In 2002 U.S. Fire Departments responded to a total of 1,687,500 fires...

     That amounts to a fire every 19 seconds!  3,380 civilians and 97 firefighters died in these fires, or one civilian every 156 minutes.  79% of those deaths occurred in the home, and of those deaths, nearly 80% occurred in homes without working smoke detectors.

     67,500 of these fires were started by children playing with fire, causing an estimated 232 deaths, 1,805 injuries and $235,000,000 in property damage.  A child under the age of 5 dies nearly every day in a residential fire, and they are twice as likely as the rest of the population to meet this fate.  Even considering these statistics, only 25% of families have actually developed and practiced a home fire escape plan, and many people have no working smoke detectors or fire extinguishers in their homes.

     Many of these losses are preventable.  On these pages, and in the links provided to various fire-prevention websites, we will outline some proven, common-sense precautions that will drastically reduce the chances that you or your loved ones will become the victims of a fire.

     "No child -not a single one- should suffer such an awful death, a death that can be prevented by parents who take the necessary precautions.  Every parent and every caregiver with young children depending on them must take a few simple but important steps to prevent this tragedy.  Even toddlers can be taught how to quickly respond in case of fire and adults need to know how they will escape with infants." -R. David Brown, U.S. Fire Administration, initiator of the Fire Safety Campaign for Babies and Toddlers.

     By taking a few simple steps you can help keep your loved ones safe, greatly reduce the chance of a fire in your home, and ensure everyone has the best chance of escaping safely if a fire does occur.

• Install smoke detectors on every level of your home and outside each bedroom, test them regularly (a great opportunity to practice your home fire escape plan!) and change the batteries at least twice a year. Keep a fire extinguisher handy on each level of your home and make sure everyone in the house knows how to use it.

CHANGE YOUR CLOCK / CHANGE YOUR BATTERY

• Develop a home escape plan with 2 ways out of every room. Practice it until every member of your family understands it and can follow it when a fire occurs, even in the middle of the night.

• Teach your family to roll out of bed and crawl low under smoke. This will reduce the chances of inhaling superheated, toxic smoke and gasses. Always check doors for heat before opening them...if hot, use a secondary escape route (i.e., the window).

• Consider installing drop-down escape ladders inside upper story windows, and practice using them. They store in wood or metal boxes at the base of the window and can be deployed in seconds, even by young children.

• Teach your children to never play with matches, lighters or any form of fire, and how to stop, drop and roll if their clothes catch fire.

• Remember to keep all oily rags and fireplace ashes in closed metal containers outside the house. Don't store flammable or combustible liquids in the house, never overload electrical outlets or run extension cords under rugs or furniture, and never leave cooking materials unattended.

     By following these simple fire safety rules, you can help keep your loved ones safe from the tragedy of a home fire.  Making an escape plan and practicing it with your family, along with working smoke alarms, are the best ways to increase the chance that everyone will get out in the event of a fire.

     Not all fire deaths in the U.S. occur in the home...

     While the majority of fatal fires occur in the home, some of the largest life-loss fires (where large numbers of people die in a single incident) occur in places of public assembly such as hotels, nightclubs and theaters.  The following are just a few of the tragic examples:

• April 23, 1940: Rhythm Nightclub, Natchez, Miss., 207 dead
• November 28, 1942: Coconut Grove Nightclub, Boston, Mass., 492 dead
• May 28, 1977: Beverly Hills Supper Club, Southgate, KY., 165 dead
• November 21, 1980: MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, NV., 87 dead
• February 21, 2003: The Station Nightclub, Providence, RI., 100 dead

     Over the last century untold hours of investigation and analysis have gone into finding common causes and situations that contributed to these deaths, both in order to understand how they occurred and prevent them from happening again; many of our fire codes today are a direct result of these findings.  Most of these fires were found to have several things in common that contributed to the high numbers of people killed:

• Overcrowding.
• Locked or blocked exits.
• Flammable decorations or interior finishes.
• Lack of or inoperable sprinkler systems.
• People trying to get out the same way they entered, not using a fire exit.
• Failure to follow existing fire codes.
• Failure to exit promptly after the fire started.
• Using elevators during the fire.

      There are steps you can take to correct these problems, and prevent being injured or killed should another of these fires occur:

• Refuse to sleep, eat or attend events in establishments and hotels that don't have fire sprinklers.
   

• Always locate the nearest fire exits when you enter so you can quickly find your way out in an emergency.
   

• Locate the nearest fire extinguisher and alarm pull station.
   

• If the event is overcrowded, leave and contact the local fire department to report it.
   

• Contact the fire department if you find locked or blocked fire exits or other fire code violations.
   

• Quickly and calmly leave the building immediately in the event of an emergency.
   

• Never use the elevator in a fire, it may stop and trap you on the floor where the fire is, always use the stairways.
   

• If trapped by fire in a hotel or office, keep the door closed, stuff wet towels around door cracks and use the phone to contact 911 and report your location to the fire department.

     If you take responsibility for your own safety by becoming aware of your surroundings, learn to recognize and avoid dangerous situations, and report them to the local fire department when you find them, you won't risk becoming another statistic, and may even prevent the next tragic fire from occurring.

     The Fire Prevention Division provides many services to residents and businesses in your area, including fire code inspections of commercial and educational occupancies, multi-family dwellings, retirement and nursing homes, and places of public assembly; permits for hazardous materials and processes; new construction and remodel plan reviews; fire code enforcement and interpretation, fire investigations and public education.  The Division also trains the suppression crews in fire prevention and inspection procedures, fire code revisions, building familiarization, and pre-fire plan development procedures.  For questions regarding the fire code, plan reviews or building inspections, or permits for hazardous materials or processes, contact the office of the Fire Marshal at (xxx) xxx-xxxx.

     Smoke detectors are installed free of charge to residents of our community.  If you do not have a smoke detector, or if yours is not working properly, please call (xxx) xxx-xxxx for information about the Smoke Detector Program.

There are several important organizations that work to prevent fires in the U.S. and educate the public about fire prevention:

     The National Fire Prevention Association, or NFPA, and the United States Fire Administration, or USFA being chief among them.  Both of these organizations strive endlessly to provide education, codes and standards to prevent fires and reduce the terrible loss of lives and property caused by fire. 

     Founded in 1896, "The NFPA mission is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards on the quality of life by developing and advocating scientifically based consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education."  On their website you will find a vast resource on fire codes and standards; public education in fire prevention; training and professional development materials for firefighters, investigators and inspectors; research and reports on past fires and their causes, as well as news releases and the NFPA Journal.

     Founded in 1974, the USFA is now an entity of the Dept. of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. "The mission of the USFA is to reduce life and economic losses to fire and related emergencies through leadership, advocacy, coordination and support."  Their website contains information on research programs, USFA and FEMA publications, fire loss fact sheets and statistics, press releases, the CERT program (Community Emergency Response Teams), employment information, and resources for fire departments, including information on grant programs and class schedules for the National Fire Academy, and reports and statistics on firefighter fatalities.

Christmas Tree Care is Vital to Keep Your Family Safe

     What's a holiday party or even the traditional Christmas morning scene itself without a beautifully decorated tree? If your household, as those of more than 33 million other American homes, includes a natural tree in its festivities, make sure to Keep the tree watered. Christmas trees account for 200 fires annually, resulting in 6 deaths, 25 injuries and more than $6 million in property damage. Typically, shorts in electrical lights or open flames from candles, lighters or matches start tree fires. Well-watered trees are not a problem. Dry and neglected trees can be.

     A video clip from the Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) illustrates what happens when fire touches a dry tree. Within three seconds of ignition, the dry Scotch pine is completely ablaze. At five seconds, the fire extends up the tree and black smoke with searing gases streaks across the ceiling. Fresh air near the floor feeds the fire. The sofa, coffee table and the carpet ignite prior to any flame contact. Within 40 seconds "flashover" occurs -- that's when an entire room erupts into flames, oxygen is depleted and dense, deadly toxic smoke engulfs the scene.

     Wet trees tell a different story. For comparative purposes, the NIST fire safety engineers selected a green Scotch pine, had it cut in their presence, had an additional two inches cut from the trunk's bottom, and placed the tree in a stand with at least a 7.6 liter water capacity. The researchers maintained the Scotch pine's water on a daily basis. A single match could not ignite the tree. A second attempt in which an electric current ignited an entire matchbook failed to fire the tree. Finally, they applied an open flame to the tree using a propane torch. The branches ignited briefly, but self-extinguished when the researchers removed the torch from the branches. As NIST fire safety engineers say: REMEMBER, A WET TREE IS A SAFE TREE!