Fair warning, this blog is link heavy, but with good reason.
October 6-12 is National Fire Prevention Week. Fires have impacted my life in a major way three times in the last 30ish years, so I find this week vitally important.
Tips and tricks regarding fire safety are here for anyone who wants to skip ahead.
As I referenced above, fires have had an unfortunately large effect on my life since I was 13 years old.
The first happened when I was in the 8th grade. An electrical fire started in the attic of our rental house when I was babysitting my siblings. Both myself and my youngest brother, Jamie, were sitting in different rooms in the second story of the house when the smoke started rolling down from the attic access. My sister, Kristina, had seen the smoke cloud outside the house. She came inside to warn us just as we'd realized the danger and were trying to get out.
I made it downstairs, but was disoriented and didn't realize my brother had already made it out. Against all advice on surviving a fire that they'd drilled in us at school, I started to go back upstairs to rescue him. I only survived without smoke inhalation because my sister stopped me from re-entering the house and pulled me outside.
That fire destroyed our house and most of our possessions, including the majority of my baby and early childhood photos.
This fire also led to:
me nearly failing science class because my science fair project was destroyed in the fire. My instructor thought that the one week between the fire and the start of the science fair was more than enough time to redo the project. I will always remember, and hate, them for their lack of compassion.
me having conflicted feelings about the Salvation Army. As a gay person, they do abhorrent things with regard to the LGBTQ+ community. As a person who was the beneficiary of their generosity the night of the fire (they got us a hotel room, toiletries, and clothing without us ever having to ask), I know they serve a purpose in the community.
my family moving from Hutchinson to South Hutchinson, and then to Larned. And Larned was the catalyst for my mental health declining and my ending up inpatient in Charter mental hospital for 10 days. The aftermath of Charter was the reason I moved in with my grandparents. It's also the reason I got to attend high school like a normal teenager instead of a quasi-mother, which left me time to have friends for the first time in my life.
Another fire led to my mother passing away on New Year's Eve in 2015. Mid-December she fell asleep while smoking in a chair. She'd disabled the smoke detector in her apartment and did not wake up in time to save herself.
In the weeks that followed the doctors tried skin graft surgeries and even resuscitated her when her heart failed right around Christmas Eve. With the majority of her body covered in second and third-degree burns, she ended up on life support. She passed within hours once life support was turned off and died around 5:30 pm AZ time on New Years Eve.
I had, and still have, a lot of anger toward my mother for disabling the smoke detector. She not only put her life at risk, but that of her upstairs neighbors who had small children in the home. Luckily, they survived without any injuries.
The last time fire affected my life was one night a couple of years ago when we suddenly smelled hot, burning plastic in the house. My wife went around and touched all the outlets until she found one that was hot.
It turned out the aluminum wire in that outlet wasn't pigtailed to the copper wire properly. The vibrations from the washing machine in the next room caused the wires in that outlet to connect in a way that caused a fire inside the wall. If we'd gone to sleep that night without checking, we could've woken to a conflagration in the dining room, which is dead center of our house.
I think it's safe to say that when it comes to fire, I'm a little tetchy. Common advise used to be that when the time changes (now November 3rd when previously it was the Sunday before Halloween), people should change out the batteries on their smoke detectors. You should also check that the smoke detectors are working once a month.
There are important items to have as far as fire-safety that too many people don't have, or haven't properly maintained, in their homes. These include:
Smoke Detectors
But that's the keyword, "lifetime." Part of the reason for this blog is finding out that many people I know didn't realize that smoke detectors have a lifespan.
For most detectors, it's 10 years. If you don't know how old your smoke detector is, take it down and look at the back- there should be a sticker with the manufacturer date. If the sticker is missing, just assume that it's too old to be safely operational. If your smoke detector keeps randomly beeping even though you've replaced the battery but there isn't a fire, there could be a fault in the device. And if it's not working properly, you might as well not have one at all.
We replaced every smoke detector in our home with these ones by First Alert. They are interconnectible, and you can name each detector so that when they go off it tells everyone which alarm went off. Another important feature is the built-in nightlight that is bright enough to light your way to safety, with adjustable brightness so you can still sleep. They auto-test every week and results come into the app. Did I mention they are also app controlled? The app will send alerts to any phone connected to the app if an alarm goes off. I can confirm, as can anyone who was sitting next to me at StokerCon when there was a false alarm, that when the alert goes off in the app it is all but impossible to ignore.
Safety ladders
If you have a home that is a two-story (or more), or if you live in an apartment above the first floor that doesn't have a fire escape, safety ladders are a must. You not only need one, you need to keep it near the window in every bedroom (and, if in an apartment, the living room). It's important that you familiarize yourself with the instructions.
Fire Extinguishers
Every household needs fire extinguishers rated for the room on every level, with an additional one in the kitchen and one in the garage. You should familiarize yourself with the P.A.S.S. Method as well because having a fire extinguisher does no good if you don't know how to, or are to scared to, use it.
If you don't want, or don't have space for, a large extinguisher, there are also can alternatives that take up less space.
Stickers or signs that indicate to first responders if
there are children or pets in the home
In the event of a fire, you want to make sure all members of your family make it out safely. This includes all of our furry friends. Pets will sometimes hide when they sense fire. Similarly, small children can sometimes also panic and will hide from the fire under beds or in closets. Something which indicates that there are other creatures in a home can allow firefighters to look for, and rescue, our beloved children and pets.
In addition to safety devices, it's important to have a follow these other safety tips.
Have, and practice, a fire evacuation and safety plan
I got lucky that my sister stopped me from going back upstairs. We didn't have a plan as far as what to do if a fire broke out, so there was no safe place for us to gather and do a head count. This is something that children often do in school, and that workplaces run drills on, but too many people don't do in their own homes.
You should also go over fire safety tips with your children. They should know what to do in the event that smoke has entered their room, how to check the door handles before exiting a room, and what to do in the event that their clothing or hair catches fire.
Pay Attention to strange smells in the home
If you ever smell burning plastic, it's important that you figure out where the smell is coming from. Burning plastic could be a malfunctioning air handling system, it could be an overheating appliance, or it could be an electrical fire within your walls as ours was. Read more about what to do if you smell burning plastic here.
Similarly, if you smell rotten eggs and you have natural gas in your home, evacuate and contact the gas company. While the smell could also be from sewer gas rising in your home, your first priority is to make sure your home and family are safe from fire before you check for other issues.
Know first aid and keep supplies on hand and up-to-date
It's important that you do what you can to help fire victims, or yourself, once out of a burning building. After calling 9-1-1, cool and cover burns if it is safe to do so and wait for help to arrive. Make sure any supplies in your first aid kit are not expired by checking twice a year and replacing items as needed. More tips on what to do after a fire are here.
Cleaning logs can help keep soot at bay, but they can't clear every bit of it. They also can't tell you if your flue is cracked or if the cap at the top of the smoke stack or chimney is broken. Cleaning logs can't tell you if there is a blockage in the chimney, or if a bird has decided to make itself a new home. All of those issues can lead to smoke, fire, or even carbon dioxide filling your home. A yearly inspection will keep you safer and give you peace of mind.
Also make sure to confirm a fire is completely out before going to bed. Keep something to extinguish the fire nearby. And never, ever, throw wrapping paper into the fire. The delicate nature of the paper, combined with the chemicals which often coat it, make it the perfect vehicle for hot ash to escape your fireplace and settle inside your home or on your roof and begin smoldering.
While nothing I said in this blog is particularly revolutionary, and not immediately related to writing, I hope that it helps someone out there. Fire can affect anyone at anytime and it's a devastating thing to experience. Do whatever you can to avoid it, but if you can't avoid it, I hope you all remain safe.
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