Consumer Reports: How to stay safe with fires burning hotter, faster than ever

Fire safety is something that should be talked about throughout the year, especially since fires are burning faster and hotter than ever.

Consumer Reports says there are new rules for fire safety to keep you and your loved ones safe.

Thanks to smoke alarms becoming more prevalent and better building codes, the number of house fires reported in the U.S. has actually dropped by half since 1980.

But the fires that do happen are much deadlier, with the number of deaths rising since 2010.

Simon Glinsek had to evacuate his family after a dryer caught fire.

"It just went so fast, it boggles my mind at how fast it goes," he said.

One reason fires are becoming deadlier? Time.

"40 years ago, you would have had 17 minutes to get out of a house on fire. Today? Just 3 minutes," said John Galeotafiore of Consumer Reports.

So what's changed? In part, those popular open-plan houses. With fewer walls and doors, fires travel faster and more freely.

Another culprit is today's furniture.

"A lot of homes today have furnishings made with synthetic materials, like plastic or particleboard, which burn much quicker than, say, solid wood," Galeotafiore

Some classic advice still holds true: have at least one smoke detector and one class "ABC" fire extinguisher per floor of your home, and check each one monthly.

CR recommends dual-sensor alarms from First Alert and Kidde. Both got perfect scores for detecting both flaming and smoldering fires.

If you need to use your extinguisher, use the PASS method. Pull the pin, Aim the nozzle toward the base of the fire, Squeeze the trigger, and Sweep from side to side.

Other helpful tips: don't leave lithium-ion batteries, like the ones for your power tools, charging overnight. And be sure to only use the charger that came with it.

If you have an outlet that doesn't grip the plug, it's time to change it. Replace your worn-out outlets with Arc-fault circuit interrupter also known as AFCI outlets.

And have an escape plan in place and rehearse it with everyone in your household.

"We always talked about, go by the tree, anything like that, you always sit by the tree, we'll meet up right here. That does work," said Glinsek.

CR also recommends keeping your bedroom door closed at night. That can help keep fires from spreading.