Today is National Pet Fire Safety Day.

You may not have to worry about Fido playing with matches in his wooden dog house, but you should worry about these two issues:

• Keeping Fido from accidentally starting a fire, and
• Keeping Fido safe if there were a fire in your home.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, every year 500,000 pets suffer from the effects of home fires such as burns, smoke inhalation and loss of a place to live, among others. Surprisingly, nearly 1,000 of those fires were started by a pet.

Here are tips for keeping pets safe from fire:

1. Check for fire hazards. This is an exercise that should be done regularly. Walk through your home and yard, systematically looking for potential fire dangers. Are those candles on the table by the couch flameless? Could a wagging dog tail sweep lit candles on to the carpet? Could your counter-surfing dog ever accidentally turn on the stove? Are flammable paints and solvents stored properly?

2. Make a fire escape plan.  If there were a fire in the house, who would be responsible for getting the dog out?  Who would call the Fire Department? Where would family members go after leaving the house? Mapping out a strategy before there’s an emergency will help you and your loved ones move faster and stay safer.

3. Consider getting monitored smoke detectors. No smoke detector will work if its batteries have gone bad. But a working smoke detector won’t help if you aren’t home to hear it. One option to consider is to get a monitored smoke detector that alerts a service or the fire department if it detects smoke. Security companies sometimes offer this service.

4. Make sure emergency crews know there are pets inside. A simple cling, magnetic or stick pet alert sticker can save the life of your pet. It alerts emergency workers to make sure a pet isn’t left behind in a burning building. The alert also helps emergency workers from getting bitten or pets from accidentally escaping.

5. Learn pet first aid. Burns or smoke inhalation should be treated by a veterinarian.  But in those critical minutes before you can get your pet to the vet, knowing first aid can keep you from doing something that may make the situation worse. Reaching for the ice, butter or ointment may be your first instinct, but in the case of a burn, they are the wrong approach. Knowing how to properly muzzle your dog can make treatment and transportation much easier. At that point, a vet can take over to decide whether the dog needs intravenous fluids, electrolytes or infection prevention measures.

6. Plan for dog care after a fire. If your home were too badly damaged for you to live in until repairs were made, where would you go? Would your dog be welcome? In the event of one of Los Angeles large wildfires, you might be evacuated to a Red Cross shelter. Few of those can accommodate pets. Turning to FidoUniverse.com’s directory of more than 2,400 pet-related services is a smart move. Knowing where the boarding kennels closest to you are and making arrangements in advance can relieve you of worrying about the dog in a stressful time.