There are many obvious fire hazards in the home. For example, cigarette butts can cause mattress fires, and frayed electrical wires can cause electrical fires. But there are another group of fire hazards which can cause sudden unexpected fires. These fire hazards aren't obvious to most people, but you can neutralize them just by taking a few simple precautions.

1 . Cleaning Fluid Flashback Fires. These happen when fumes from cleaning fluids get blown to a furnace and catch fire. The result is a flashback fire which can leap across a room and do a lot of damage. Use cleaning fluids only in well ventilated rooms, and don't use them near furnaces or fireplaces.

2. Paint Can Basement Fires. Cans of paint, lighter fluid, kerosene, alcohol based solvents, and lubricating oil like WD-40 can be a fire hazard. They evaporate easily and can create invisible clouds of flammable fumes in a warm basement. A spark on a hot summer day could cause them to ignite. Always keep paint cans and flammable liquids like oil, turpentine, and alcohol based solvents in place with good air circulation, so that they can't create dangerously large clouds of flammable gas.

3. Clothes dryers. A lot of lint can build up in the lint tray, and it is important to clean it out regularly. Lint is highly flammable and a full lint tray just means there's more of it to catch fire. A full lint tray also makes it difficult for new lint from a new batch of clothes to be filtered away. As a result, the lint floats around in the hot dryer. Under the right conditions, this lint can catch fire which can spread quickly because of the hot air and the heating element in the dryer.

4. Portable Electric Heaters. These are very handy when your main heating system is inadequate. Just put it next to you, plug it in and voila! Unfortunately this convenience is also the heater's achilles heel. Because they provide welcome warmth and are so easy to use, people tend to forget to take basic safety precautions. Many people are more conscious of the electrocution hazards of their electric toaster than the fire hazards of their space heaters. Just remember these simple fire-safety precautions: keep the area around the heater clear for at least a three foot radius, keep it away from foot traffic, use only heavy duty extension cords if you need to, and only use a heater with a tip-over safety switch which will shut off the heater if it tips over.

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