Appliances:Convenient Yet Potentially Dangerous
Home, where most people feel safest, is often the most dangerous place. Fires from appliances such as stoves, dryers and space heaters are common. You can help prevent appliance fires with these tips:

• Do teach children not to play with appliances.
• Don't use an oven to heat a room.
• Don't use a space heater when you're sleeping or in another room.
• Do check all appliance cords and replace any that are worn or frayed.
• Do check appliances regularly and clean their parts, such as gas valves and refrigerator coils.

Kay Dutton, an Oak Park, Ill., mother of eight, was working in her kitchen when a tomafell behind her vintage stove. When she reached for it, she jostled loose the gas couplings.

Flames shot up the wall behind the stove. The released gas had reached the pilot and started a blaze. She dashed into the living room and called 9-1-1. She shooed three older children and her dog out the door and ran upstairs to get her 3-year-old from her crib. All escaped unharmed. Pets bring up another safety point:

• Do post pet safety decals, available at pet supply stores or at your vet's office, on your front door so that firefighters know how many pets you own. "We'll do as much as possible for pets, but we will not risk the lives of firefighters," Wiley says.

Smoke Alarns Are Crucial
A safe home for your family is not possible without smoke alarms. According to the National Fire Protection Association, the majority of fatal fires start at night when a family is asleep. Remember these tips:

• Do test your smoke alarms monthly and replace them after 10 years.
• Do change your smoke alarm batteries at least once a year - for example, when you set your clock ahead in the spring or back in the fall.
• Do sleep behind a closed door; it's a block against smoke and flames. Install a smoke alarm inside that room, too.

Fireproof Yards and Garages, Too
Since many families live in homes with attached garages, a glaze that starts in a garage can quickly spread to the house. Even fires in unattached garages and storage sheds can spread. Take these precautions:

• Do store flammable chemicals or gasoline in detached locked garages or sheds.
• Do unplug all appliances, such as saws and lawn mowers, when you're finished using them.
• Don't leave grass and leaves in a "nonbreathing" container.

One spring day, Pam Jansen, of Hillside, Ill., and her husband dumped newly raked dry leaves into a plastic garbage container partly filled with decomposing leaves from a fall raking. "At about 4 a.m. Tuesday, we awoke to find our garage in flames," Jansen recalls. The garbage container of leaves had burst into flames, and the fire quickly spread.

Snuff Out Candle Danger
Candles are common props for birthday and dinner parties. Although tranquil, they can lead to danger. Home candle fires hit a 19-year peak in 1998, according to the NFPA, with almost half of all candle fires starting in the bedroom. Remeber these tips, courtesy of the NFPA:

• Don't allow children to have candles in their bedrooms.
• Do save candles for holiday use, when adults are around.
• Don't leave a lit candle unattended.
• Do keep lit candles and matches out of reach of young children. Teach older children not to play with candles.
• Do use a flashlight, not candles, during a power outage.

Rachel Mizioch, 13, of Scottsdale, Ariz., lit a candle and placed it on a rattan bookshelf in her room. Moments later, the flame ignited the rattan, and fire spread up the wall and across the ceiling. Fortunately, the Mizioch family home was protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system, which extinguished the fire before the fire department arrived.

Remember College-Bound Kids
Fire safety is a concern for older kids, too. Wiley suggests the following tips for parents sending kids to college:

• Don't house your children in unprotected residences. Look for sprinklers and smoke alarms.
• Do give your college-bound son or daughter a going-away gift basket of fire safety tools. Include a flashlight, smoke alarm, first-aid kit, carbon monoxide detector, a grid for drawing up a fire-escape plan, and extra batteries - total cost, about $100. A three-story folding ladder costs another $150.
• Do make sure your child's college has a good fire safety record.
• Do ask school administrators if they conduct regular, compulsory fire drills.

First Aid | NSC Home | Comments

August 26, 2002

 Teaching your family the importance of planning and practicing how to exit a burning home is crucial. Battalion Chief Kevin Wiley's own children, ages 7 and 11, plot out exit routes on a chart, then post it on the refrigerator door. "When guests arrive, the kids run up to them and excitedly tell them about the plan," Wiley says.

 Practice your escape route at least twice a year. Have regular fire drills and time how long it takes your entire family to exit safely. Keep practicing to be sure everyone knows two ways out from every room.

 The Holley family of Plano, Texas, had just practiced an escape plan because 9-year-old Jessica Holley had to complete a homework assignment related to home fire safety. That assignment might have saved their lives, as an electrical fire ravaged their home, burning it almost to the ground. Because of their practice escape plan, they all made it out safely.

 Make sure you tell children not to hide when a fire starts, but to go outside. Wiley says many children hide from firefighters, who look frightening in their outfits and equipment.

 During his fire safety classes, Wiley shows preschoolers his outfit. Before he puts anything on, he asks if they're afraid of him. They tell him "no." Then he dons items one by one, asking repeatedly if they're afraid. By the time he has all the equipment on, almost all of the children say they're not afraid.