My apologies for the late posting on this very important topic as I am off this entire week. Regardless, very important information you will want to review no matter the time of year!
The main theme for this year’s Burn Awareness Week is preventing scald burns. The American Burn Association has produced a very informative PowerPoint presentation on Scald Prevention. Please take a moment to view it here and prevent unnecessary tragedy in your home: Scald Injury Prevention
Click here to view a Press Release regarding 2011 Burn Awareness Week
As always, have a SAFE day!
Bill
Friday, February 11, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Recent Trends In Fire Calls And How You Can Prevent It From Happening To You And Your Loved Ones
Over the last several weeks, I have noticed a couple of common themes to our response for reported fires in the home. Both causes are for the most part (as is the case many times with fire) very preventable incidents.
The first is something I have warned all of you about in the recent past – Clothes Dryer Fires. Many times these fires start as a result of folks not cleaning in and around their clothes dryers. While many know to clean the lint trap out, many more do not know that there are more parts you should be cleaning to prevent a fire from happening to you.
Looking around on the internet, I found one site that lays out a pretty good explanation of how to clean your clothes dryer. Please take a moment and click here to learn How to Clean the Dryer.
The other issue usually does not involve a direct fire threat, though fire is involved, but can sure lead you to believe your home may be on fire. It has been quite remarkable how many folks, when starting a fire in their fire place, forget to open the damper inside the fire place so that smoke may rise up through the chimney and out into the cold night’s air! They start the fire and the next thing they know their home is rapidly filling up with thick smoke – thus making one believe there is a fire in the home.
Many times this situation involves first time fire place owners who are unaware there is basically a door up inside your fire place that you need to open before lighting the fire! Sometimes, it is just a case of someone having forgotten to do it. Regardless, I also found a good site explaining how to do this and where to find your damper. There are several different types of dampers and the site provides a few examples.
Please go here to learn more: How to Open an Indoor Fireplace Flue Damper
Hope all of you have a safe and happy weekend!
-Bill
Looking around on the internet, I found one site that lays out a pretty good explanation of how to clean your clothes dryer. Please take a moment and click here to learn How to Clean the Dryer.
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| Fireplace damper from eHow.com |
Many times this situation involves first time fire place owners who are unaware there is basically a door up inside your fire place that you need to open before lighting the fire! Sometimes, it is just a case of someone having forgotten to do it. Regardless, I also found a good site explaining how to do this and where to find your damper. There are several different types of dampers and the site provides a few examples.
Please go here to learn more: How to Open an Indoor Fireplace Flue Damper
Hope all of you have a safe and happy weekend!
-Bill
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Fire Protection Engineers – Helping to Keep Montgomery County Safe!
By: Daniel the Intern
Fire Protection Engineers (FPE’s) do not work in the public very often and their role in fire safety is widely unknown. However, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in their office to learn about their jobs and what they do behind the scenes.
In addition, they spend a lot of time meeting with people who need their help. I was able to sit in during one of these meetings where the owners of a building had a broken fire alarm control panel. The issue was that when it was installed on the outside of the building, the elements took their toll and caused it to malfunction. The FPEs informed them that the fire code specifically called for it to be installed on the inside and somehow they had gotten away with it being installed on the outside.
Finally, most of their enforcing comes when they are actively inspecting buildings. During and after a building is constructed, it has to be inspected to make sure all the codes are met and it will be safe for people to live or work in. For example, the diameter of the pipe bringing water in to the building must be at least a certain size, depending on the stresses it will be subjected to. In addition, there needs to be smoke detectors and sprinklers in every room that is qualified to have them. Unfortunately, almost all of these inspections are done in the morning so I was not able to join them to learn more.
The residents of Montgomery County are lucky to have four Fire Protection Engineers that graduated from the FPE program at the University of Maryland, one of only two in the country.
Fire Protection Engineers (FPE’s) do not work in the public very often and their role in fire safety is widely unknown. However, I had the opportunity to spend a few days in their office to learn about their jobs and what they do behind the scenes.
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| From the USFA web site |
There are 3 E's needed for an effective fire prevention program; Education, Engineering, and Enforcement. The MCFRS FPEs, in the Fire Code Enforcement Section, are key players in the second two. The engineering aspect can range anywhere from setting up a fire alarm system to making sure fire hydrants are receiving enough water flow for their potential use in fighting a fire. They will also analyze the plans for new communities to make sure all of the fire codes are met, like having every residential front door at the furthest 100 feet away from a firetruck-accessible road. While this is a form of enforcement, they will also suggest an engineering solution. One way to solve that problem is to install grasspave where there is regular grass in an area large enough for a firetruck to drive on. Grasspave is a hard surface that will allow grass to grow on top but can allow firetrucks to drive on it without getting stuck.
In addition, they spend a lot of time meeting with people who need their help. I was able to sit in during one of these meetings where the owners of a building had a broken fire alarm control panel. The issue was that when it was installed on the outside of the building, the elements took their toll and caused it to malfunction. The FPEs informed them that the fire code specifically called for it to be installed on the inside and somehow they had gotten away with it being installed on the outside.
Finally, most of their enforcing comes when they are actively inspecting buildings. During and after a building is constructed, it has to be inspected to make sure all the codes are met and it will be safe for people to live or work in. For example, the diameter of the pipe bringing water in to the building must be at least a certain size, depending on the stresses it will be subjected to. In addition, there needs to be smoke detectors and sprinklers in every room that is qualified to have them. Unfortunately, almost all of these inspections are done in the morning so I was not able to join them to learn more.
The residents of Montgomery County are lucky to have four Fire Protection Engineers that graduated from the FPE program at the University of Maryland, one of only two in the country.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
What You Should Know About Your Blood Pressure
According to the American Heart Association, nearly one in three U.S.
Please take a moment to look over the below fact sheet! Help us to help you live a healthy life and possibly avoid having to call 9-1-1 one day due to medical issues associated with High Blood Pressure!
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