Category: Fire

Homeowner’s Insurance Check-Up Time

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Fancy Home on Hill

As homeowners, one of our most important maintenance tasks is taking an annual look at our homeowner’s insurance policy.   Many times they are bundled into a homeowner’s monthly mortgage impound account along with property taxes and other fees; then paid automatically and are barely noticed.

Your monthly mortgage company takes care of it all, which is easy and painless. As a result, however, policies can be overlooked or misunderstood because they are set up during the very busy time surrounding a new home’s purchase escrow process and then overlooked as time goes by . . .  literally forgotten.… Continue Reading Homeowner’s Insurance Check-Up Time

Lighting Safety Countdown To The Holidays!

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Christmas Decorations outside of windows

No matter whether you’re celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanza, Christmas or something else in the month of December, we are approaching the Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere.  Wednesday, December 21, is officially the shortest day of the year in 2022 when the North Pole reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun putting us all into the darkness earlier and longer than any other day of the year.

That means it is also time to think about upping your holiday home lighting game. At Helfrich Associates, we recommend before you start that you first watch the film, “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” with Chevy Chase for a lesson about what not to do (and lots of laughs too). Chevy’s character Clark Griswold is a huge Christmas fan and nearly kills himself and other family members with a shocking display of 25,000 outdoor lights that puts a smile on the face of every electric utility executive in America. … Continue Reading Lighting Safety Countdown To The Holidays!

Smoke Alarm ITM: Why You Need One

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It’s mid-October and it’s time to think about Smoke Alarm ITM.  “What’s that,” you ask?

The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) reminds us every year that smoke alarm inspection, testing and maintenance (ITM) are the responsibility of every homeowner, as well as those owning or managing rental units and commercial properties.  Fire fighters will tell you nothing is more tragic than the loss of life in the fall or winter due to a candle lit fire and nonworking smoke alarms.… Continue Reading Smoke Alarm ITM: Why You Need One

Take Care of Your Ceiling Sprinklers and Water Heater, And They’ll Take Care of You When You Need It Most

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Empty Living Room with No Furniture and Wooden Floors and FireplaceDepending on the design of your home and how clever your decorator has been, you might be surprised to know that your home has an automatic ceiling fire sprinkler system.  The newest systems are flush mount and can be difficult to spot if your decorator has placed other eye catching decor nearby such as ceiling fan lights, can lighting, painted murals or track lighting.

Automatic ceiling fire sprinkler systems also can be industrial looking in loft apartments or condominiums where the grid layout of pipes and heads are fully exposed on purpose and easy to see.  Sometimes, decorators will try to soften the look by painting the pipes to match the ceiling color.  No matter what type of home, these safety systems have one thing in common:  They need to be flushed about once year to keep them in working order.… Continue Reading Take Care of Your Ceiling Sprinklers and Water Heater, And They’ll Take Care of You When You Need It Most

Fires, Floods and Slides: What You Can Do  

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Treehouse and TentThe good news is that your treasured Southern California family mountain get-away cabin or beautiful second home in the forest survived a wild fire last year.  The question is what will happen this summer when thunderstorms strike or when normal rainfall resumes after our La Nina drought cycle ends?  Is your home also safe from potential mud slides and flooding?  What can you do about it?

The fire cycle in our mountains changes everything, especially for home owners.  While your home itself didn’t burn, did your property’s slopes burn?  What about nearby hillsides and the canyons higher up? Did they burn or are the trees, shrubs and other plants still in place and growing green in the drought?  How did the neighboring properties surrounding your home do?  Did they burn or are they all intact?… Continue Reading Fires, Floods and Slides: What You Can Do  

Learning the Sounds of Home Fire Safety

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If your life or a loved one’s life depended on it, can you tell the difference between the sounds a home smoke alarm makes when there’s a real fire versus a low battery notification?  Are you sure?  Your lives might depend on the right answer.

The National Fire Prevention Association’s (NFPA) members want you to:  “Learn the Sounds of Fire Safety”.  It’s important that everyone in the home (parents, kids, seniors) learn the different sounds that smoke and carbon monoxide alarms make.… Continue Reading Learning the Sounds of Home Fire Safety