Fire Prevention Week
Incident #: Date of Incident: 10/04/2012 Issuing Officer: Jan Doherty/Public Education Officer
Narrative:
Spokane Fire Department invites the community to observe National Fire Prevention Week beginning October 7 by making sure that every home and business has a current fire escape plan and is protected by working smoke detectors. Someone in the U.S. loses their life in a home fire on the average of every three hours. Most of these deaths are preventable.
Smoke detectors save lives, but only when they are kept in working order. Everyone should know the age and type of smoke detectors in their home. Take this week to look at the back label on every home smoke detector to find the exact date of manufacture and whether the detector is “ionization” or “photoelectric”.
No detector should be more than 10 years old, no matter whether it is hardwired into the electrical system or a battery-only device that is screwed into the ceiling.
It is wise to have a combination of the two types of smoke detectors in the home. While ionization detectors may alarm up to one minute faster than photoelectric detectors in hot, flaming fires, they may fail to alarm in a smoldering fire. Ionization detectors should never be within 20 feet of the kitchen because they sound nuisance alarms that tempt people to remove batteries.
Every household needs a good fire escape plan with at least “two ways out” of every room and every building. Make sure that exit paths are kept clear and that windows could be opened in an emergency. Invest in fire escape ladders if needed for a second story escape. Never allow someone to sleep in a room where they could be trapped by fire in the middle of the night.
For additional information on smoke detectors and fire escape plans, call (509) 625-7058 or visit www.spokanefire.org.
End Of Release For more information on this release please call (509) 625-7002
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