WELLNESS Common-sense fire safety by Cynthia MacGregor Where there is smoke, there is fire. Robert Bertone, the Public Education Officer with the Community Risk Reduction Division of the Coral Springs Fire Department, offers advice and basic rules if a fire breaks out in your home. One fact is that smoke detectors, not just their batteries, wear out and need to be replaced. Florida’s salty air is particularly rough on smoke detectors’ efficiency. When replacing batteries, it should be lithium batteries with a 10-year life span. It is advisable to have a smoke detector not only outside the bedrooms of your home but inside each bedroom as well. Officer Bertone advises sleeping with your bedroom door closed to safeguard against smoke entering the room. 32 There should be two exits from every room. If there is not a terrace door or first floor window that you can safely exit through, you should stand at the open window of your upper floor room and wave a brightly colored piece of clothing or other object. The firefighters will look for such a signal. OCTOBER <strong>2018</strong> If escape out a window is not practical or if you have a small child, infirmed or elderly relative you need to help, touch your bedroom door with the back of your hand. If the door is hot, it is not safe to open it. If the door is cool, get down on your hands and knees, since smoke rises. Another good tip to remember is to stuff sheets, towels, or blankets against any crack or aperture between the bottom of the bedroom door and the floor before you go to the window. This will act as a barrier against the smoke. Smoke is what kills most people in fires, rather than flames. According to Officer Bertone, smoke has become more toxic over the past 20 or 30 years due to the number of plastic products, which produce a thick, black, toxic smoke. Every family should have a meeting place where family members should go if escaping a fire. It needs to be in the front of the house and be something that doesn’t move. A gate, mailbox, light pole, or tree is a good choice. If you live in an apartment or condo, a specific parking space would work. The importance of a meeting place is that a child who escapes out a back window might stay in the backyard or go to a friend’s house, and a parent may think the child is still in the house, go back to search for the child, and be overcome with smoke. If everyone but one person or pet is out front, the family can tell the rescuers when they arrive who may still be inside. The family should have regular fire drills. If a literal practice escape is not possible, then talking through what to do is sufficient. The number one cause of fires in our area is unattended cooking. People get distracted by video games, TV shows, or phone calls and forget they’ve left something on the stove. Or they turn off the oven but leave food inside, which continues cooking in the still-hot oven and erupts into smoke and flames. In such a case, don’t open the oven or microwave door. The oxygen in the air will feed the fire. Finally, when you call 911 from your cell, stay on the line with the operator until the rescuers get there. Two issues that plague rescuers are callers who are unclear when giving the address — if it’s 96th Lane, 96th Place, or 96th Avenue, for example — and callers who, in their panic, give their former address instead of their current one. For more information, visit www. coralsprings.org/government/ other-departments-and-services/fire/ important-information-for-residents/ home-fire-safety-inspection. P
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