Fire management and fire safety can be practiced by all, just by using your head and following a few simple rules.
Fire kills. There’s no two ways about that one. The death rate in the USA from fire is among the highest per capita in the entire industrialized world, with fire killing around 3,700 and injuring more than 20,000 people every year. Around 100 firefighters lose their lives in the line of duty every year, and the worst part of all, most of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented. What a terrible waste of life.
By following a few simple strategies, fire management and fire safety can become second nature to all. Whilst many of the above fires may have been started deliberately (not deliberately to kill, but deliberately to start a fire) many of them will have been caused by sheer negligence and carelessness and would not have taken hold so quickly and dangerously had a few details been altered.
A Few Home Fire Safety Tips
- Do you have a non inflammable roof covering? Flying embers (from your yard or your neighbor) can ignite your roof.
- Do you regularly sweep leaves and debris from your gutters (remember those flying embers!)
- Do you remove debris from beneath your house regularly? Dried up leaves make great fire lighters you know and those flying embers get everywhere!
- Do you store your firewood away from your building? No! Why not?
- Do you trim the trees on your lawn so that the branches are at least 6 feet high?
- Do you have a hose handy whenever you have a little garbage fire, just in case?
- Do you and your family have an emergency escape plan with all the exits from your house kept clear?
If you’ve answered ‘no’ to any of the above, go to the bottom of the class and get busy!
Out and About
Whenever you are out and about, particularly in the spring and early summer months when there is a real risk of wildfire, follow the following (follow the following? Not sure whether that’s right), anyway, smarten up to fire management and fire safety, and don’t forget to tell the kids too:
Never, ever, ever, throw a lighted cigarette from a car window. Smoking is dangerous is many more ways than one! Always make sure that you stub the cigarette out properly, and place in the ashtray. (Don’t pile the ashtray up with candy wrappers either).
Many areas forbid open fires and barbecues at the ‘danger time’, but if you are permitted to light an outdoor fire, never leave it unattended, even for a minute. A sudden gust of wind and that little camp fire can have the entire forest alight. There’ll be much more than your sausages going up in smoke. Always have some water handy to distinguish the flames.
Don’t leave glass containers lying around. As well as being a hazard for cutting the paws of all the wild creatures, they can act as a magnifying glass when the sun comes up, and a fire can be started ‘poof’ just like that.
