WILL YOUR SMOKE ALARM WAKE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?

Most fire deaths occur in the middle of the night. A smoke alarm is the single most valuable lifesaving device you can have in your home.

An operable smoke alarm will reduce your chances of dying in a fire, nearly in half.

Smoke alarms are designed to detect and warn that silent, but deadly smoke is in the air. The early warning will wake you and your family, allowing time to implement your fire escape plan. While 97 out of 100 homes have a smoke alarm, more than 33 percent of these homes are unprotected because the smoke alarms don’t work. When a smoke alarm fails to work, it is frequently because the batteries are missing. People often remove or disconnect batteries to prevent nuisance activation caused by bathroom steam or cooking vapors.

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CAN YOUR FAMILY SURVIVE A FIRE IN YOUR HOME?

More that 50% of home fire deaths occur between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., when most people are sleeping. Pre-school children and older adults over 65 years of age are twice as likely to die in a home fire than any other age group.

It is not enough to have a smoke alarm! Protect your family by planning and practicing a home fire escape plan!

HOW TO MAKE “THE FIRE ESCAPE PLAN”

Use a graph to draw a floor plan of your home or apartment. Draw all floors in your home, including all windows and doors. Label each sleeping area. Show stairways and number of stairs at each stairway. Show two ways out of each room by using arrows.

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LEAVE FIREWORKS TO THE PROFESSIONALS

AMATEUR USE OF FIREWORKS CAN LEAD TO DEVASTATING BURNS AND OTHER INJURIES, FIRES AND EVEN DEATH.

Each year in the United States approximately 10,000 people are medically treated for fireworks-related injuries. More often than not it is the bystanders that sustain the injuries.

A 4-year-old girl was injured by a 6-inch fountain that shot colored fireballs. When the fountain tipped over, the girl was struck in the chest by a fireball. She sustained 2nd and 3rd degree burns to her chest and neck. She was hospitalized for three weeks for burn treatment and skin graft.

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Natural gas is used as a fuel for many things in our homes, like cooking, heating and drying clothes.

While rare, a natural gas line leak is extremely dangerous due to the potential of an explosion.

Natural gas has no scent of its own, so for safety reasons, an odorant similar to rotten eggs is added. The rotten egg scent helps you detect even the tiniest gas leak.

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