Creating Independence Day Security

This weekend marks one of the busiest and most anticipated weekends on the calendar. Summer is in full swing and everyone is getting out their red, white, and blue for their Independence Day celebrations! While we obviously look to this weekend every year, we also must exercise some important security precautions while preparing ourselves and our homes for the holiday. With extra people and extra outdoor barbecue plans comes the potential for fire and pool-related emergencies, especially if you fail to plan properly. Additionally, summer is peak break-in season, and this weekend in particular sees many empty homes sitting at risk while families travel for the 4th. Today, we share some valuable tips for creating Independence Day security to help you fight these threats!

First, we’ll show you how you can address some fire-related threats. These will include both firework and grill-related safety tips. From there, we’ll move on to pool security. Since pool parties represent a large portion of holiday gatherings, this section will prove especially helpful. Finally, we’ll wrap up our post on creating Independence Day security with some travel-related tips. Specifically, we’ll focus on how to make your home appear as occupied as possible. We’ll then wrap up this section with some useful social media-related travel tips. Now, let’s get started with a look at addressing major fire threats over the holiday weekend and beyond.

Address Fire-Related Dangers

Fire safety should remain a top priority all year round and in any situation. However, Independence Day in particular brings about a unique level of required fire safety and security awareness. After all, two of the holiday’s most beloved traditions — lighting fireworks and grilling — involve fire! In this section, we will share how you can lessen these dangers with some proactive planning. Let’s get started with a look at tackling safety concerns related to fireworks.

Firework-Related Precautions

Every year, we hear about firework-related incidents and occasionally even tragedies related to Independence Day parties. Preparing a plan to stay safe while lighting fireworks can go a long way towards avoiding these incidents. First and foremost, make sure to remain aware of everyone around you and keep your firework-launching area far enough away from the center of the party to avoid the potential for “wandering” guests to walk in front of a firework. While lighting fireworks, avoid putting any part of your body around the firework itself, and immediately create distance between yourself and a newly-lit fuse. Finally, avoid trying to re-light fireworks that do not function properly the first time around. Allow both malfunctioning and used fireworks to soak in water for several hours after use, and then discard. Now, let’s look at how to address safety concerns brought about by another popular Independence Day party tradition.

Grill Safety

Cooking can turn into a safety concern in any setting. However, grilling during parties adds even more potential for an accident to occur. Groups of people around an open cooking surface always creates a situation that deserves extra caution. Add in the presence of a holiday party with festive decorations floating around, and the danger only increases. We recommend creating a flat space for the grill away from crowds and hanging decorations. Your grill should also remain at least 10 feet from the house at all times. Additionally, keep both water and a fire extinguisher nearby while cooking. Taking these precautions can help avoid any grill-related emergencies. Additionally, it will help you keep any accidents that do happen under control. Next, let’s look at another potential security hazard that pops up around this time each year, and how you can address it!

Tackle Pool Security in Advance

Independence Day and pool-related fun seem to go hand in hand! However, pools create a safety hazard as well. During a gathering, it can get hard to track everyone’s whereabouts in relation to the pool. If a child approaches a pool unattended after everyone else has wrapped up their swimming, you’ll want to know about it! We suggest taking a few different measures to create this security.

If you have a security system, we offer a simple way to create alerts for pool-related danger. A couple years back, we created a post detailing 5 Unconventional Uses for Contact Sensors. As part of that post, we discussed installing contact sensors on pool houses or gates that surround your pool. Doing so can give you even more precise knowledge of when you may have a pool security issue. If someone opens a pool gate, this will create an alert inside the home. Furthermore, it can also create a phone notification if your alarm is monitored through our preferred cellular dialer powered by Alarm.com. This can allow you to track access to your pool regardless of your whereabouts, even if you’re away from your property.

Additionally, many companies create pool-specific security products to alert homeowners to potential pool security breaches. For example, you can buy many varieties of temporary fencing designed to make it harder for small animals and children to fall into an in-ground pool. Other devices detect changes in the water itself to create alerts if someone jumps or falls into your pool. These sensors can float on the water of your pool or be installed underwater, depending on the model. Finally, using high-quality pool covers and pool nets can help prevent accidents as well. Beefing up your pool security will go a long way towards increasing your overall Independence Day Security this year. Let’s now look at some travel tips that represent some of our top tips for creating Independence Day security.

Utilize Travel Security Precautions

As we mentioned, one of the security threats related to Independence Day revolves around family travel. In fact, as local news affiliate ABC 40 points out, we will likely see record Independence Day travel this year! Since criminals like to avoid confrontation whenever possible, times of the year associated with high travel often see an increase in crime. In this section, we’ll share a couple ways to combat these dangers. First, we’ll discuss some ideas for making your vacant home look less empty. From there, we’ll look at some social media “fouls” that many traveling families commit. Let’s get started by looking at a couple ways you can make your empty home look occupied.

Hiding an Empty Home

When it comes to security, help from your trusted neighbors goes a long way. We recommend that traveling families let their neighborhood friends know about their plans. Neighbors can watch the house for you, park a car in your driveway, and even stop inside to check on the property if desired. The presence of vehicles and people in your yard and home will help deter thieves scoping out a neighborhood for empty homes to victimize. Moreover, we recommend having the post office hold your mail. A buildup of mail indicates an empty home, so taking this quick step can also go a long way.

We also offer smart home equipment that can provide both the illusion of movement inside your home as well as added security. For example, we can install smart lights that turn on and off on a schedule or at random intervals to keep your house looking occupied. Since dark homes often equal empty homes, the addition of lighting that mimics the patterns of people inside a home over the course of a day can encourage burglars to choose a different target.

Additionally, we recommend that frequent travelers install smart locks. These locks allow you to give house sitters a code, rather than a key, to access your home. Upon returning, you can easily delete the visitor’s code from the lock. Furthermore, smart locks also allow you to lock and unlock your door remotely. This allows you to grant access to your home without providing a key or a code! For more information on these products, check out our 7 Important Security System Additions for Your Smart Home. Next, let’s see how you can thwart social media-related security issues over the holiday weekend.

Exercising Social Media Best Practices

The role of social media in keeping up with friends and family has increased greatly over the past several years. Additionally, the ability to quickly share photos and memories of vacations has increased as well. However, sharing these memories before returning home often represents a security foul! Remember, the likelihood that people outside of your close circle of trusted friends and family can see these pictures is often quite high. We all fall out of touch with some of our social media peers. Additionally, “friends of friends” may see these photos as your friends comment on them.

We strongly recommend limiting the amount of social media contacts that can view your posted content. Just as importantly, we recommend waiting until your return to share details and photos of your travels. You may struggle to hold off on sharing exciting trip updates or photos of fireworks displays and family gatherings. However, we recommend doing so to avoid advertising the fact that you have an empty home. Following these simple steps can greatly improve your efforts in creating Independence Day security!

Putting it All Together and Creating Independence Day Security

We hope that this post helps you see how we can help you in creating Independence Day security this year. Additionally, we encourage you to contact us with any questions this post may raise for you. We will happily answer any and all of your security-related inquiries. Moreover, we also invite you to take advantage of our free site survey program. We provide complimentary security audits and equipment quotes to both new and existing customers alike. While on site, we can address your existing security concerns. Furthermore, we can also make suggestions of our own after observing your property. No matter how much — or how little — security equipment you have in place now, we can create a complete plan to keep your home and family as safe and secure as possible through the holiday weekend and beyond!