Kitchen Safety Urged During Fire Prevention Week

The Division of State Fire Marshal, the United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) are teaming up during Fire Prevention Week, October 6-12, 2013, to urge Ohioans to test their smoke alarms and practice an exit plan with two ways out.  This year’s theme, “Prevent Kitchen Fires,” highlights the fact that the kitchen is the leading area of origin for home fires and puts the focus on the importance of fire escape planning and practice, and knowing what to do when the smoke alarm sounds in your home.

To help get the word out throughout the state, the Division of State Fire Marshal’s Fire Prevention Bureau is distributing banners with a fire safety message to all 88 counties in Ohio.  The goal is to increase exposure to crucial fire and life safety messages to at risk Ohioans and remind everyone that Fire is Everyone’s Fight™.

A recent fatal fire in Lakewood, Ohio, revealed that the batteries in the smoke detector had been removed.  It was in the vicinity of where the victim was found, and had it functioned, it may have given him time to escape.

“We see that all too often in fatal fires, there’s usually no working smoke alarm,” said State Fire Marshal Larry Flowers. “In addition to having working smoke alarms, it is extremely important for you to know how to escape quickly from any room in your home.”

Marshal Flowers said fire is unpredictable and moves faster than most people realize.  He added that having a tried and true escape plan with two ways out is essential to ensure your family’s safety should fire break out.

The Division of State Fire Marshal offers tips for preventing kitchen fires, having a working smoke detector, and planning your family’s escape.

To prevent kitchen fires:

• Be alert! If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol don’t use the stove or stovetop.
• Keep an eye on what you fry! Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• If you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
• Keep anything that can catch fire – oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains – away from your stovetop.
• Have a “kid-free zone” of at least 3 feet around the stove and areas where hot food or drink is prepared or carried.

Having a working smoke detector:

• Your family is not safe if they cannot hear the alarm.
• Test your alarm. Push the test button to hear a loud noise. If you don’t hear the noise, you need a new battery or a new alarm. FIX THIS IMMEDIATELY.
• Put new batteries in your alarms every year. Mark it on the calendar or set a digital reminder.
• Smoke alarms with long-life batteries work up to 10 years. It is not necessary to change the battery in these, but you should test them monthly.
• Smoke alarms do not last forever. Get new alarms every 10 years.

Planning your family’s escape:

• You have less than two to three minutes to escape fire in your home. Time is your enemy.
• Talk with your family about what to do when you hear an alarm.
• Make an escape plan so everyone knows how to get out fast (and safely).
• Pick a meeting place outside your home where everyone knows to meet.
• Some children and older adults may not hear smoke alarms. Make a plan on how to wake them.
• Practice with your smoke alarm often so that sleeping children are aware of the sound and what it means.
• Practice your escape plan with EVERYONE in your family at least twice each year.
• Stay low, get out fast.
• Don’t waste time, call 9-1-1 as soon as you are safely outside.
• NEVER go back inside a burning building. The faster you call for help, the more quickly it can arrive.

More than 90% of fatal fires in Ohio occur in homes without working smoke alarms. The Division of State Fire Marshal recommends smoke alarms on every level of the home and inside each sleeping area.

For more Fire Prevention information, please visit the Division of State Fire Marshal website at www.com.ohio.gov/fire.