WINTER FIRE SAFETY TIPS

The title of this article should probably be changed to "winter safety tips" but, because I am a fire fighter, the word fire probably should be in there somewhere. Winter is not only a prime time for fires, it is a prime time for injuries in general. The only way I know to outline the body of this article is to say that communication is the key to helping prevent injury. Common sense, practice, and knowledge all play a part also.

First we will cover some fire safety issues. The cold season brings about many changes in our homes. We have the heating system "fired" up, we spend more time inside using the appliances that are common causes of fire, and we tend to be less active. Things just happen slower in the winter. The single most important thing we can do to ensure the heating system in our home is safe is to have a professional inspect it. Proper operation is vital. An inefficient operating furnace, for example, may produce carbon monoxide. This odorless, tasteless, and invisible gas cannot be detected unless you have a detector specifically intended to test for it. These special detectors can be found in hardware stores and at fire safety stores locally. They range in price from about $15.00 to just under $100.00. They are operated by electricity and/or batteries. Instructions on how and where to mount them are included and must be followed to ensure proper operation. So, if you are sleeping and don’t have one of those detectors, you will never know. Carbon monoxide replaces the oxygen in the air so there will be less for you to use, it binds to your hemoglobin (the red part of your blood) ten times faster than oxygen so you have no room to carry the already dwindling oxygen, and it is very difficult to get rid of once in your system. Have you heard of the bends? Divers who surface from the deep seas too quickly trap nitrogen in their systems. If the problem isn’t too severe, they are placed in a hyperbaric chamber, basically a chamber pressurized with oxygen where the oxygen is forced into their systems and the nitrogen forced out. This is the same process for carbon monoxide poisoning, if it is discovered soon enough. Any appliance that uses a fuel and has a flame can produce this gas. It is more common in furnaces than in kitchen ovens but still a possibility.

Wood stoves and fire places are also "hot" spots in the wintertime. The chimney is the main concern. Have it cleaned at least once a year and more often if certain conditions are present. If you have wood that hasn’t aged properly, creosote formation is more likely, which clogs the chimney. Top that off with starting a fire with newspaper, which produces a significant amount of flame, and the creosote ignites. These conditions mean it will need maintenance more often. Some people will swear by chimney fires as a way to clean them. "If the creosote is burned away, the fuel is removed from the triangle, and fire can’t be." This is true, but very dangerous. Remember also that heat is an oxidizer, it will deteriorate things. So every time there is fire in the chimney, it is weakened. Remember carbon monoxide? If the chimney develops cracks, this gas is released. And the scary thing is the heat produced by the chimney fire is enough to ignite anything in contact with the chimney like roof trusses and framing material.

Wood stoves and fireplaces also tend to emit more smoke in the house which replaces the oxygen. At our ages, getting around may be more difficult than ever. Take extra caution when moving around wood stoves and fireplaces so you don’t fall into them. Our natural reaction is to protect ourselves by putting out our arms and hands. We use our hands to brace us for the fall. Can you imagine bracing yourself with your hands on a hot stove? I have mentioned in the past that a wild fire can move faster going up a hill than down and that this defies the laws of gravity. The reason why is the fuel gets preheated and will dry out and burn faster. The wood stoves and fireplaces in our homes also produce a dryer atmosphere which only prepares things to burn.

Home designs often leave a little to be desired. One room may be big and spacious and the other too small. There is almost always one room that doesn’t quite warm up like the rest and a portable heater is used to supplement the furnace. Portable heaters use electricity or a liquid fuel such as gas or kerosene. We will visit the fire triangle again. These portable heaters are little fire triangles; they have heat, they have oxygen, and they have fuel. They even have a chemical chain reaction, which is required for the burning process to be sustained. All that needs to happen is a malfunction or being tipped over to change the balance of the parts and disaster happens. Placement of the devices is critical to the safety of you and your home. Read the manufacturers instructions and operate the heater properly. Do not place the heater close to anything that can burn. Near curtains, wastebaskets, or furniture and under desks are places to be concerned about. If you should leave a room, unplug the appliance. There is no chance the appliance can malfunction or over-heat and cause a fire. The same concern of getting around near the wood stove applies here. These heaters get quite hot on the surface.

Another issue about propane or kerosene heaters is ventilation. Ventilation is just replacing old, stale, un-oxygenated air with good, oxygenated air. Out with the old, in with the new. Ventilation serves two purposes. First, it replaces the old air with new air. This new air has more of the oxygen that is vital to us. Secondly, the heater needs a certain amount of oxygen to operate efficiently. Otherwise, carbon monoxide is produced.

Housekeeping is a subject that I hesitate to address. I don’t want to insult or offend anyone whose home is immaculate but I have to mention it for the benefit of those whose home might not be. A clean home with unobstructed halls and rooms is safer. Germs and disease hide in musty, stuffy, unkempt homes. At a time in life when getting around is an issue, clutter means disaster. A clean home not only benefits you, it benefits any visitor including fire and ambulance personnel.

Along with housekeeping comes fire drills. Does anyone but elementary school children practice them? Habits are powerful, some people have even gotten their bathroom habits in a pattern. Make fire drills a habit. They will be easier in a clean home. Consider staying the night in a hotel far, far away. You may travel for hours and hours and be ready for a stop. I travel frequently and most of the time, all I want to do when I get there is either take a nap or take a shower. Most often the nap wins out. Now consider you are napping in the room. The smoke detector activates and wakes you. It is now dark, you actually slept, and hard too. This noise confuses you, you aren’t conditioned to react to it because you have never practiced a fire drill. After you realize what is going on, you decide to get out. You try to turn on the light but it doesn’t work. In the dark, you try to gather your suitcase because everything you need is in there. This costs you precious time that you didn’t know you even had because you have never practiced a fire drill before. After a little frustration, you find your suitcase and go to the door. Upon opening it, you find a wall of smoke, thick and black. It is hanging in the air to about a foot above the floor. This raises your blood pressure more, makes your heart race, and makes you sweat. You make the decision to get the rest of the way out and move. PANIC! Which way do you go? The fact is you don’t know which is the shortest and fastest way because you have never practiced a f ire drill before. So you turn to the right because you turned left to get into your room. You start crawling down the hallway, dragging your suitcase. Suddenly you realize that all you can feel are doors to your right. Doors are good, they lead out, right? But which one of the doors is the right one? Which one will lead you to safety? Are the locked doors the way out? Are there any that aren’t locked? How many do you have to check? The fire fighters and medical examiner find you after the fire is extinguished and try to identify you. They shake their heads in disbelief because, when you died, you were a mere three feet from the ONE door that would have led you to safety. A few seconds of time and effort would have given you a tool that would have saved your life. A fire drill performed just after you got to your room would have saved your life. Determine which way is the fastest to go. Determine how many doors there are to the nearest exit. Take some time to make a plan and to give yourself a chance to get out alive. Do this in your home. Even if you believe you can close your eyes and find your way around, do this in your home. A fire situation is a panic situation. Finding your way is unlikely because you haven’t practiced with your eyes closed.

Fire drills. I have mentioned them haven’t I? Let’s move to the outside of our homes and consider fire drills again. The recommended idea is "know two ways out of every room." Are those two ways clear on the outside of your home? Are the doors clear and able to be opened fully? And are windows cleared of snow and obstacles? Are the windows able to be opened? I have a problem in my home that is somewhat distressing. Most of the less expensive brand windows I bought freeze shut in the winter. So I take extra time and effort to ensure they can be opened more easily in case I have to use one to get out fast.

Once you are out, can you get a safe distance away from the home? I realized that I plow snow up to the back corner of the garage and blocked the way for my daughter to get away from the house. Our backyard is fenced for the dog and cannot be scaled in the winter due to heavy snow. So I pulled the snow away and made a pathway for her. More outdoor housekeeping.

With this next information, keep in mind that communication is vital in our society and very beneficial. Our walk ways and drives should be kept clear of ice and snow. Falls are another of the things that plague senior citizens. Please don’t be too proud to ask for help. You have worked your whole lives for others, your kids, your bosses, your family. Now it is time to take the help that is out there and use it. Stay active as much as you can. If activity makes the afternoon or night painful, do it less often. The more active you are, the better able you will be to handle any situation that arises. My neighbor has had his knees replaced twice. His left one can barely bend and never without pain. He exercises to as much pain as he can stand because he doesn’t want to lose mobility. So he is removing snow from his roof the other day. He even moved it away from the house in case he needed an escape route. He fell in the deep snow and couldn’t move. He tried for a half an hour and couldn’t get up. His wife was inside watching TV and was oblivious to his dilemma. Finally, with some digging, he was able to get solid footing below him and use a pole from the roof rake to get himself up. He wondered aloud to me about what may have happened if he wasn’t able to get up. His wife was there and aware of his activities and probably would have saved his life if he were missing too much longer. But, what if he were alone? Would help have come along soon enough if he were unsuccessful? Would anyone have known what he was up to? Communication is the key. Let someone know what you plan to do, try to give them a time frame, and accept that the constant checking up on you is only a precaution.

Dress warm when venturing out, preferably in layers. Keep your head, hands, neck, and feet warm. These are spots that we feel the effects of the cold the most. Keeping your neck warm is vital because the air going in will be warmed better. I drive a lot of miles in a week. I cover all of Grand Traverse County and it is big. I encounter many different driving styles. I am most annoyed by the drivers who seem to have no regard for the weather conditions. It appears to me that they don’t realize that NO vehicle is good on ICE. Another annoyance is slow drivers. I am embarrassed to say that. Slow drivers are the safest drivers there are. They can see the scenery and world around them in real time and have more time to react in a situation. They also are intent on driving and ignore any other distractions like cell phones and passengers. They rarely crank the radio volume so they can hear what is going on around them. And if they do crash or get hit, the speed of the impact is less severe. So to all those that drive slow, more power to you. Teach the rest of us that life can be slow and that is OK.

If you like to walk during the winter, remember to walk in safe places, not the roadway. If the roadway is the only place to walk, walk against the flow of traffic. Jaywalk, so to speak. The on-coming drivers can see you, you can see them, and you can react when you have to. Wear bright, gaudy clothes so the traffic can see you from afar. And consider stopping and standing when traffic is present so you don’t fall into traffic by accident.

I am sure that I have not covered all the safety tips there are. Common sense and communication are so much a part of the picture. Keep things clean, operating properly, and practice fire drills. Please be safe. As always, you are all invited to contact me with any concerns at jcarroll@gtfire.org. Next month, I will give you some information of neat websites and discuss home fire sprinklers. Thank you.

Jim Carroll
Fire Prevention Education Officer
Grand Traverse Fire Department