Be prepared: 'Protect Your Family from Fire'

  • Published
  • By 341st Civil Engineer Squadron Fire and Emergency Services
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  National Fire Prevention Week is just around the corner and this year's campaign is "Protect Your Family from Fire," during the week of Oct. 9-15, special attention will be focused on promoting fire safety and prevention. However, the Malmstrom Fire and Emergency Services, Fire Prevention office requests everyone practice fire safety all year long.

Believe or not, many potential fire hazards go undetected because people simply do not take steps to fireproof their homes. The risks of fires are real. The U.S. Fire Administration gathers statistics about home fires and they are startling. Every 10 seconds, somewhere in the United States there is a fire in a home. Every 60 seconds, a fire department is called to a home fire. Annually, 2,600 Americans lose their lives in a fire and 13,000 others are injured. So, take fire safety seriously.

Parents can make their homes and families safe from fire danger. Below are a few tips that may help fireproof homes and minimize the chance of a fire or injury.

Smoke detectors come first. There is no fire safety item more important than smoke detectors. Make sure you have working smoke detectors.

Here are some general rules for detectors:
  • Have at least one smoke detector on every level of the home and one outside every bedroom.
  • Make sure to test them once a month and change the batteries twice a year, if they are equipped with replaceable batteries.
  • In base housing, the majority of smoke detectors are hard wired. But if not, when it's time to reset the clocks for daylight savings time, change the smoke detector batteries.

Keep combustibles away from heat sources. In the kitchen, make sure dish towels, hot pads and curtains are kept away from heating elements on the stove. Make sure space heaters have plenty of clearance from combustibles, 18" on all sides minimum. Also, ensure space heaters are equipped with tip-over protection. Avoid overloading electrical outlets and make sure that no electrical cords or extension cords are run under carpets. Make sure that matches and lighters are kept well out of reach of children. Never leave a lighted candle unsupervised by an adult and keep them out of reach of children.

Exit drills in the home. Have an escape with every room having two exits (think door and window). Second floor bedrooms should include a plan for safe exiting if a window is used. Define a place for family members to meet outside in case of a fire everyone is accounted for. Then practice the escape plan with the family. Do it once or twice a year to make sure everyone knows what to do in case of fire. Using a family night for this exercise is a good idea.

Malmstrom's 2011 Fire Prevention Week activities calendar will be coming out in next week's paper. Please feel free to come out and participate in the activities planned and always remember, a little prevention effort can go a long way. Planning for an emergency now, will make responding to a crisis later much easier. For more information, call the Fire and Emergency Services, Fire Prevention office at 731-4836, 731-4100 or 731-4098.