Visit the U.S. Fire Administration Website for important information on Smoke Alarms

 

West Plains teams up with NFPA for Fire Prevention Week October 4-10.

The West Plains Fire Department is teaming up with the National Fire Prevention Assoication (NFPA) for Fire Prevention Week 2009 October 4-10. This year’s theme, “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned” focuses on burn prevention.

The statistics are staggering. Each year roughly 3,000 people die as a result of home fires and burns, and more than 200,000 individuals are seen in the nation’s emergency rooms for burns injuries. The sad part about this is that most of these burns are preventable.

Cooking accounts for most household burns. Follow these common sense tips in the kitchen to save yourself and your family from unnecessary pain and scarring.

1.)    Never leave the kitchen when you have something cooking on the stove.

2.)    Keep hot foods and liquids away from table and counter edges so they cannot be pulled or knocked over.

3.)    Use hot pads or oven mitts (not a towel) to pick up hot pots and pans.

4.)    Turn pots and pans handles in on the stove.

5.)    Have a 3-foot “kids free” zone around the stove.

6.)    Be careful when using anything hot---- curling irons, hair dryers, lamps, space heaters, etc.

The West Plains Fire Department has a Smoke Detector Program in place at station one. If you need a fresh battery or a FREE smoke detector for your residents call or come by station one. For more safety tips and fire-relayed information go to www.westplainsfd.org or call 417-256-2424.

 

Print out your own Fire Inspection Checklist
for your family!

Use this checklist (252 kb pdf file)
to inspect your home for risks.

Christmas Trees
Fire Safety for the Holidays

Properly maintaining a cut Christmas tree is important to retaining a high moisture content in the needles of the tree to limit accidental ignition and prevent rapid flame spread.  A tree which has dry needles can readily ignite with a flaming source and generate heat release rates that are capable of causing flashover in residential scale rooms.

 See important videos - click here

Saftey Tips for Adults / Safety Tips for Kids /

Safety Tips for Adults

Cooking with Care

  • Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period time, turn off the stove.
  • Keep anything that can catch fire – potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags – away form your stovetop.
  • Wear short, close fitting or tightly rolled sleeves when cooking. Loose clothing can dangle onto stove burners and catch fire.
  • Always keep an oven mitt and lid handy. If a small fire starts in a pan on the stove, put on the oven mitt and smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan. Turn off the burner. Don’t remove the lid until it is completely cool.

Everyday Electrical Safety

  • Keep lamps, light fixtures, and light bulbs away from anything that can burn, such as lamp shades, bedding, curtains, and clothing.
  • Replace cracked and damaged electrical cords.
  • Use extension cords for temporary wiring only. Consider having additional circuits or receptacles added by a qualified electrician.
  • Homes with young children should have tamper-resistant electrical receptacles.
  • Call a qualified electrician or landlord if you have recurring problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers, discolored or warm wall outlets, flickering lights or a burning or rubbery smell coming from an appliance.

Healthy Heating

  • Install and maintain carbon monoxide alarms to avoid risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.
  • Maintain heating equipment and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.
  • Keep all things that can burn, such as paper, bedding or furniture, at least 3 feet away form heating equipment.
  • Turn portable space heaters off when you go to bed or leave the room.
  • An oven should not be used to heat a home.

Strike Out Smoking-materials Fires

  • If you smoke, choose fire-safe cigarettes if they are available in your area.
  • If you smoke, smoke outside.
  • Wherever you smoke, use deep, sturdy ashtrays.
  • Never smoke in a home where oxygen is used.
  • Keep matches and lighters up high in a locked cabinet, out of the reach of children.

Candle with Caution

  • Keep candles at least 12 inches form anything that can burn.
  • Use sturdy, safe candleholders.
  • Never leave a burning candle unattended. Blow out candles when you leave a room.
  • Avoid using candles in bedrooms and sleeping areas.
  • Use flashlights for emergency lighting.

Safety 101

  • Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. For the best protection, interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
  • Test smoke alarms at least once a month using the test button.
  • Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.
  • Make sure everyone can hear the sound of the smoke alarms.
  • Have a home fire escape plan. Know at least two ways out of every room, if possible, and a meeting place outside. Practice your escape plan twice a year.
  • When the smoke alarm sounds, get out and stay out.
  • If you are building or remodeling your home, consider a residential fire sprinkler system.

 

Safety Tips for Kids

Safety in the kitchen

  • Remind grown-ups to stay in the kitchen when cooking. Keep things that can burn (potholders, towels, and paper) away from the stove.
  • Stay three feet away from the stove when a grown-up is cooking.

Electrical check-up
 

  • Help grown-ups check electrical cords to make sure they are not damaged.

Heating Reminders
 

  • Remind grown-ups to keep space heaters 3 feet from anything that can burn.
  • Grown-ups should always turn off space heaters every time they leave the room and before going to bed.
  • Remind grown-ups never to use an oven to heat your home.

Match and lighter safety

  • Tell a grown-up if you find matches or lighters
  • Grown-ups should keep matches and lighters in a locked cabinet.

Candle caution
 

  • Remind grown-ups to put out lit candles when they leave a room.
  • Stay 3 feet away from burning candles.

Safety smart grown-up reminders
 

  • Install smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside each bedroom and outside each sleeping area.
  • Test smoke alarms once a month.
  • Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.
  • Make a home fire escape plan with your family.
  • Find two ways out of every room and an outside meeting place.
  • Know the emergency number for your fire department.
  • Practice your escape plan twice a year.
  • When the smoke alarm sounds, get out and stay out!

 

 

Yellow Advisory