How to ensure fire safety in your own home

Also take a look at the Fire safety at home guide published by the Uusimaa rescue departments. The guide has been published in Finnish, Swedish, English, Russian, Arabic and Somali.

Test your smoke alarms every month

Heka is responsible for the fire alarms located inside flats as well as their maintenance. It is the resident’s responsibility to test fire alarms regularly and to report any faults.

• Test your fire alarm once a month by pressing its test button for a few seconds.
• If the fire alarm does not sound, is missing, or emits a beep indicating that the battery is running low or there is another fault, please submit a defect notification.

How to prevent fires at home

• Do not leave lit candles or other open flames unattended.
• When you prepare meals, stay in the kitchen and keep an eye on the food while it is cooking.
• Only use electrical appliances and chargers that are in good working order.
• Do not smoke indoors.
• Clean the dust that has built up on electrical appliances and household appliances regularly. When an appliance covered in dust becomes hot, it may cause a fire.
• Keep first-aid fire extinguishing equipment, such as fire blankets, within easy reach and learn how to use them.

The batteries of electric vehicles, such as electric bikes and electric scooters, must be charged inside the user’s home. Batteries must not be charged in the building’s communal areas, such as storerooms or corridors. Use a charger supplied or approved by the device manufacturer to charge the device, and do not leave the battery to charge unattended.

Keep your home and all access routes safe

• Keep the route out of the flat free of obstacles.
• Do not store items in stairwells, storage corridors or other passageways.
• Make sure that the front door can be opened from the inside without a key and that the windows and doors are easily accessible.
• Keep your balcony tidy and avoid storing unnecessary items there.
• Read the emergency plan for your building. You can find it in the OmaHeka resident portal and on your building’s website.

Follow these steps if a fire breaks out in your home

• Put out the fire at the source, if you can. Do not put your own safety at risk!
• Rescue everyone in the flat.
• Close doors and windows when leaving. Be sure to close the door to your flat; this will help to stop the fire from spreading.
• Warn neighbours who are in immediate danger.
• Call the emergency number 112. Only make an emergency call once you are in a safe place.
• Direct the fire brigade to the scene.
• Go to the meeting point agreed in advance.
• Do not go back into the building until you have been given permission to do so by the fire brigade.

If there is a fire elsewhere in the building and there is smoke in the stairwell, do not enter the smoke-filled stairwell. Stay in your flat, keep the door closed and, if necessary, call 112.