Fire Facts While decorating for this holiday season, take time to make it safe for you and your family. Many people aren't thinking "fire safety" as they are putting up their trees or adding lights and decorations. What most people don't realize is that the United States has one of the highest fire-death rates in the industrialized world. Every year, fire kills more Americans than all of the other natural disasters combined.
The majority of fires in the home start in the kitchen (29 percent), followed by the bedroom (13 percent), living room (7 percent), chimney (5 percent) and laundry area (4 percent). Cooking is the leading cause of home fires and is also the leading cause of fire injuries. These fires most often result from unattended cooking and human error, rather than from the mechanical failure of appliances.
Careless smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths, with heating fires close behind. Heating fires are a bigger problem in single-family homes than in apartments because heating systems in single family homes are often not professionally maintained.
Although 13 out of every 14 homes have smoke alarms, nearly half of all home fires and three-fifths of fire deaths occur in the home with no alarms. There are now more homes with smoke alarms that don't work than homes without alarms at all. Poorly maintained units create a false sense of security.
The majority of people who die in a home fire are not in the room where the fire started. A working smoke alarm alerts people to fire and gives them time to escape.
Here are some tips to make your home a safer place:
Tree Selection and Care
- Choose a freshly cut tree. To test for freshness, try to bend some needles. They should be hard to pull back from the branches and should not break. The trunk of the tree should be sticky to the touch. If you bounce the tree trunk on the ground, very few needles should fall off. If too many needles do fall off, then the tree has been cut for too long, has most likely dried out and is a fire hazard.
- Be careful to keep the tree away from any heating source, including a fireplace or heating vent. These will dry out the tree, causing it to be more easily ignited by heat, flames or sparks.
- To help prevent a tree from drying out, keep the tree stand filled with water at all times. A tree can absorb up to one gallon of water per day! In general, do not leave a tree up for more than three weeks.
- The best way to dispose of a tree is to take it to a recycling center or have it hauled away by a local community service.
- If you using a metallic or artificial tree, make sure it is flame retardant.
Holiday Lighting
- If you are using lights from previous years, inspect them for frayed wires, bare spots, broken sockets and excessive kinking.Use only lighting that is listed by an approved testing laboratory.
- Don't link more than three light strands together, unless the directions indicate that it is safe to do so.
- Periodically check the wires to make sure they aren't warm to the touch.
- Never leave holiday lights unattended!
Holiday Decorations
- Use only nonflammable or flame-retardant decorations, and keep them away from heating vents.
- Never put wrapping paper in a fireplace. It can produce dangerous sparks and chemical buildup in the home, which could cause an explosion.
Candle Care
- If you use candles, make sure they are in stable holders and are placed where they can't be easily knocked over. Never leave the room with candles burning.
- Never place lit candles on a tree.
Home-Heating Safety
- Read and follow the manufacturer's instructions when using a heating device.
- All types of portable heaters should be kept at least 36 inches from anything that can burn, including furniture, bedding, clothing and pets.
- Space heaters should be turned off when you are not in the room or when you go to sleep.
- Make sure to use only kerosene in portable kerosene heaters. Substitute fuel could burn hotter than the equipment is designed to handle. Store kerosene away from heat or an open flame in a container clearly marked with the fuel name.
- Have the chimney inspected by a professional at the beginning of every heating season and cleaned if necessary. Remember to burn only wood. Paper and pine boughs can float out of the chimney and ignite the roof.
- Make sure a wood-burning stove meets local fire codes. Follow the same safety rules for wood stoves as you would for space heaters. Make sure it is placed on an approved stove board to protect the floor from heat and hot coals.
Kitchen Safety
- The main cook should be considered the "referee," deciding who is allowed in the kitchen near the stove.
- Keep all pot handles turned away from the edge of the stove.
- The cook should wear either short sleeves or close-fitting long sleeves.
- Be prepared to handle any type of kitchen fire by having on hand a fire extinguisher labeled "ABC." Also, keep a potholder and pan lid handy to quickly extinguish any flames.
- When attempting to put out a grease fire (or any other liquid) in a pan, don't use a fire extinguisher. The force from the extinguisher could splatter the flaming grease onto other flammable surfaces. Pick up the pan lid with the potholder and approach the pan with the lid in front of you. Cover the pan with the lid to smother the flames (figure A). Pull the pan off of the heating element and turn the element off.
- If a fire extinguisher isn't readily available, gently pour a cup of flour on the grease fire to extinguish it.
Home Fire Escape Planning
- Create an escape plan (figure B), and discuss it with family members.
- Make sure there are at least two ways out of every room.
- Exits must be easy to use and remain unobstructed at all times.
- Designate a meeting place outside the home.
- Post the emergency phone number for the local fire department by each phone.
- Practice an escape plan at least twice a year, remembering to include each member of the household, including preschoolers.
New Information on Smoke Alarms
- Use alarms that bear the mark of an independent testing laboratory.
- Place a smoke alarm on each level of the home, including the basement. Also place one in each bedroom, as well as just outside a group of bedrooms.
- Sleep with bedroom doors closed to slow the spread of smoke and fumes.
Place alarms on the ceiling, at least 10 inches from the nearest wall, or high on a wall, 10 to 12 inches from the ceiling.
- Maintain smoke alarms by testing them once a month. Push the test button and listen for the alarm.
- Replace the batteries according to the manufacturer's instructions or at least once a year (figure C). If the alarm chirps, alerting you that the battery power is low, replace the batteries immediately. Never borrow the batteries from smoke alarms for other uses.
- Remove dust and cobwebs with a vacuum-cleaner attachment (figure D).
- If a smoke alarm is giving "nuisance" or false alarms, install a fresh battery. Evaluate where the alarm is placed if the problem persists. If it's near the kitchen or bathroom, try moving it farther away. If the false alarms continue, install a new smoke alarm.
- The National Fire Protection Association recommends that smoke alarms be replaced every eight to 10 years.
)
)
)
)
)
REAL VIDEO