Fire Safety Tips For Holiday Trees and Ornaments

/1 Comment/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Fire Safety Tips For Holiday Trees and OrnamentsWhen it comes to lighting your holiday tree, the number one holiday safety tip from fire officials is “never use lighted candles as decorations” — so imagine our concern when we saw this blog post, “How to Put Real Candles on Your Christmas Tree Safely.”

“Real candles on a Christmas tree can be stunningly beautiful, moving, but if you don’t know how to do it safely, it can be very hazardous. If you know how to do it right, it can be a very good and safe experience. Think it’s crazy?” the authors of the post ask.

Yes, here at American Alarm where home and family safety is our top priority, we think it borders on crazy and substantially increases the risk of fire damage or disaster.

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’Tis the Season for Giving and . . . Taking

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

’Tis the Season for Giving and . . . TakingAfter scouring the Internet for months you’ve finally scored that hot – not to mention super expensive – electronic gadget all the kids want this holiday season on Amazon. However, one look at your child’s face when he rips off the wrapping paper will make all your efforts worthwhile.

That is, if your package doesn’t get stolen before you even know it’s been delivered.

Here are some tips courtesy of the Boston Police Department to keep thieves from making off with the packages filled with the holiday goodies you buy online:

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4 Tips to Protect Your Retail Business During the Holidays

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

4 Tips to Protect Your Retail Business During the HolidaysThe period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is often the most profitable time of the year for retailers. Unfortunately, it’s also a profitable time for thieves as well.

Of course, you should always pay attention to your business security and thwarting shoplifters, but you need to be extra vigilant during the busiest time of the year.

To help you protect your retail business, we want to offer you four tips courtesy of the Business2Community website to help you protect your business against some of the most common holiday scams.

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Fire Safety in Off-Campus Housing

/2 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging Team

off-campus-fire-safetyWe’re only a couple months into the academic year, but tragically one college student has already perished in an off-campus fire.

Scott Notary, a 22 year old Purdue University student from Lafayette, Indiana, was killed in his apartment in a 2 ½ story residential building in the early morning hours of November 17, according to Campus Firewatch. Notary was found in a bedroom on the second floor.

This is the first fatal fire of the 2013-2014 academic year. Since 2000, Campus Firewatch said there have been 163 campus-related fire fatalities – 87% of them occurred off-campus, where approximately 2/3 of the students across the nation live.

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American Alarm: Working Hard to Keep Your Family and Your Home Safe

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

Everything we at American Alarm do is about security – and life safety is our laser focus. Virtually every day at American Alarm, we’re saving someone’s life or preserving their property with our home security and business security alarm systems and services.

There aren’t many industries where you can have that impact every single day.

We invite you to watch this video and listen to our president, Wells Sampson, tell you about American Alarm in his own words.

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Three Winter Heating Safety Tips

/1 Comment/by American Alarm Blogging Team

winter-heating-safety-tipsEven though you might be doing your best not to think about it, we’re in the trenches of autumn and even colder weather is right around the corner. For those of us living in New England, that means soon it will be time to turn up the thermostat and kick on the home heating system for the first time since the Spring.

Many homes across America are equipped with oil-burning furnaces or wood-burning stoves, each of which come with their own specific set of safety concerns that should be dealt with on a yearly basis. Let’s take a look at a three of the things you should keep in mind before firing things up this winter.

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The Dangers of a DIY Home Security System

/6 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging Team

pros-and-cons-of-diy-home-security-systems

Some homeowners looking to install home security systems may be thinking about doing the job themselves to save money.

Although a do-it-yourself security system sounds great, installing your own security systems could compromise your family’s safety.

For one thing, if you’re not a security professional, you might very well install your alarm system incorrectly. Connect one small wire the wrong way and your family and your property won’t be protected.

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Tips for a Frighteningly Fun and Safe Halloween

/by American Alarm Blogging Team

halloween-safetyThe witching season is upon us. A magical time for ghosts and ghoulies – or princes and princesses – to scamper through their neighborhoods in search of Halloween sweets and other treats.

We here at American Alarm love this spookiest day of the year, but before we head out to a local thrift store to put together our perfect costumes – we’re leaning toward superheros or any of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – we want to offer some helpful tips to ensure that you and your children have a spooktacular All Hallow’s Eve.

Some of these tips are brought to you by the police department of the city known throughout the world as Witch City – haunted Salem, Massachusetts.

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5 Steps to Stay Safe While at College

/1 Comment/by American Alarm Blogging Team

campus safetyYou’ve seen the headlines. Every year it seems a new act of tragic violence erupts on one of our country’s college campuses, renewing the fears of both parents and students.

But according to national statistics and campus safety experts, campus crime prevention is improving and incidents of major crimes are in decline.

You can help prevent crime as well by taking a few simple precautions.

Watch the video below for our five steps to help you stay safe while at college:

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Home Fire System: Avoid Fall Fire Dangers

/2 Comments/by American Alarm Blogging Team

House FireWe all know that installing smoke detectors in your home fire system is the number one way to prevent fatalities during a fire in your home. That’s why it’s critical to change the batteries in your smoke detector twice a year — at the same time you set your clocks to either “spring forward” or “fall back.”

This year daylight savings time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 3. So when you get ready to turn your clocks back an hour, remember to replace the batteries in your smoke detector — as well as your carbon monoxide detector. If you have a monitored fire alarm system make sure you call to have it tested at least once a year. American Alarm is one company that offers free annual wellness inspections to monitored residential customers for this purpose.

Here are a few less obvious steps you can take to reduce the risk of fire in your home.

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