Fire prevention: Being smart about burns and keeping your home safe
- Michelle Wood: SWCD
- October 7, 2009
- 845
Fire Prevention Month was established to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. That historic tragedy was responsible for more than 250 deaths, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres. The fire began on Oct. 8, but continued into and did most of its damage on Oct. 9, 1871.
Chief Scott Balder, of Holmes Fire District No. 1, and Assistant Chief Frank Kuntz, of the Wooster Division of Fire, took the time to offer some tips to keep your family and home safe from fire.
According to Chief Balder, there is a fire in someone’s home in Ohio every 30 minutes and each year about 130 people die in residential fires. More than $150 million in damages are caused by fires every year.
“There are five leading causes of fire death in the home,” Balder said. “Those causes include careless smoking, arson, electrical, cooking and heating sources like furnaces or wood burners. If a fire does occur in a home, the smoke and heat are going to rise so it’s important to bend low or crawl if necessary and get out of the house quickly.”
Balder said that sometimes a circuit breaker or fuse that constantly trips or blows may be a sign of a possible electrical problem. If you have issues like this you need to call an electrician to check the wiring. He also suggests checking all appliance cords for fraying and exposed wires and only using extension cords with built-in circuit breakers. Assistant Chief Kuntz said in addition to fires, burns can be a big problem, but not just burns from fire. Water temperature can cause burns, especially with young children.
“You can control the temperature of your tap water by turning the heat setting on your water heater,” Kuntz suggested. “This is especially important if there are small children or elderly people in your home. Another important tip is to keep children and all combustible material three feet from portable heaters and stoves. Three feet is the safe zone and in the colder months when people are using heaters and stoves they need to keep this in mind.”
Balder said that wearing loose fitting clothing is also a danger when cooking over a stove.
“Never leave your cooking unattended,” Balder said. “Also, make sure you set a timer or wear a wristband to remind you to check on your cooking or to turn all of the burners off when done. Wearing loose clothing can pose a risk as well, because it’s easier to catch fire with clothing that’s hanging down.”
Kuntz said that the kitchen is the part of the home that is most prone to fires and that people need to guard their kitchen area.
“The kitchen is the area of the home that has become the most fire prone area of the residential structure,” he explained. “Cooking has been the leading cause of kitchen fires and burns. The cooking oil that is used will burn when it contacts with open flame or heat from an electric range. It usually happens when people leave the stove to do something else while the oil is heating up or the food is cooking on top of the range. What can you do? Stay at the stove when cooking and have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen in case boil over or grease fires start.”
Kuntz said that kitchen fires are also a cause of burns as well.
“Make sure you keep children away from the stove and turn all pot handles in,” he said. “Never try and move a burning pan away from the stove. This is where we have had people receive severe burns. What happens is, they grab the pan, which is very hot, including the handle, and move it a few feet before they let go of the pan and drop it, spilling the hot oil or grease on themselves. A kitchen fire extinguisher would knock a small fire out immediately. Another tip is to simply cover the burning pan with a lid and smother the fire if you can without getting burned. But never try and move the burning pan.”
In addition to the many kitchen fires that destroy property and homes every year, candles are also a huge factor when it comes to house fires.
“Candles also have contributed to several fires in the city of Wooster,” he said. “In most cases the candle was left unattended. However, remember that candle wax can cause burns, so carrying and moving lit candles is dangerous, too. Adults should never allow children to use candles unless there is supervision at all times. Keep matches and lighters in a safe place where children cannot get to them. Serious fires have been started by small children that have found lighters and matches in homes. This has resulted in serious burns to children while they were playing with the matches or lighters. If you do use candles, make sure the igniters or matches used to light them are put away in a safe place.”
Both Kuntz and Balder hope that every area resident will take the time to check their smoke detectors and have an escape route planned.
“Keep those smoke alarms in working order,” Kuntz said. “Check them monthly and remember, when you change your clocks, change your smoke detector batteries.”
Planning two escape routes from your home or apartment and practicing the plan is important as well.
“Plan two escape routes from your home or apartment and practice this plan on a regular basis,” Balder said. “Have a meeting point outside so family and friends will know where you will be. If the smoke alarm goes off, get outside, check for other family members, then go to a neighbor’s house and call 911. Don’t ever go back into a house that is on fire, and teach your children their home address so if 911 is called, they will be able to tell emergency workers where the emergency is taking place.”