Fire Safety Awareness
According to the National Fire Protection Association, the leading causes of home fires are cooking, heating, electrical and smoking materials. Cooking fires continues to be the number one cause of home fires. In 2005, cooking fires accounted for 146,400 reported fires, 480 civilian deaths, 4,690 civilian injuries and $876 million in direct property damage.
The months of January and December are the peak months for home fires and home fire fatalities. Greater than 50% of home fire deaths occur between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am, yet only 20% of home fires actually occur during these hours.
What can you do to protect yourself and your family? The answer is simple and it is the same message that you have heard year after year – first, invest in smoke detectors for every level of your home. Once you have smoke detectors in place the maintenance of them is very simple, yet many people die every year because they fail to properly maintain their smoke detectors. It is this simple:
Put fresh batteries in your detectors twice per year – a good rule of thumb is to do this when you change your clocks between standard time and daylight savings time.
Test your detectors every month. This involves two easy steps – depress the test button and verify that the alarm activates.
Another method of reducing your chance of dying in a house fire is to have a home fire escape plan and practice it. This is especially important if you have small children in the home. You should identify two exits from every room, where possible and locate a central meeting place that is outside and away from the structure. Teach your children to exit quickly and meet at that central meeting place.
You should never re-enter your home – for any reason – once you have exited during a fire emergency. This is another cause of fire deaths and it typically involves people returning to the home to rescue pets. Very often the pet will find a way to get out and the would-be rescuer is overcome by smoke.
With the start of the fall season, many areas of the country will start to experience shorter days and cooler nights. It won’t be long before it is time to crank up the heater. With this thought in mind, have you had your furnace cleaned and inspected for this winter? How about your chimney? For those who have a fireplace and like to burn for additional heat or just for the ambiance, it is important to ensure that your chimney is clean and free from obstructions. Chimney fires can quickly rage out of control and very often end up spreading through interior walls and attics.
Another hazard to the winter heating season is the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning. Newer homes with energy efficient windows and doors are typically sealed tight and allow very little draft. If your fossil fuel furnace malfunctions or hasn’t been properly maintained carbon monoxide will accumulate in the home and cause you and your family to become ill and/or die.
The best methods of preventing carbon monoxide poisoning are, again, have your furnace properly cleaned and serviced and invest in a carbon monoxide detector. The detector should be placed on the first living level of the home and mounted on the wall lower than you breathing zone. This will ensure that concentrations of carbon monoxide are detected and the alarm sounds before the concentration is great enough to cause illness. If your detector alarms, exit the home immediately and call the fire department. Don’t try to diagnose the problem yourself and stay out of the house until the fire department tells you it’s safe to re-enter.
Do not attempt to ventilate the home before you leave. If the carbon monoxide leak is very slow this will make it more difficult for the fire department to determine where the leak is originating from and how bad it is. This may also clear the home, temporarily, of the hazard leading to a false sense of security and tempt you to re-enter prematurely.
