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National Fire Prevention Week is October 5th - 11th, 2008

2008 Theme: PREVENT HOME FIRES

The City of Oak Harbor Fire Department responded to 80 fires in 2007. Ten of these fires experienced significant fire damage and loss. The 2008 Fire Prevention week theme is Prevent Home Fires and we hope that you spend some time reviewing these tips and facts and then evaluate your home and it's fire hazards.

Fire Prevention Week is an excellent time to practice your family's Home Escape Plan -- or to develop a plan if you do not already have one in place. It's easy, follow these simple steps:

1. Pick a date - anytime in October
2. Make your home fire escape plan - two ways out of each room of your home & a meeting place.
3. Practice your escape drill.

Quick Tips to Prevent Home Fires

Cooking with Care

• Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period time, turn off the stove.
• Keep anything that can catch fire – potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags – away form your stovetop.
• Wear short, close fitting or tightly rolled sleeves when cooking. Loose clothing can dangle onto stove burners and catch fire.
• Always keep an oven mitt and lid handy. If a small fire starts in a pan on the stove, put on the oven mitt and smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan. Turn off the burner. Don’t remove the lid until it is completely cool.

Everyday Electrical Safety

• Keep lamps, light fixtures, and light bulbs away from anything that can burn, such as lamp shades, bedding, curtains, and clothing.
• Replace cracked and damaged electrical cords.
• Use extension cords for temporary wiring only. Consider having additional circuits or receptacles added by a qualified electrician.
• Homes with young children should have tamper-resistant electrical receptacles.
• Call a qualified electrician or landlord if you have recurring problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers, discolored or warm wall outlets, flickering lights or a burning or rubbery smell coming from an appliance.

Healthy Heating

• Install and maintain carbon monoxide alarms to avoid risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
• Maintain heating equipment and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
• Keep all things that can burn, such as paper, bedding or furniture, at least 3 feet away form heating equipment.
• Turn portable space heaters off when you go to bed or leave the room.
• An oven should not be used to heat a home.

Strike Out Smoking-materials Fires

• If you smoke, choose fire-safe cigarettes if they are available in your area.
• If you smoke, smoke outside.
• Wherever you smoke, use deep, sturdy ashtrays.
• Never smoke in a home where oxygen is used.
• Keep matches and lighters up high in a locked cabinet, out of the reach of children.

Candle with Caution

• Keep candles at least 12 inches form anything that can burn.
• Use sturdy, safe candleholders.
• Never leave a burning candle unattended. Blow out candles when you leave a room.
• Avoid using candles in bedrooms and sleeping areas.
• Use flashlights for emergency lighting.

Safety 101

• Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. For the best protection, interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
• Test smoke alarms at least once a month using the test button.
• Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.
• Make sure everyone can hear the sound of the smoke alarms.
• Have a home fire escape plan. Know at least two ways out of every room, if possible, and a meeting place outside. Practice your escape plan twice a year.
• When the smoke alarm sounds, get out and stay out.
• If you are building or remodeling your home, consider a residential fire sprinkler system.

Fast Facts about Home Fires

Cooking

• Cooking fires are the #1 of home fires and home fire injuries.
• In 2005, cooking equipment was involved in 146,400 reported home structure fires, the largest share for any major cause. These fires resulted in 480 civilian deaths, 4,690 civilian injuries, and $876 million in direct property damage.
• The majority of home fires – 40% – start in the kitchen.
• Unattended cooking is the leading factor contributing to ignition in home cooking fires, accounting for one-third of such fires. More than half of all cooking fire injuries occurred when people tried to fight the fire themselves.
• Most home cooking fires (67%) in 2005 started with the range or stove.
• Electric ranges or stoves have a higher risk of fires, deaths, injuries and property damage, compared to gas ranges or stoves.

Electrical

• Electrical distribution and lighting equipment were involved in an estimated 20,900 reported home fires in 2005. These fires resulted in 500 civilian deaths and 1,100 injuries, with an estimated $862 million in direct property damage per year.
• Lamps, light fixtures, and light bulbs accounted for the largest share of 2002-2005 non-confined fires among major types of electrical distribution equipment, while cords and plugs accounted for the largest share of civilian fire deaths.
• Extension cord fires outnumbered fires beginning with attached or unattached power cords by more than two-to-one.
• Cords and plugs were involved in one-eighth (12%) of the 2002-2005 home electrical distribution and lighting equipment fires, but roughly two-fifths (39%) of associated civilian deaths.

Smoking materials

• Smoking materials (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc.) are the leading cause of fire deaths in the United States. Roughly one of every four fire deaths per year in 2002-2005 was attributed to smoking materials.
• In 2002-2005, there were an estimated 82,400 smoking-material fires per year in the United States. These fires caused 800 civilian deaths and 1,660 civilian injuries.
• Older adults are at the highest risk of death or injury from smoking-material fires even though they are less likely to smoke than younger adults.
• The most common material first ignited in home smoking-material fire deaths were mattresses and bedding and upholstered furniture.
• In Canada, there were 7,700 fires in 2002 associated with smoking materials. These fires caused 140 civilian deaths, 470 civilian injuries and direct property damage of $132 million Canadian ($84 million U.S.).

Candles

• During 2005, an estimated 15,600 home structure fires started by candles were reported to local fire departments. These fires resulted in an estimated 150 civilian deaths, 1,270 civilian injuries and an estimated direct property loss of $539 million. Homes include dwellings, duplexes, manufactured housing and apartments.
• Although home candle fires fell 8% from 2004 to 2005, more than twice as many were reported in 2005 as in 1990.
• Candle fires accounted for an estimated 4% of all reported home fires in 2005.
• The top five days for home candle fires were Christmas, Christmas Eve, New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve, and Halloween.

Home fires

• In 2007, there were an estimated 399,000 reported home structure fires resulting in 2,865 civilian deaths and 13,600 civilian injuries and $7.4 billion in direct damage in the United States. Home fires caused 84% of civilian deaths and 77% of injuries.
• Heating equipment and smoking are the leading causes of civilian home fire deaths.
• January and December were the peak months for home fires and home fire deaths.
• More than half of all home fire deaths result from incidents reported between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., but only 20% of home fires occur between these hours.
• Children under 5 and older adults face the highest risk of home fire death, but young adults face a higher risk of home fire injury.

Heating

• Heating fires are the second-leading cause of home fires.
• In 2005, heating equipment was involved in 62,200 reported U.S. home structure fires, with associated losses of 670 civilian deaths, 1,550 civilian injuries, and $909 million in direct property damage.
• Nearly half (44%) of all home heating fires occurred in December, January and February in 2002-2005.
• Heating equipment fires accounted for 16% of all reported home fires in 2005 (second behind cooking) and 22% of home fire deaths.
• Space heaters, excluding fireplaces, chimneys, and chimney connectors, were involved in one-third (32%) of the home heating fires but three-fourths (73%) of the deaths in 2005.
• Between 2002-2005, the leading factor contributing to home heating fires (27%) and deaths (53%) was heating equipment too close to things that can burn, such as upholstered furniture, clothing, mattress, or bedding. This excludes fires reported as confined fires.

Smoke alarms

• Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in reported home structure fires in half.
• A 2004 U.S. telephone survey found that 96% of U.S. households had at least one smoke alarm, yet in 2000-2004, no smoke alarms were present or none operated in almost half (46%) of the reported home fires.
• An estimated 890 lives could be saved each year if all homes had working smoke alarms.
• 65% of reported home fire deaths in 2000-2004 resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
• The fire death rate in homes with working smoke alarms is 51% less than the rate for homes without this protection.
• In one out of every five homes equipped with at least one smoke alarm installed, not a single one was working.
• When smoke alarms fail it is most often because of missing, disconnected or dead batteries. Nuisance activations were the leading cause of disabled smoke alarms.

Resources:

National Fire Protection Association website -- excellent information about preparing a plan (including information for those living in apartment buildings, manufactured homes, homes with security bars on the windows, and plans for those over the age of 65.

Home Safety Council -- Think Safe Be Safe: Fire Prevention Tips

FEMA/US Fire Administration -- Smoking and Home Fires. Smoking is the #1 preventable cause of home fires.

How to Create a Home Escape Plan -- step by step instructions listed on the ehow website.

Simple Grid and guide for drawing your houseplan

Plan Your Escape Having working smoke detectors is extremely important; but will you and your family know what to do when the alarm goes off? The United States Fire Administration (a division of FEMA) has produced a flyer on planning quick escape routes from your home: Get Out Safely! (pdf file). Once you have established a plan, practice it regularly so that all family members know what to do in an emergency.

• Close the door and block the gaps with blankets, towels or clothing to stop the smoke getting in.
• Go to the window, open it and attract attention (at ground floor level you can leave by the window).
• If smoke gets heavy in the room lean out of the window to get fresh air.
• At first floor level, as a last resort you can hang from the window sill and drop to the ground (bend your knees to reduce injury).
• Always lower children to the ground first, never expect them to follow you.

Information on this page from the National Fire Protection Association  (NFPA). OHFD copyright 2005-2008. This page was updated on September 17, 2008