp and a couple phone chargers. It's not handling a space heater, a hair dryer, a window-mounted AC, or anything else with a heavy draw, and it is ''definitely'' not handling a daisy-chained power strip.

** Get aluminum wiring fixed as soon as possible. Certain older homes (especially in the US) tend to have aluminum instead of copper wiring, especially ones that were built between 1965 and 1972. The reasons why aluminum wiring is a gigantic fire hazard are too numerous to list, but it should go without saying that if you are buying an older home, you should absolutely get it checked for aluminum wiring.

** Do not even ''dream'' of using double-male adapters. If you need one, you didn't string up your Christmas or Halloween lights right, and you're going to have to redo them. There is a reason why most hardware stores will put up notices around the holidays telling you as much, and if you find any online, they're illegal foreign contraptions that are probably also of very questionable build quality. Restringing lights that you spent over an hour putting up sucks, but burning your house down the minute that a strong gust or a falling icicle disconnects the line sucks a hell of a lot more.