Fire Safety Tips

Here are some helpful home safety tips.

Change your smoke detector batteries when you change your clocks in the spring and fall.

• EDITH (Exit Drills In The Home)
• Carbon Monoxide
• Smoke Detectors
• Fire Extinquishers
• Fireplace Saftey
• Fire Safety Links
• FEMA for Kids

E.D.I.T.H.

Exit Drills in the Home

How to Survive

Install and maintain smoke detectors.

Make an escape plan and practice it.

Plan Your Escape

Draw a floor plan of your home

Agree on a meeting place

Practice your escape plan

Make Your exit drill realistic

Be Prepared

Make sure everyone in the household can unlock all doors and windows quickly, even in the dark.

If you live in a two-story house, and you must escape from a second-story window, be sure there is a safe way to reach the ground. People who have difficulty moving should have a phone in their sleeping area and, if possible, should sleep on the ground floor.

Test doors before opening them. While kneeling or crouching at the door, reach up and touch the door, the knob, and the space between the door and its frame with the back of your hand. If the door is hot, use another route. If the door is cool, open it with caution.

If you are trapped, close all doors between you and the fire. Stuff the cracks around the doors to keep out the smoke. Wait at a window and signal for help with a light colored cloth or flashlight. If there's a phone in the room, call the fire department and tell them exactly where you are.

Get Out Fast ...

In case of fire, don't stop for anything. Do not try to rescue possessions or pets. Go directly to your meeting place and then call the fire department from a neighbor's phone. Every member of your household should know how to call the fire department.

Crawl low under smoke. Smoke contains deadly gases, and heat rises. During a fire, cleaner air will be near the floor. If you encounter smoke when using your primary exit, use your alternate escape plan. If you must exit through smoke, crawl on your hands and knees, keeping your head 12 to 24 inches above the floor.

... and Stay Out

Once you are out of your home don't go back for any reason. If people are trapped, the firefighters have the best chance of rescuing them.

Information from NFPA bulletin BR-8F

(Taken from Dryden Fire Departments Web Site)

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Carbon Monoxide

The colorless, odorless, tasteless, gas that can KILL!

Where does it come from?

• Room heaters (portable)
• Automobile exhaust fumes
• Fireplaces
• Oil and Gas Furnaces
• Oil and Gas hot water heaters
• Gas stove/range

What do people experience?

• Flu-like symptoms
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Nausea
• Dizziness

Do's and Don'ts

• Install at least one Carbon Monoxide detector near the sleeping areas and another outside the furnace room.
• Have your home heating system inspected annually.
• Inspect chimneys and vents regularly, for improper connections or clogged with debris.
• If your Carbon Monoxide detector activates get out of the house and consult your Fire Department.

Carbon Monoxide: Some Recover, Some Die!

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Home Smoke Detectors

Smoke Detectors Save Lives

The majority of fatal home fires happen at night when people are asleep. Contrary to popular belief, the smell of smoke may not wake a sleeping person. The poisonous gases and smoke produced by a fire can numb the senses and put you into a deeper sleep.

Inexpensive household smoke detectors sound an alarm, alerting you to a fire. By giving you time to escape, smoke detectors cut your risk of dying in a home fire nearly in half. Smoke detectors save so many lives that most states have laws requiring them in private homes.

Choosing a Detector

Be sure that the smoke detectors you buy carry the label of an independent testing laboratory,

Several types of detectors are available. Some run on batteries, others on household current. Some detect smoke using an "ionization" sensor, others use a "photoelectric" detection system. All approved smoke detectors, regardless of the type, will offer adequate protection provided they are installed and maintained properly.

Is one enough ?

Every home should have a smoke detector outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home, including the basement. The National Fire Alarm Code, developed by NFPA, requires a smoke detector in each sleeping room for new construction. On floors without bedrooms, detectors should be installed in or near living areas, such as dens, living rooms, or family rooms.

Be sure everyone sleeping in your home can hear your smoke detectors' alarms. If any residents are hearing-impaired or sleep with bedroom doors closed, install additional detectors inside sleeping areas as well. There are special smoke detectors for the hearing impaired; these flash a light in addition to sounding an audible alarm.

For extra protection, NFPA suggests installing detectors in dining rooms, furnace rooms, utility rooms and hallways. Smoke detectors are not recommended for kitchens, bathrooms or garages - where cooking fumes, steam, or exhaust fumes could set off false alarms - or for attics and other unheated spaces where humidity and temperature changes might affect a detectors operation.

Where to install

Because smoke rises, mount detectors high on the wall or on the ceiling. Wall-mounted units should be mounted so that the top of the detector is 4 to 12 inches (10 to 30 cm) from the ceiling. A ceiling-mounted detector should be attached at least four inches (10 cm) from the nearest wall. In a room with a pitched ceiling, mount the detector at or near the ceilings highest point.

In stairways with no doors at the top or bottom, position smoke detectors anywhere in the path of smoke moving up the stairs. But always position smoke detectors at the bottom of closed stairways, such as those leading to the basement, because dead air trapped near the door at the top of a stairway could prevent smoke from reaching a detector located at the top.

Don't install a smoke detector too near a window, door, or forced-air register where drafts could interfere with the detectors operation.

Installation

Most battery-powered smoke detectors and detectors that plug into wall outlets can be installed using only a drill and screwdriver, by following the manufacturers instructions. Plug in detectors must have restraining devices so they cannot be unplugged by accident. Detectors can also be hard-wired into the buildings electrical system. Hard-wired detectors should be installed by a qualified electrician. Never connect a smoke detector to a circuit that can be turned off by a wall switch.

False alarms

Cooking vapors and steam sometimes set off a smoke detector. To correct his, try moving the detector away from the kitchen or bathroom, or install an exhaust fan. Cleaning your detector regularly, according to the manufacturer's instructions, may also help.

If "nuisance alarms" persist, do not disable the detector. Replace the detector.

Maintenance

Only a functioning smoke detector can protect you.

Never disable a detector by "borrowing" its battery for another use.

Following manufacturer's instructions, test all your smoke detectors monthly and install new batteries at least once a year. A good reminder is when you change your clocks in the spring or fall: change your clock, change your battery.

Clean your smoke detectors using a vacuum cleaner without removing the detectors cover.

Never paint a smoke detector.

Smoke detectors don't last forever. Replace any smoke detector that is more than 10 years old.

Plan and practice

• Make sure everyone is familiar with the sound of the detectors alarm.
• Plan escape routes. Know at least two ways out of each room. Agree on a meeting place outside your home where all residents will gather after they escape. Practice your escape plan at least twice a year.
• Remove obstructions from doors and windows needed for escape.
• Make sure everyone in the household can unlock doors and windows quickly, even in the dark. Windows or doors with security bars should be equipped with quick-release devices and everyone in the household should know how to use them.
• When an alarm sounds, leave immediately. Go directly to your outside meeting place and call the fire department.
• Once you're out STAY OUT ! Never return to a burning building.

  Information from NFPA brochure BR-4G

  (Taken from Dryden Fire Departments Web Site)

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Portable Fire Extinguishers

Installation:

• In plain view
• Above the reach of children
• Near an Escape route
• Away from stoves and heating appliances

Maintenance:

• Read your operators manual
• Recharge after every use
• Check pressure gauge monthly

Remember! An extinguisher is NO substitute for the Fire Department. Always be sure the Fire Department inspects the fire site, even if you think you've put it out.

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Fireplace Safety

• Check the damper, vents and chimney regularly to ensure proper operation.
• Keep combustible materials at least three feet away from the fireplace.
• Avoid combustible decorations on the mantle.
• Keep children away from openings.
• Never use flammable liquids to start a fire.
• Never use excessive amounts of paper to build a roaring fire.
• Never burn plastic, charcoal or Styrofoam products in the fireplace. They produce toxic gases!
• Never close the damper with hot ashes in the fireplace.

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Fire Safety Links

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Home page

Sparky The Fire Dogs' Home Page

Check This out New York State Office of Fire Prevention and Control Kids Room

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FEMA for Kids

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Last updated on 03/29/00 12:58 PM