FireBeater

Teach Your Children About Fire Safety

admin — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

These days, you can’t be too careful. While you hope that something like this never happens to you, it is important to teach your children about fire safety. The time spent teaching your children these important lessons could someday save their lives.

Talk with your children about fires and what kinds of things can cause fires. Talk with them about some of the dangerous effects of fires. Supervise your children and make sure that you keep matches and lighters in a secured area that is out of reach their reach.

Discuss and develop a fire escape plan in the event of a fire. Have a designated meeting place outside in the event that family members get separated during a fire. Practice this plan several times until your children know and understand what to do.

Instruct children on how to crawl on the ground and stay below the smoke level. Teach and practice with them the stop, drop and roll method if they find themselves on fire. This involves stopping, dropping to the ground and rolling in an attempt to extinguish the fire from their clothing.

There are many things we can do with our children to help prepare them for an emergency. Taking the time to teach your children about fire safety is one lesson you don’t want to skip.

Five Tips To Fireproof Your Home Family

admin — Sat, 21 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Fireproofing your home does not have to be an expensive, exhausting chore. It does not take much out of your pocket to make sure that your family is safe from flames and smoke. Some of these ideas will not cost you even one cent!

To begin, make sure that you keep all of your appliances clean and away from all fabrics. If you use gas for anything, you will want to check all of the pipes for leaks. Do not keep thousands of papers laying around. They cannot create a fire on their own, but it only takes one small spark. If you are going to smoke, be smart about it. Make sure your cigarette is completely out before you walk away from it. Don’t smoke around a lot of loose papers and NEVER smoke while in bed.

The number five tip for fireproofing your home is the most important one of all. Simply, go to the home-improvement store and buy an alarm system. Make a plan with your family for when the alarm sounds. When everyone knows what they are supposed to be doing and where they are supposed to be going, your family will be safer than ever.

Your Family’s Fire Safety Begins At Home

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Fire safety begins at home. It is important to have a family plan in case of a fire. People that own houses with more than one story to them should have fire ladders so that people can escape during a fire. Many children have been trapped during fires because they could not open a window and the fire prevented them from being able to open their bedroom doors.

In a fire, people need to worry about two things: smoke inhalation and being burned by the flames. Children often panic during a fire and inhale too much smoke which has caused many fatalities all across the world. In order to combat this, children should learn stop, drop, and roll in case they are ever involved in a fire. They need to stop, drop down to the ground to avoid inhaling the smoke, and roll to the floor to protect themselves against the heat and flames.

Parents should put together a fire contingency plan. This involves installing fire alarms in all rooms and hallways, making sure that children know where all exits are, and making sure that there are enough fire extinguishers dispersed throughout the home.

One of my favorite fire safety sites, http://home2.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/safety/firesafety_tips.shtml has some great tips on how to be safe in the event of a fire. This site can be very beneficial to people who want to be fully prepared for a fire emergency.

Did you know

www.firebeater.com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:59:06 +0000

Lung cancer isn’t the only risk associated with smoking. In fact, discarded cigarettes are the number one cause of house fires in the US and eight other countries with statistics available. These cigarette fires contribute to the highest number of injuries, deaths, and damages in residential areas. It is estimated that smoking causes 30 of US and 10 of global fire deaths. Sadly, one quarter of these victims weren’t the smokers whose cigarettes started the fire–34 are the children of the smokers, 25 are neighbors or friends, and 14 are spouses or partners. Thankfully, the US fire tolls decreased when smoking started to decrease, and the trend has continued. This does not mean that smoking related fires are not an issuethey are still a large contributor to fire related deaths and billions of dollars in residential damages.Today, there are fire safe cigarettes that are designed to extinguish faster than standard cigarettes. In the US, the initials FSC (Fire Standards Compliant) can be found above the barcode of fire safe, or lower ignition cigarettes. On January 1^st, 2010, the fire-safe law was effective in 43 states and will become effective in all 50 starting in 2012. While these cigarettes reduce the risk of cigarette fires, you should still be wary when discarding used cigarette butts. A simple spark can set a piece of paper in the trash on fire, and that one spark can lead to a full on house fire if left untended. Always ash your cigarettes in an ash tray and discard them in an appropriate manner, meaning don’t throw your finished cig in a bush or on the sidewalk. Ultimately, you shouldn’t be smoking at allit’s proven to cause lung cancer and is extremely addicting.

Fire Protection Tips

www.firebeater.com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:53:19 +0000

Once a fire starts, there’s little that can be done to stop it. In less than two minutes, a fire can become life threateningin five minutes, an entire residence can become engulfed in fatal flames. To ensure you and your family are protected, there are numerous steps that should be taken to prepare for fire emergencies.First and foremost, install smoke alarms around your home. Be sure to test and clean smoke alarms once month and replace the batteries once every ten years. Properly functioning smoke alarms decrease your chances of dying in a fire by half, so it’s important to your survival that you check them regularly. They should be placed outside your bedrooms on the ceiling or high on the wall, near (but not in) the kitchen, as well as at the top of open stairways or the bottom of enclosed stairs.Another safety tactic that will prepare you in the unfortunate event of a fire is to review escape routes with your family. It’s always better to be over prepared than not prepared at all. Practice escaping from each room, designate a meeting spot outside your house, and consider escape ladders if you live above the first floor. Make sure windows aren’t nailed or painted shutthey’ll need to be easily accessible for a fast escape. Also, teach your children and other residents to stay low to the ground in case of a fire because this is where the cleanest air will be found.To lower the risk of a fire occurring in your household, don’t use flammable liquids like gasoline or benzene indoors. Make sure heaters are at least three feet away from any flammable material and only use fuel appropriate for your unit. Every so often, get the electrical wiring in your house checked by a professional electrician to prevent any malfunctions and repair any dangerous frayed wires.

Get the Facts about Wildfires

www.firebeater.com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:49:53 +0000

If you’ve never been personally affected by a wildfire, you’ve probably only seen the devastating effects they have on communities through the eyes of a news camera. However, don’t rule out that your area will never fall victim to wildfires simply because you’re not in Southern California. Any area that sees a long period of drought or unusually low precipitation is at risk for a severe wildfire. Every year, an average of 1.2 million acres of US woodland is burned by wildfires. Four out of every five of these fires are caused by humans.The secondary effects of wildfires are often more dangerous than the flames themselves. Erosion, landslides, invasive species, and changes in water quality can cause serious damage to your lifestyle. Furthermore, large wildfires are capable of modifying the local weather conditions and producing their own weather complete with ashes, head, and dryness.Though wildfires are extremely hazardous, natural fires serve a beneficial purpose in the cycle of life. Often, fire suppression can lead to even more severe fires because it allows the buildup of vegetation over time which is easily flammable. To prevent manmade fires, be sure to build fires far away from nearby trees and bushes. If your local officials ban outdoor fires, you should listen to them because they’re most likely assessing the current environment at a high risk for wildfires. Never throw cigarette butts into the woods without fully extinguishing them first.There’s no way to forecast a wildfire outbreak, but there are ways to reduce your safety risks. If you’ve been warned about a fire in your area, listen to the local TV or radio to determine if evacuation is necessary. If evacuation is in fact advised, EVACUATE. It’s impossible to outrun a wildfire, so if you’re caught in ones midst, your best bet is to duck in a pond or river or among a bed of rocks.

Stop, Drop, and Roll your way to safety

www.firebeater.com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:21:27 +0000

In the event of a fire, it is important you know the proper way to escape safely. Though you’ve been hearing it since kindergarten, stop-drop-and roll is key to your survival. Should your clothes catch on fire, do NOT runrunning only makes the fire burn faster. Instead, stop where you are, drop to the ground, and roll around until the fire is extinguished. Once you’re flame-free, you can begin running. If you encounter a closed door, do NOT just throw it open. Use the back of your hand to feel the doorknob, the top of the door, and the crack of the doorframe for heat. You don’t want to use the front because if the door burns you, you’re ability to use your hands for alternate escape will be impaired. If the door is cool, open it slowly before proceeding. If you see smoke or flames, close the door immediately and find another way out. If the path is clear, crawl to the nearest exit. If the door is hot, do NOT open it. Use an alternate exit such as a window to escape. If the window isn’t doable, hang a white sheet or light colored fabric out of the window so the firefighters will know where to find you when they arrive. You’ll also want to use a towel to seal the crack beneath the door so no harmful smoke or poisonous gases can seep in. If you do manage to escape, whether through the door or the window, stay outside and call 9-1-1 immediately. Even if you know someone is inside or want to save a valuable possession, do NOT reenterleave it to the firefighters. If you’re with burn victims, cool and cover the burns until the paramedics arrive to prevent further damage. Fires are scary realities, so teach your children about fire safety and escape tactics.

Become a Firefighter–Become a Real Life Hero

www.firebeater.com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:45:24 +0000

When you were younger, you might have worn a mini red firefighter hat and told anyone who asked that you were going to be a firefighter when you grew up. Now that you’re actually grown up, it’s possible to turn those dreams into realities. Firefighters have a tough jobthey run into burning buildings while everyone else is running out. Every day, brave firefighters risk their lives for the sake of others. Their jobs aren’t easy, and neither was their path to the firehouse. If you’re serious about becoming a firefighter, here are some of the basics:First, you have to be at least 18 and have your high school diploma or GED. You’ll have to pass a rigorous physical strength and stamina test, take a medical exam, and pass a drug test in order to be considered for employment. Contact your state or local fire department to sign up for the firefighting exams. You’ll need basic CPR training and other medical training available to you because often, firefighters are called to a fireless scene to respond to medical emergencies. You can prepare for these exams by reading material from your local library or taking classes at community colleges. Once you’ve passed the exam, you’ll need to complete a training program at your fire department. These programs can be two to four months long and include classroom instruction as well as fire fighting training techniques. Once you’ve completed the course you’ll be an expert how to approach a fire and put it out, fire prevention, hazardous materials, and emergency medical procedures. Finally, you’ll become employed as a probationary staff member for three to six months before achieving ultimate firefighter status.