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I worry often my house may catch on fire when I sleep. I dont have any reason to think the risk is high, but its always possible.
Some things aren't worth worrying about because there's nothing you can do to avoid them. Things in this category are a cataclysmic major asteroid strike on Earth, getting older, and whether the size of your penis means you'll never get a girlfriend.
Other things are worth thinking about because we can do things to limit the potential for harm to ourselves and those we care about, but simply fretting about the potential for harm is pointless. Domestic fires are a very real danger, and there are many things you can do to reduce the chances of one and ensure that you won't be killed by smoke and carbon monoxide in your sleep.
bbrown95's reply to you points out several things you can do to reduce the risk of a fire.
Smoke detectors are very cheap these days. They're reliable and very sensitive, and there are some you can link wirelessly so that, for example, something smouldering in a closed garage or cellar will trigger all the alarms in the house.
As a rule, the wisest course of action when a fire occurs in a house is to evacuate and leave it to the experts, but it's not a bad idea to have a fire extinguisher or two in the house to deal with small fires.
Something you definitely should do is consider how you would get out of the house if there were a fire and it obstructed your normal exit.
I have the same. Sometimes I even put a bucket of water next to my bed, just so I feel a little bit more safe.
thats why i dont use turkey fryers or arc welders in my kitchen
git some good smoke detectors and have a nap ffs it aint that hard
I think it's normal to worry about this kind of stuff to an extent, but it's also important to make sure the fear doesn't rule you. House fires are one of my biggest fears, so I can definitely relate to worrying about it, and I am known to check to make sure my oven and stove are off every time before I leave the house, as well as before I go to bed.
The good thing is that you can take preventative measures to minimize the risk of a house fire as much as necessary. Always ensure anything that could easily start a fire if left on such as your stove/oven, curling/flat iron, wax burner, etc. are off when they are not in use, and especially before you leave the house. Make sure any candles are blown out as well.
Also, I'm not sure if you rent or own, but if it's the latter, make sure your wiring and breaker panel are safe and up to date. I just had my Federal Pacific breaker panel replaced a few months ago, due to the fact that those were notirious for causing house fires and IIRC, were manufactured improperly (and the company was aware of this, and falsified safety testing, which ended up getting them involved in a huge lawsuit and going out of business). They were known for breakers not flipping when they were supposed to. Many homeowner's insurance companies here in the US will not cover a house with one, either. I believe there was another brand with a similar issue, but I don't recall what it was. Aluminum wiring is another thing to beware of (I actually have a family member whose childhood home caught fire due to this many years ago), as well as other types of old and outdated wiring that's been deemed unsafe.
Then of course, there is common sense stuff such as not leaving burning candles near flammable items, regularly emptying the lint trap in your dryer, changing your furnace filter, not burning trash/leaves/etc. on a windy day (a friend's neighbor burned down their home this way), and not making/keeping a bunch of highly explosive/flammable materials and substances in your home (I swear, every year around 4th of July in my area there is a news story about someone blowing up their home this way).
I use to live way out in the country back in the woods and use to sell some pain pills and weed to people in town. Police response time was like 40 minutes or something crazy like that (loong backroad at the edge of county). The house had gotten broken into like twice when we werent there. It was the creepiest house too with no hallway and windows everywhere. I use to work nights and have to leave my wife there. When I got home I always felt like someone was watching me go inside. Woods sorrounded the house and TN is has really dense woods.
I was always worried id get robbed and killed. Few people in my town got robbed and shot. And I knew that honestly this was the best house to rob in town. Its right off of that backroad with quick access to the highway no one goes there at night. No one would hear gun shots. And my wife was all alone and there was drugs and cash there. All my wife had at that time was a single shot 12guage shotgun and a can of mace lol