As the weather cool down, seaside communities will be looking to enjoy their beaches at night without freezing their butts off. But before you head to the beach for your first bonfire of the season, here’s one important recommendation if you want to avoid inhaling toxic chemicals: Don’t burn any driftwood you might find on the beach.

Unexpected fires are, for the most part, viewed as a bad thing, which is why some people were quite alarmed when this very shiny BLANDA BLANK serving bowl from IKEA caused some grapes — and later some newspaper — to go up in smoke.

It doesn’t happen often, but emergency services can go down. Currently, 911 service is down across several states in the U.S. after a massive outage at a CenturyLink data center. While some of the initially-out-of-service cities are already up and running again, others are still down.

Climate change used to seem like something that would confront our grandchildren — a distant concern. Now, though, it’s staring us right in the face when we get up in the morning.

It may seem like our kids aren’t listening to us, but new research shows that in an emergency, a mum’s voice is more likely to wake children than a standard tone alarm.

Life is precarious, and nothing makes you appreciate that fact quite like a Reddit-generated list of potential death traps. On the upside, one person’s anxiety-provoking tip might be another person’s life-saving knowledge.

Half of house fires happen between 11pm and 7am, a time in which most of us would not be conscious enough to know something’s going on. This is terrifying, but there’s an easy thing you can do to help you survive: Close your bedroom door before you go to bed.

When you're in the midst of an area fire, it's hard to breathe, much less think. As a veteran of the devastating Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires in Colorado Springs, I can attest to that. Australia has always had it rough regarding bushfires, and while many eyes are turned to the active bushfire in southwest Sydney right now, it's important to be prepared for an emergency no matter where you live.

After the explosion of an iPhone inside an Apple Store, resulting in a few minor injuries, you might be wondering, "Oh crap, how do I stop my smartphone/laptop/robot dog from burning my house down?" Instead of running for dear life, or dousing your device with spring water, here are the steps you should follow to properly extinguish a battery-related fire (and why you should save that Pellegrino as a last resort).

When you live in a bushfire-prone area you can’t ignore the danger. Most individuals and families address this necessity by preparing a bushfire survival plan. The best way to survive a bushfire is not to be there when it arrives - but what if you left it too late and are stuck at home?

Here are some survival tips for this terrifying last resort.

A lot of people have strong feelings about flag burning. It's often considered to be the ultimate unpatriotic act or even a precursor to violence. If you really want people to think you hate your country -- burning the flag will usually do it. But regardless of the social and political implications of the act, is flag burning actually illegal?

Just because your apartment wasn't the one on fire, doesn't mean you don't need to do a ton of cleaning afterwards. Here's what you can do to minimise the odour.

There are few cartoon tropes as ubiquitous as killing ants with a magnifying glass. But if you don't have a glass, you can always just use the next best thing: A Ziploc bag and some water.

Good kindling makes starting any type of fire easier, whether it's your barbecue, fire pit, or a campfire under the stars. These compact fire-starter pills make for great kindling and are super easy to make.

Camping stoves aren't outrageously expensive, but if you find yourself in need of one where you can't buy it, Make shows you how to build your own with a bunch of off the shelf stuff.

If you haven't watered your Christmas tree since you forgot about it on Boxing Day, now is the time to get it out of your house. Unwatered Christmas trees are a huge fire hazard, as this video from the US National Fire Protection Association clearly shows.

If you're a grilling newbie, you probably use the "toss in charcoal, lighter fluid, light it up" method, but better grilling comes with learning to bank coals and the benefits of direct and indirect heat. This guide walks you through -- and how to set up your grill accordingly.

Packing a cheap lighter with your outdoor gear is always a good idea. Even if it runs out of fuel or the plastic casing breaks, it's still a great fire-starting tool.

A Current Affair recently published a story titled Candle Warning that had all of the customary fear mongering flair that its brand has become synonymous with. The subject -- exploding glass candles and how they’re a danger to your home. Three minutes of concerned mothers, hidden video cameras and a few tips on how to avoid burning your house down and you have yourself some glorious Facebook clickbait.

I worked for a candle company for a number of years and I can confirm that candle explosions are quite a legitimate problem. I can also attest that most of the time these incidents occur due to a lack of education or common sense. Here’s the thing, scented candles are a lovely luxury but they still involve fire; something that is always potential danger when you’re not careful.