Disaster Recovery News

Image by Robert S. Donovan

Memorial Day weekend signals the official start of summer, one of the most popular times to fire-up the grill to make backyard cuisines. However, the beginning of summer also signals the beginning of wildfire season. Help keep your home and neighborhood safe by keeping the following tips from the HPBA (Hearth, Patio & Barbeque Association) and the Propane Education & Research Council in mind.

Prepare Your Home and Grill

• Cut back your grass and move burnable materials. Keep grass, wood, bush, plants and other materials at least 10 feet away from propane tanks and cylinders. This includes tanks installed in your grill and tanks you are storing.
• Do not store propane tanks and cylinders inside a home, shed, garage or any other building.
• Read the manual for your propane tank and grill.
• Only use grills outside and in a well-ventilated area. If you grill indoors, there is a chance carbon monoxide could accumulate and prove fatal to those in the building.
• Make sure the grill is stable. When grills are unstable or placed on uneven surfaces they may fall or tip over unexpectedly, which can cause a fire.
• Replace expired or damaged tanks. This includes tanks that have holes, rust spots or cracks.
• Use a grill mat. Use a heat-resistance grill mat under a gas or charcoal grill to prevent fires caused by hot embers or drippings.
• Keep an extinguisher nearby. When grilling, keep a fire extinguisher nearby. If you do not have an extinguisher, keep baking soda, a bucket of garden sand or a garden hose close.

Outdoor fire prevention is quick, easy and worth the effort so you do not have to deal with the consequences of a full-blown, damaging blaze.

Learn more tips about how to protect your home from a fire.

[Photo: Robert S. Donovan]

October 4-10, 2009 is National Fire Prevention Week. The National Fire Protection Association is using the week to focus on fire prevention and burn awareness.

Here are the top five most interesting facts listed by the NPA for National Fire Prevention Week:

1.       “Someone was injured in a home fire every 40 minutes and roughly eight people died in home fires every day during 2008.”

2.       “Cooking continues to be the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries… Unattended cooking is the leading cause of cooking fires. ”

3.       “Smoking materials caused one of every four home fire deaths…Smoking materials (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc.) are the leading cause of fire deaths (roughly one in four) in the United States.”

4.      “Smoke alarms that are properly installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing fire deaths and injuries. Having a working smoke alarm cuts the chances of dying in a reported fire in half.”

5.      “No smoke alarms were present in 40% of the home fire deaths.”

More on fire prevention.

2009 Fire Prevention Week – Electrical Safety

2009 Fire Prevention Week – Kitchen Safety

2009 Fire Prevention Week – Smoke Alarms

More fire safety videos.

A man in Massachusetts with all the right intentions wanted to help his 80-year-old mother by quickly riding her back porch of ice so she would not fall.

The Boston Globe reports the man was hesitant to use salt since it could corrode the bricks on the building. However, sand and salts were used on the front porch. Using a snow shovel was a bit more work than the man was willing to do. The next best idea that came to mind was fire.

The man grabbed the blowtorch he used to light his grill and attempted to combat the ice:

“…The fire quickly jumped to the vinyl siding on the back of the house on Davis Street and shot up four stories, charring much of the rear of the house. Several windows were broken and, on other parts of the facade, the wood frame of the house was exposed.”

No one was injured in the fire. Read the full story.

Cold weather can make people do funny things. Educate yourself on how to keep you and your family warm safely during these cold winter months. Also, learn tips about fire restoration.

Snow in the Northwest Video

Temperatures are expected to lower significantly while the chances of precipitation remain high. This is the perfect recipe for SNOW.

Dave Salesky with KGW’s weather blog in Portland, OR reads:

“There is no way around it– we’re going to get hit with a pretty big storm…

…Cold air arrives…Saturday. Snow levels will drop like a rock. From 7000ft to 1500ft in just a few hours. Heavy snow will fall in the Cascades and Coast Range. Blizzard conditions will exist in Cascades much of Saturday. Maybe 3 feet of snow will fall in the mountains. Locally we’ll see snow in the higher hills not on the valley floor. Precipitation Saturday will be a wintry mix with no accumulation below 500ft.

…A second wave of arctic air that arrives Sunday. Temperatures will fall into the teens and twenties. Another weak low will drop south along the coast. Moisture coming ashore will be snow, all the way to the valley floor. Amounts are still hard to predict at this time. We could see just a few flurries maybe an inch or two.

Lastly I don’t see a warm up coming anytime soon. We might even see another snow event late next week!”

There are several things one can do during the winter to protect their home from the elements and fires. Click here to learn how to keep your home mold-free with all the frightful weather. Then, learn how to keep your home safe as you warm up by the fire (or space heater).

The American Red Cross states that house fires are America’s biggest disaster threat. They respond to 180 home fires per day.     

Here are some facts from their site about home fires:

• Of all the disasters the Red Cross responded to, 93% of those were fire-related.
• 80% of people living in the U.S. do not realize that home fires are the most common type of disaster in the country.
• Someone dies from a home fire about every 3.5 hours.
• Smoke alarms and sprinklers cut the risk of one dying in a home fire by 82%.
• Cooking fires are the leading cause of home fires; heating fires are the second.
• Smoking is the #1 cause of home fire deaths.

Check out the American Red Cross’ site for tips about how to make your home fire safe, plan escape routes, and escape safely.

Check out this recovery site to learn how to protect your home from a fire. Also, learn how to restore “normalcy” after a fire.