Fire Prevention Week- Are You Safety Minded at Home?

Fire Prevention Week- Are You Safety Minded at Home?

The week of October 7 – 13 of every year is National Fire Prevention Week. In 1925 it became a nationally honored week in memoriam to the Chicago Fire which occurred on October 8 – 10, 1871. The fire killed up to 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles of Chicago, Illinois, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. This is a special week to Genesis Home Care LLC. The owner/operators of Genesis are firefighter/Medics here in the metro Atlanta Ga area.

We started our home care agency after seeing first hand the need to assist our community in more ways than only responding to emergency response calls. We elected to focus on pre-incident care as well as post incident assistance inside the home and facility where folks were underserved and care was vitally needed. So let’s discuss fire prevention in your home and how to be preventive, aware and ready to go into action in the case of a fire.

The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) has set the tone for this years prevention week with fast easy steps to help you and your family reduce the chances of a fire event.
“Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere”

Look
While at home you should look around your home for likely causes of fires and eliminate them.

Hot spots in the house:

Kitchen– be alert while cooking in doors and out. Grease fires can quickly get out of control and water thrown on it will only exacerbate the fire. To extinguish a grease fire you want to smother the oxygen away from the fire by covering it with a lid, a heavy powder such as baking soda (only if you have enough) but having and using a proper kitchen fire extinguisher is optimum. Outdoor cooking should be away from the house. The propane tank and hose inspected for damage before operation. Make sure you don’t saturate the immediate air with propane before you create a spark. Most importantly follow the manufacturers operating instructions.

Laundry room– Most people don’t realize the potential in their laundry room but you want to check your lint collector. Allowing the lent to collect should be avoided. Check for fraying on your appliances cords and the housing on the appliance itself should be inspected from time to time.

The rest of your home should be monitored for cleanliness, and safe minded behavior, such as smoking responsibly/extinguishment, proper candle holders, and scheduled chimney cleaning. We can’t move on to our alert system without mentioning electrical safety in the house. Frayed electric cords, faulty electrical sockets, and overloading power strips/outlets/adapters are all significant fire risk behavior.

Listen
Every second counts when a fire occurs. In the U.S. where code and regulation are a norm there are still over 365,000 home fires a year, with 2,500 deaths and 13,000 injuries. Audible devices aka smoke detectors are a great in house fire prevention tool, and you are able to buy a smoke detector that also checks for carbon monoxide. They are invaluable if you are asleep when a fire happens or monoxide enters your home. However, a smoke detector alerting you is only the beginning.

Do you and your loved ones have an escape route with two ways out from different areas in your house? Do you have a rally point? Does everyone have each others phone numbers memorized? Do you have young children, older adults, disable individuals in your home? Are they able to with out delay make an exit from your home? Do a quick inspection of your home and ask these question and perform a family fire drill twice a year to practice these life safety tips.

Learn
Learn your home and your environment. Is there a safe exit from every room? Does a window lead to another dangerous situation outside below? Will you need a ladder? Are you windows and doors clear of obstruction?
Safety in your home is paramount and Genesis Home Care, LLC is here to assist you with in home safety. Every home should have a smoke detector, and a fire extinguisher. Check your home to make sure you have these items.

Seasonal time change (Spring and Fall) can be a helpful reminder for you to check that your smoke detector is functional, and the battery is good. But lets not neglect the fire extinguisher. Pick it up, get used to the weight, and look the assembly, practice in motion the acts of using it.

There is an acronym to use in using your extinguisher. It is: P.A.S.S.

P – Pull the pin
A – Aim the nozzle of the extinguisher
S – Squeeze the handle/trigger
S – Sweep the nozzle at the base of the fire

Having a good plan in place will help everyone be on the same page and know what to do, how to escape, where to meet, and who to call. Once you are removed from the house you should never go back inside the home for any thing or anyone. Many people have perished going back into their home looking for a loved one while the loved one was safely out of the house but not in a planned rally point. The fire dept should be on their way if they were called and they are trained to go into a dangerous zone and attempt to save and salvage.

Incorporating Look. Listen. and Learn. Into your home setting will set you ready to better respond to a fire and improve a good outcome for you and your family. Genesis Home Care, LLC. offers free home safety inspection’s as part of our initial new client inception process. Feel free to contact us to find out more. www.genesishomecarellc.com

Disclaimer: This article is intended as a friendly reminder with recommendations. It is not medical advice, direction or prescription of any sort. Please refer to professional services for any health-related questions, concerns and relief.