Unfortunately, children are often the victims of home fires. This tragedy is one that can be prevented by providing fire safety lessons at home. Create a fire safety plan with your children and teach them about fire safety to increase their chances of escaping a house fire with their lives.
Teaching Children about Fire Safety
Designate an official meeting place outside of the home in the event of the fire. A meeting place could be at your mailbox or a neighbor’s driveway. Make sure you children know at least two ways out of the home.
Conduct regular fire drills at home. Consider turning fire drills into a game to help take away any feelings of anxiety, particularly in younger children. Additionally, practice fire drills at night, the time most fires occur.
Clearly postemergencynumbers near every telephone in the home.
Test your smoke alarms on a monthly basis with your children.
Keep your lessons about fire safety simple, especially with younger children.
Take advantage of teachable moments. Reinforce lessons you have taught your children about fires whenever the opportunities present themselves, like in a book or a news story. Encourage your children to share what they would do in a similar situation.
Be a good example for your children regarding fire safety.
This week is National Fire Prevention Week. If you have not created a fire safety plan with your family, this week is the perfect time.
The colder weather means it is time to put wood on the fireplace and turn on the heaters. Because the fall and winter months bring cause for celebrations, the risk of house fires is greater because of all the heating equipment used. In honor of the upcoming Fire Prevention Week, consider the following fire safety tips for when the weather turns cold.
Fall and Winter Fire Safety Tips
If you have a fireplace, make sure you know how the flue works and have a certified chimney sweep clean your chimney.
Cover the front of the fireplace with a screen to help control sparks.
Dispose of ashes from the fireplace in a metal container kept outside of the home.
Keep space heaters at least 3-feet away from walls, furniture and any other items in a room.
Install smoke alarms on every level of your home and outside of every bedroom. Make sure the smoke alarms you already have in your home work.
Keep a fire extinguisher on every level of your home, in an easy-to-find location. Additionally, keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen and one near the fireplace.
Use holiday decorations that are flame resistance.
Only use indoor decorative lights inside your home; use outdoor decorative lights outside. Use clips instead of nails to hang strands of lights.
Keep candles away from holiday decorations. Never leave candles unattended, particularly around children and pets.
While cooking, do not leave food on the stovetop unattended.
Smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a fire in half. According to the National Fire Protection Association, two-third of fire-related deaths occurred in a home that did not have a smoke alarm or a working smoke alarm. The purpose of a smoke alarm is to detect smoke while a fire is still small, giving you just enough time to get out of your home. In honor of National Fire Prevention Week, which runs from October 3 to October 9, we’re offering the following tips about smoke alarm installation and maintenance.
Smoke Alarm Installation Tips
Ionization smoke alarms respond better to flaming fires. Photoelectric smoke alarms respond better to moldering fires. For the best protection, install combination alarms in your home.
Install a smoke alarm on every level of your home, including the basement, and one outside of every bedroom.
If someone in the home is hard or hearing or deaf, install an alarm that has a flashing light, vibrates and makes a louder than normal sound.
Mount smoke alarms at least 4-inches away from the nearest wall. Install wall-mounted smoke alarms 4 to 12-inches away from the ceiling’s highest point.
Do not install smoke alarms near doors, windows or ducts.
Smoke Alarm Maintenance Tips
Test your smoke alarms on a monthly basis.
Replace the batteries on your smoke alarm whenever you hear it chirp or once a year, whichever comes first.
Replace the entire smoke alarm at least every 10 years.
If your smoke alarm is sensitive to steam or cooking fumes, replace it with an alarm that has a “hush” button. This way you do not have to take the battery out of your existing alarm while you cook.
An unusually cooler summer in the Pacific Northwest has given firefighting crews some relief this year. Oil-rich pine trees along with grasses and brush in dry, hot summer heat are the perfect fuel for wildfires, which have engulfed several thousands of acres during the past summer seasons.
According to news station KGW, the peak of wildfire season is July 1 through August 20. This year, however, the cold, wet June weather pushed the wildfire season back three weeks. The cooler weather has kept grasses and brush greener, so even multiple lightening strikes are not producing large-scale fires. So far, for example, only two wildfires have affected the state of Oregon this summer.
While this news is can help residents put their fears aside, they should not relax when it comes to taking wildfire precautionary measures. After all, there are still several weeks remaining in the wildfire season.
Take the following steps to help protect your home and business for a wildfire:
Remove all pine needles that have fallen on the ground around a building. Additionally, do not lay pine needles down as a form of mulch or a decorative landscape element. Pine needles, even dry ones, contain oil in them that can easily ignite.
Clear the area around a building of any dry brush, and move flammable vegetation at least 30 feet away from a building.
If you like the look of vegetation around a building, consider planting succulents. These easy-to-manage plants are rich in color and moisture—even during dry, hot weather—and can help act as a fire barrier.
Keep all combustible materials, such as gas tanks and flammable chemicals, away from a building.
Keep your landscape well manicured. Well-watered lawns and trimmed hedges are harder for fires to penetrate.
One of things people look forward to the most on the nation’s Independence Day is lighting fireworks. To make the most out of the holiday weekend, play it safe. Make this Fourth of July memorable because of the great time you had with family and friends, not because of a fireworks accident that went wrong.
Firework Safety Tips
Know the law regarding fireworks in your state. If you are in an area that does not allow illegal fireworks, do not even think about using them.
Only use fireworks outside.
Have a hose or a bucket of water ready to extinguish any blazes.
Do not alter fireworks.
Leave a dud alone. If a firework does not work, leave it alone for at least 20 minutes before soaking it a bucket of water. Do not try to relight a dud.
Do not drink and light fireworks. If there will be alcohol at your Independence Day festivities, appoint a designated fireworks lighter who will remain sober.
Only allow those over the age of 12 use sparklers.
Use safety equipment. The person lighting the fireworks should wear safety glass and spectators should keep a safe distance.
Unfortunately, children are often the victims of home fires. This tragedy is one that can be prevented by providing fire safety lessons at home. Create a fire safety plan with your children and teach them about fire safety to increase their chances of escaping a house fire with their lives.
