It's October... Time For Fire Prevention

[Diane Amberg]

 Alright, all of you. It is Oct. that means all of us fire service types get to make pests of ourselves about fire prevention. So, once in awhile I'll share fire safety tips, ask questions, share stories and get you all thinking about fire safety.
        To start with....This year Fire Prevention Week is Oct.7-13. Why then?   What is this year's national fire prevention theme?  What do the letters NFPA stand for?  I'll be back to pester you some more later.

[Diane Amberg]

 Hello to all. Al felt good enough to go out with me in the car today, so we went to our station 9 at noon for the memorial bell ringing.   Our people rang the bell 91 times, for all the firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty all over the country during 2006.  You can hear that big booming bell all over Newark on a quiet Sunday.  Now it is officially Fire Prevention Week.   Did any one figure out why now?   What is this year's national theme?  NFPA stands for National Fire Protection Agency... They are the official host for everything having to do with fire prevention.  Now, a fire safety tip.  For those of you who are into candles.... they must never be left unattended.  Be sure ALL candles have good sized nonflammable containers, away from things that can burn.  Be very watchful of jell candles and jar candles.  The hot glass has been known to break and spill burning wax.  Keep children and house pets away from burning candles.  Be sure burning candles have a lot of space over top of them....heat rises, don't set your bookshelves and cabinets on fire. Good pillar candles have safety precautions on the bottom. Get out your magnifying glass and read what it says. More another day.

[emptynest]

We are preparing for Fire Safety Prevention week in the schools, too.  At least in 1st grade---we have a guest firefighter come speak and the stories I read all have Fire Prevention messages in them.  I bring a smoke detector from home and let the kids practice changing the batteries in it and then we test it.  We talk about having a safety meeting place outside your home and I send home a checklist with each student to help their family "fireproof" their homes.  On Friday, we have an old fashioned put out the fire "brigade"  with 2 teams and lots of buckets that have to passed down the line and thrown on a refrigerator box that symbolizes a house on fire. Then we talk of different types of fires and what is safe and not safe to extinguish them with.  We also talk about not playing with matches and make a class book resembling a giant matchbook and on the inside each giant match has a fire safety rule writtien on it by individual students.  By the end of the week, certificates are given out to each student with a picture of them and the firefighter who came to visit.  We take fire safety very seriously!

[Diane Amberg]

I love it!  I am all smiles.  I've spoken to thousands of kids over the years and have been the ''culminating  activity" for many, many classes. We do Stop, Drop & Roll with felt flames, crawl to the exit ( beneath a big strip of black cloth for smoke.) I have a 911 phone we practice on.  We show some toys burned in fires to show what fire does without scaring the kids. We do matches are tools, not toys. For older kids we do the "crab claw pick up" for matches and lighters. Third grade and up... If the kids are likely to pick up matches anyway, we have them make a "crab claw" with their thumb and first finger. Then they put the other hand behind their back, glued there with pretend glue. Then they pick up the matches with their crab claw and put the matches away safely, such as give them to a grown up. As long as the other hand stays behind their back, they can't get in trouble with matches. (I won an award with that idea.)  We have surprisingly young children babysitting other kids, so we felt we had to come up with something, if matches became an issue. I also take my gear and suit up one of the teachers and we talk about air packs and such. Then they get to try it all on. I take multiple sets, so they don't have to wait too long. We have a number of teams that will be out all month at the schools and we do station tours too.
Keep up the good work, we can't do it all.

[Diane Amberg]

 Hi, again. I just got back from doing a fire safety class at one of our preschools.  For some it was their first time and their first fire drill.  Some of the parents came today to watch what I did.  We have lots more to do all month.  Tonight at 7:00 every fire station all over the country is supposed to blow their siren or ring their engine bells to start a nationwide home exit drill practice.  Not everyone participates of course, but at least think about how you would get out, if your house suddenly caught fire, especially late at night.   Teresa, I know how busy you must be, but don't forget an exit plan for your new place.  Be sure to have good smoke detectors there too, especially since you have your grand kids from time to time.  Anyone who ever moves should be especially careful until they get settled in and things get comfortable and routine again.
In case you didn't get it, this year's national theme is "Practice Your Escape Plan."  Ok, next question... You have a grease fire in a big frying pan on top of the stove....What should you do? (Teresa's chicken?)

[Tobina+1]

Throw FLOUR on it!!!

Not to be confused with POWDERED SUGAR, by the way... which, coincidentally, my husband actually tried to fry chicken in one night (good thing I was gone; it took him 2 days to clean up the mess).   

[Diane Amberg]

 I'm going to modernize your answer a little. Skip the flour, and go with baking soda, a box of salt, or even better, cover it with a large lid or use a fire extinguisher....Don't forget to turn off the burner and NEVER carry the pan anywhere until the problem is over and the pan has cooled down.  Now, about the flour. Although people have had success using a big glob of flour, sometimes the flour catches fire and makes the situation worse. Flour is essentially flammable, so we're trying to wean people away from flour. Anything that was every growing, was harvested, dried and ground up fine has the possibility of burning.     Tobina, I love your story! I gather your hubby doesn't cook very often.  Cooking is still the number one cause of fires in the country, with smoking still the leading cause of fires where there is serious injury or death.

[Tobina+1]

Well, Chuck is a very good cook, actually... but I put all my flour, sugar, and powdered sugar in sealed canisters instead of the messy sacks they come in (and before this "incident" I didn't have them labeled).  So he just grabbed a canister and floured his chicken and plopped it in the hot oil.  He said it instantly foamed up all over the place.  He scrapped off all the foam with a spoon into a bowl; and later that night as he was cleaning up, he said it took 5 minutes of HOT water running over the spoon and bowl to get them apart!  The funniest part was when he called me... I was traveling and almost ran off the road I was laughing so hard... his question to me... "What would be in one of these canisters that looks like flour, but would foam up really bad when I tried to fry my chicken?"  I knew instantly what he'd done!  BELIEVE me... I came home and labeled my canisters.  (And I still think Chuck tastes it before he flours chicken.)

Thanks for the information on the oil fire!  Very good to know... and I'll pass the information on to Chuck, too.

[Rudy Taylor]

I'm learning a lot today, girls.  Thanks for the info.

[Diane Amberg]

OK, today is the last official day of Fire Prevention Week, although we'll be busy at schools and affairs all month. Fire prevention is actually 24/7, all year long. Fire Prevention Week is held whatever week Oct. 9th falls in, because of the Great Chicago Fire on that date in 1871. The fire marshals around the country decided to really work on the terrible fire rate in this country. It didn't become "official" until many years later.
Now, I'll share something most firefighters don't even know. We all know about the fire in Chicago because it was a big city and got lots of press. About 300 people died and some 90,000 were made homeless. Most people don't know that at about the same time, a terrible forest fire swept through Peshtigo, Wisconsin and killed everyone there. The town and the surrounding area burned so fast and so completely there was no one left to tell about it.  Somewhere between 1,200 and 2,500 people were incinerated. It had been extremely dry in the upper Midwest and there were also several bad fires at the same time in Michigan.  Bad fires were so common back then that it was generally accepted that there wasn't much anyone could do about it.  But that awful cluster of fires set the fire marshals to thinking and they pledged to start educating people.
Now we tend to break fire "prevention" into 3 parts.  There is Public Relations and Awareness... the fire engine in the local parade,... the open house to show what firefighters do.  Then there is true Fire Prevention Education.... Keeping matches and lighters away from kids, not pouring fireplace ashes in grocery bags, using safe ashtrays and killing cigarettes dead before tossing them in the trash can.  And the third is Fire Survival...knowing what to do if the fire prevention fails. Learn who and when to use a fire extinguisher. Plan exits ahead of time from wherever you are.  Have smoke detectors wherever you sleep, including mobile vacation homes, boats, campers, tents, etc.  Be sure your smoke detectors (at least one on each occupied floor of your home) are not more than 10 years old, same for fire extinguishers.
I'm hoping when Zimmerman's is rebuilt, the building will be fully sprinklered and have smoke detectors.
Please keep in mind, the colder, darker months tend to have more fires, especially at night. Stay safe...Any questions? Class dismissed.