Prepare in a Year Month 7: Get Fire Safe
The Washington State Military Department (WSMD) has created a simple one-year guide—Prepare in a Year—to help people tackle one task per month. We will follow it here to help you prepare in one category every thirty days so that you will make progress monthly and feel ready by the end of the year. If you are preparing your family, make sure your family members know what to do as well. If you are preparing your business, make sure your colleagues or employees are up to date.
Our task for July is to Get Fire Safe.
When talking about fire, we are referring to fire prevention, preparation, and swift and appropriate response.
Fire Prevention
Obviously, the best way to handle fire is to keep it from happening in the first place. Fires can start in your home and business for a myriad of reasons, including cooking accidents, smoking, fireworks, faulty or unsafe use of wood stoves or space heaters or heat lamps, improper storage of flammable items, frayed electrical wires, overloaded outlets or extension cords, unattended lit candles, and outdoor wildfire or uncontrolled burns. To avoid fires, take these steps:
Don't use or store gasoline, kerosene, or other flammable liquids inside your home. They should be kept in approved containers in well-ventilated storage areas.
Throw away in a metal container outdoors any rags and materials that have been soaked in flammable liquids.
Don't let children have access to lighters and matches.
Don't smoke in bed or sitting down if you are drowsy, medicated, or inebriated.
Dispose of cigarette and cigar butts in a metal container outdoors.
Carefully follow manufacturers' instructions for proper use of wood stoves and space heaters.
Do NOT use outdoor cooking appliances indoors.
Keep flammable materials at least three feet away from wood stoves and heaters.
Don't leave lit candles unattended.
Fix all frayed or faulty electrical wiring.
Don't overload outlets or extension cords.
Take precautions when using heat lamps in a chicken coop.
Empty the lint from your clothes dryer vent every time you use the dryer and clean out the dryer hose once a year.
Preparation
Smoke Detectors. You've heard it a thousand times: Test your smoke detectors monthly and replace the batteries every six months. The main reason people fail to take these precautionary steps is they forget. So tie them in to something you do remember to do once a month OR pick a specific day for the chore, like the first Tuesday of every month, and note it on your calendar. Install smoke detectors outside every bedroom in your home. They should be mounted on the ceiling (because smoke rises) or high up on a wall, away from corners. You should also have a smoke detector mounted near the kitchen and at the top of open stairways and on the ceiling at the bottom of enclosed stairs. Replace your detectors every 10 years. Smoke detectors can be expensive: To get a free one, visit GetASmokeAlarm.org.
Carbon Monoxide Detectors. Install carbon monoxide detectors on every level of your residence, about 18 inches above the floor and near your heating system or wood stove. Replace the batteries every six months.
Fire Extinguishers. Install an ABC fire extinguisher on every floor of your residence, in the kitchen, and in your garage. An ABC fire extinguisher is appropriate for ordinary combustibles (wood, paper, cloth), flammable liquids (grease, oil, paint, solvents), and live electrical equipment. Do NOT keep your extinguisher behind drapes or curtains (which can burn quickly, blocking your access, or right next to a stove where the fire might originate, again blocking your access). Make sure all family members know the PASS method for use: Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Squeeze the lever, and Sweep from side to side.
Escape Ladders. Make sure that upper levels of your residence have escape ladders and teach your family members how to use them safely.
Exits. Make sure all family members know where all the exits are, even when you are staying in a hotel or unfamiliar place. Remember that, during a fire, the power goes out and spaces fill with smoke, making it hard to see. So count the number of doorways between you and the exits so you can feel your way if necessary. Everyone in your family should know two ways to escape from every room.
Drills. Hold a family fire drill once a year.
Outside Meeting Place. Agree in advance on an outside meeting area. That way, during a fire, everyone in your family will know who has made it outside and who hasn't and won't go looking for someone who is already safe.
Fire Response
Follow these rules for small fires:
If the fire is still manageable, use your ABC fire extinguisher.
If the fire is electrical, shut off the electricity at the main breaker. If you can't shut off the electricity, do NOT use water to douse the fire.
Do NOT pour water on a grease or oil fire. It will only spread the fire.
To put out a grease or oil fire, cover it with baking soda, a cutting board, or a pan lid or use a fire extinguisher.
Follow these rules for all other fires:
If the fire is already too big for you to handle or your use of the fire extinguisher fails to put it out right away, immediately exit your home. Don’t stop to gather anything or to call 911.
Call 911 only once you're outside. (If you call from inside, you could become overwhelmed by smoke.)
Once you have exited, don't go back inside.
Follow these rules for escaping a fire:
Don't use elevators to exit a burning building. You could get stuck in a elevator as the power cuts out and the shaft could fill with smoke.
Keep doors closed to prevent the spread of the fire.
If you can't escape from a room, keep the door closed, stay low to the ground, and hang a white sheet from the window so firefighters will know where you are.
Smoke rises, so stay low to the ground.
Look for an exit that is not blocked by fire, heat, or smoke.
Test doors for heat before opening them. With the back of your hand, feel doorknobs, the top of the door, and the crack between door and frame.
If your clothes catch fire, drop to the ground and roll.
If the area is filled with smoke, drop to your hands and knees, breathe lightly through your nose, and use a shirt or jacket as a filter.
