Blog About Safety

Fire Prevention Week, October 4-10, 2009

Do you know how Fire Prevention Week started? It was started to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Because of that, fire prevention week is always on the week surrounding October 9. There were other very large fires that week, including the Peshtigo Fire in Northern Wisconsin.

The Peshtigo Fire was the worst forest fire in US history.

What we can do now is think about fire safety and prevention. Fire and burn safety tips should be always on our mind. Here are a few tips we should always remember.

• Practice kitchen fire safety
  • Don’t wear loose clothing around the stove
  • Don’t place flammable items near the stove – even if it is an electric or pilotless stove.
  • Don’t leave pan handles hanging over the floor where they can be bumped.
  • Handle pots and pans with oven mits
  • Watch the steam! Steam burns can be very serious.
• Fire safety around your clothes dryer
  • Don’t keep any clothes or flammable items near the pilot of the dryer.
• Smoking
  • Don’t smoke in bed
  • Don’t smoke when you are tired
  • Smoke outside (that will keep you awake and away from flammable items in the house)
• Electricity
  • How is the wiring in your house? Up-to-date?
  • Don’t plug to many things in the same place.
• Candle Safety
  • Stay in the room where candles are burning

Do you have sprinklers installed in your home? Do you have a fire extinguisher?

These are just a few tips that barely scratch the surface of fire safety. There are many more tips that we should be thinking about.

Please add your comments and suggestions for fire safety.

Remember that? Is that something you learned in pre-school? Do you still remember what it is?

When my son was in pre-school, they learned this important fire safety tip. When the class visited the fire department, my son at four years old, demonstrated how this was done to the class and the other firefighters. Today, twenty years later, I asked him what he would do if his clothes caught on fire. After the joke answer (which is always his first answer) he repeated the stop, drop and roll technique.

I asked the same question of some other people. This was not a think about this question, but rather – What would be your first reaction? Many thought that tearing off their clothes would be the first thing they would do. Others would be looking for water, and if there was any nearby, running towards it. Of course that is scary to think about since running would make things worse before anyone made it to the water!

This is why education, and continued education, is so important for all safety concerns. We need to learn this when we are young but we still need to have continued reminders so we remember it.