HEATING
Between them, heating
and cooking accidents are responsible for about 40 percent of home fire deaths.
Defective heating equipment can cause death from both fire and carbon monoxide
gas poisoning. All flues and chimneys should be inspected on a regular basis,
and any cracked or corroded sections should be repaired or replaced. All
furnace and heating appliances should be inspected by qualified personnel to
make certain they are in proper adjustment and good condition. Proper
adjustment assures complete burning of fuel and avoids dangerous amounts of
carbon monoxide in the flue gases. A good time to have your heating system
inspected and serviced is every fall before cold weather arrives. And if you
use your fireplace, make certain there is a spark screen in front of it and
that the rug is far enough away for safety.
IF FIRE STRIKES
Heat and smoke, not
fire itself, kill most victims. Air moving through a building can be hot enough
in five minutes to ignite floors, doors, walls far from where the flames are.
So get everybody out immediately; then call the fire department; and never, no
matter how great the temptation or how small the risk may seem to be, go back
inside for valuable papers or anything else; you may not get out alive. Make it
a habit to sleep with bedroom doors closed; this helps retard fire. And in case
of a blaze, do not open the door unless absolutely necessary. Be ready with
emergency items such as rope or other means of escape from bedrooms. If yours
is a two-story house and a typical one, it has only one stairway, which may be
blocked by flames.
HOME FIRE DRILLS
If your child were to
awake tonight to see smoke and flames creeping into his bedroom, what would he
do? Unless properly trained, most likely he would hide, as do most children,
under the bed or in a closet or rush out into a smoke-filled hallway. Instead,
he should have gone out of a window if that were at all possible. Any parent
would be distressed if a child's school did not have regular fire drills, yet
few parents have ever had a fire drill at home where a fire is 200 times more
likely to occur. Fire authorities urge that every family set up a regular home
fire drill program. Begin by making everyone understand the danger of home
fires and the importance of drills. Explain that the major danger is not the
flames but the deadly gases and smoke; that fire can build up toxic gases in
minutes which then rise quickly to upper floors. Underscore the absolute need
to get to fresh air and out quickly, with every second counting. Emphasize that
no one should stop to dress or look for belongings but should be concerned only
with saving himself. Plan a fire signal-perhaps a whistle or shout.
Assign family members to assist small children or invalid or
elderly members
Draw a chart of every
room, and plan escape routes from each room. Each bedroom should have two
planned escape routes-normally a hall or stairway and, if this is blocked, an
alternate which probably would be a window leading to a roof or porch or a
folding ladder that can be dropped from a window. Fire drills should be
conducted from bedrooms.
