|
|
| · |
|
| · |
|
| · |
|
| · |
|
| · |
|
| |
|
|
|
Fire Safety
Inside the Home
Smoke Detectors
Fire Safety in Urban-Interface Areas
The Wood Shake and Shingle Roof Hazard
Fireplace Safety
Think "Fire Prevention"
Inside the Home
Cooking Safety
- Keep a close eye on your cooking. If you must leave the kitchen
for a short time, take a pot holder or another item along to remind
you that something’s on the stove.
- Declare a three – foot (one – meter) “kid
– free zone’’ around your stove and keep kids
and pets away.
- Stay alert. Don’t cook if you’re sleepy, if you
have been drinking alcohol or if you are taking medication
that makes you drowsy.
- Keep pot holders, food packaging, dish towels and any other
combustibles off your stove top.
- Keep your kitchen clean. Built-up grease can catch fire. Clean
your oven, stove and countertops often.
- Roll up your sleeves. Keep loose clothing away from burners
and hot ovens.
- Turn pot handles in to avoid bumping a pot and spilling hot
food. Use back burners whenever possible.
- Keep curtains and anything that burns at least three feet (one
meter) away from your stove.
Space Heater Safety
- Keep all space heaters at least three feet (one meter) away
from walls, furniture and anything else that can burn.
- Use only space heaters that carry the label of an independent
testing lab.
- Have your central – heating system serviced professionally
before the start of each heating season.
- Have your chimney inspected (and cleaned when necessary) once
a year (see Fireplace Safety).
- If you have a fireplace, use a screen to catch sparks.
- Keep fireplace fires small and never burn trash or anything
except wood in your fireplace.
- Never use or store propane gas tanks inside your home.
- If you have a wood stove, have it inspected professionally
once a year and be sure it conforms to local installation codes.
- Use only cast-iron or steel wood burning stoves that carry
the label of an independent testing lab.
Electrical Safety
- Be sure your fuses and circuit breakers are sufficient for
the loads (amperage) that each circuit is designed to handle.
- Use only one heat-producing appliance on the same circuit at
a time.
- Install ground fault circuit interrupter protection (GFCI’s)
for all kitchen-counter, outdoor, basement, garage and bathroom
outlets.
- Replace damaged appliance and extension cords. Don’t
plug extension cords into each other.
- Don’t run extension cords under carpets, across doorways
or pinch them under furniture or between walls and furniture.
- If any power tool or appliance feels too hot or smells funny,
unplug it immediately and have it serviced or replaced.
General Home Safety
- Install at least one smoke detector on every floor of your
home, including the basement and in each sleeping room and a
point centrally located in the corridor or area giving access
to each sleeping area.
- Know the sound of your smoke detector. Newer models feature
a universal signal pattern – three beeps followed by a
one and a half second pause.
- “Change your clocks, change your batteries.” Replace
batteries in smoke detectors twice a year.
- Test all smoke detectors every month and replace any detectors
more than ten years old.
- Consider having an automatic home fire sprinkler system installed.
- Keep combustible materials and flammable liquids away from
furnaces and water heaters.
- Have your entire household help make a home fire escape plan
and practice it at least twice a year.
- Know two unobstructed exits (usually a door and a window) from
each room in your home.
Smoke Detectors
If you have any smoke detector questions please click on this link to hopefully get the answers: Smoke Detector Information
Keeping Your Property Fire Safe in Urban-Interface Areas
The manner in which a house is designed, location on which it
is built, materials in its construction and access to it all influence
survivability during wildfire. Presented below are recommendations
modified from California
Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s publication "How
to Make Your Home Fire Safe“. When coupled with an effective
defensible space, these recommendations will make a home much
safer to defend and improve its chances of surviving a wildfire.
1. Roof
- Remove dead branches overhanging your roof.
- Remove any branches within 10 feet of your chimney.
- Clean all dead leaves and needles from your roof and gutters.
Install a roof that meets the fire resistance classification
of “Class B“.
- Cover your chimney outlet and stove pipe with a nonflammable
screen of ½ inch or smaller mesh – approved for
this application, also known as a spark arrester.
2. Construction
- Use fire resistant building materials.
- Enclose the underside of balconies and aboveground decks
with fire resistant materials.
- Install only dual-paned or triple-paned windows.
- An automatic fire sprinkler system is required in all newly
constructed residential dwellings.
3. Yard
- Stack woodpiles at least 30 feet from all structures and
clear away flammable vegetation within 10 feet of wood piles.
- Locate LPG tanks (butane and propane) at least 30 feet from
any structure and surround them with 10 feet of clearance.
- Remove all stacks of construction materials, pine needles,
leaves and other debris from your yard.
4. Access
- Identify at least two exit routes from your neighborhood.
- Construct private roads that allow two-way traffic.
- Design private road width, grade and curves to allow access
for large emergency vehicles.
- Construct driveways to allow large emergency equipment to
reach your house.
- Design bridges to carry heavy emergency vehicles, including
bulldozers carried on large trucks.
- Post clear road signs to show traffic restrictions on private
roads such as dead-end roads, and weight and height limitations.
- Make sure private dead-end roads and long driveways have
turnaround areas wide enough for emergency vehicles. Construct
turnouts along one-way roads.
- Clear flammable vegetation at least 10 feet from roads and
5 feet from driveways.
- Cut back overhanging tree branches above roads.
- Construct fire barriers, such as green belts, parks, golf
courses and athletic fields.
- Post your house address at the beginning of your driveway
or on your house if it is visible from the road.
5. Outside
- Designate an emergency meeting place outside your home.
- Practice emergency exit drills regularly.
- Make sure that electric service lines, fuse boxes and circuit
breaker panels are installed and maintained as prescribed by
code.
- Contact qualified individuals to perform electrical maintenance
and repairs.
- Shut down LPG tanks and natural gas.
The Wood Shake and Shingle Roof Hazard
A house can be threatened by a wildfire in three ways; direct exposure
from flames, radiated heat and airborne firebrands. Of these,
firebrands account for the majority of homes burned by wildfire.
The most vulnerable part of a house to firebrands is the roof.
Because of its angle, the roof can catch and trap firebrands.
If the roof is constructed of combustible materials such as
untreated wood shakes and shingles, the house is in jeopardy
of igniting and burning. Not only are combustible roofing materials
a hazard to the structures on which they are installed, but
also to other houses in the vicinity. Burning wood shakes, for
example, can become firebrands, be lifted from the burning roof,
carried blocks away and land in receptive fuel beds such as
other combustible roofs. Unfortunately for homeowners with existing
combustible roofs, there are no long-term reliable measures
available to reduce roof vulnerability to wildfire other than
re-roofing with fire resistant materials.
Fireplace Safety
Your fireplace is a source of warmth and relaxation. Yet, like
any home appliance, it should be safe, properly maintained and
good for the environment, inside and out.
Think “Clean”
1. Have your fireplace inspected and cleaned annually by a National
Chimney Sweep Guild certified
chimney sweep. A dirty fireplace can cause chimney fires or
contribute to air pollution. Your local National
Chimney Sweep Guild certified chimney
sweep will diagnose your fireplace and recommend what it needs
in order to burn cleanly and safely.
2. Choose the right fuel. In general, hardwood firewood (oak,
madrone, hickory, ash, etc.) burns cleaner than soft wood (fir,
pine, cedar, etc.). Independent tests have proven that manufactured
fire logs burn much cleaner than firewood.
3. Seasoned wood, wood with a moisture content of less than 20%,
burns much cleaner than green (high moisture content) wood. Check
with your cord wood supplier to make sure that the wood you purchase
is seasoned.
4. Burn smartly. Good fireplace habits can decrease fuel consumption
in the home while maintaining the same level of warmth. Make sure
the fire gets enough air to burn properly. Close the damper when
the fire is out to keep warm room air inside.
5. Minimize creosote buildup which causes chimney fires. Creosote
is the black tarry or flaky substance formed in chimneys during
the wood burning process. While firewood leaves flammable creosote
and carbon deposits on chimney walls, tests show that manufactured
fire logs leave significantly less creosote accumulation than
wood.
6. Make a fire that fits your fireplace. A fire that’s
too large or too hot not only wastes fuel, it can crack your chimney.
Check that your manufactured fire logs are UL – approved
for use in zero-clearance manufactured metal fireplaces, making
them suitable for use in all types of traditional open hearth
fireplaces.
7. Keep your fireplace in good working condition. If you notice
any cracks in the chimney, any loose mortar or brick, have
your chimney repaired. Have the chimney liner inspected for cracking
or deterioration.
8. Read and follow the label when using firelogs. Manufactured
fire logs recommend that consumers use one fire log at a time,
starting it with a match in a fireplace at room temperature. Don’t
poke or break manufactured logs. This will cause them to crack
apart, releasing their energy at a high rate and resulting in
a shorter burn time. Fire logs perform best when burned on a supporting
fireplace grate with a maximum of three to four inches of space
between support bars.
9. If your fireplace is equipped with glass doors, leave them
open while burning a fire log to allow proper draught and cleaner
burning. Once you’re sure the fire is extinguished, close
the damper and glass doors to retain warm air inside the house.
THINK “FIRE PREVENTION”
Being good to the environment also means making sure your fireplace
habits are safe and will not pose a danger to your home or your
neighborhood.
Remember :
- Clear the area around the fireplace and chimney. Debris too
close to the fireplace could cause a fire. Check the flu for
obstructions like birds’ nests and trim any overhanging
branches or large trees near the chimney.
- Always use a fireplace screen.
- Never overload the fireplace with too many logs. Don’t
use the fireplace as an incinerator and never burn garbage,
Christmas trees or piles of paper.
- Keep a fire extinguisher on hand and place smoke detectors
throughout the house. Test the smoke detectors and batteries regularly.
See that the extinguisher is in good working order and that all
family members know how to use it.
- When building a fire, place logs at the rear of the fireplace,
preferably on a grate.
- Never leave fire unattended. Be sure the fire is extinguished
before you go to bed.
- Keep wood stacked, covered, away from the
house and off the ground. Bring in only as much as you need for
one evening to prevent insects that may be in the wood from entering
your home. Fire logs, which are packaged to eliminate insects
and mess, can also prevent this problem.
|
