Rembering 9/11

On Thursday, September 11, 2014, from 4-7 p.m., the Fort Wayne Fire Department (FWFD) along with Allen County Public Safety invites residents to stop by the Law Enforcement Firefighters Memorial of Allen County at 1001 North Wells Street to commemorate the 13^th anniversary of 9/11.

Citizens are encouraged to place an American flag in the grassy area around the memorial in honor and remembrance of not only the 403 public safety personnel that lost their lives, but for all of those who died that fateful day 13 years ago.   There will be no formal ceremony.   Flags will be available at the Memorial site from 4-7 p.m. Fort Wayne Fire and Police Pipe and Drum Corps will be playing at 6 p.m.

This event is Allen County’s public safety effort to remember 9/11 and to continue to fulfil its pledge to Never Forget. While citizens are encouraged to place a flag, the site will be a location for the community to come together to pause, remember and reflect.

Winter Survival Kit

Winter Survival Kit for Your Home

Living in Indiana, you know weather can be somewhat unpredictable. Extreme temperatures, snow and ice are always a possibility during the winter months. The safest way to deal with is extreme weather conditions is to be PREPARED. Hoosiers should stay abreast of weather conditions and be ready for anything Old Man Winter throws our way. In the event of an emergency consider having an Emergency Kit on hand stocked with several days’ worth of supplies.

Suggested Emergency Kit supplies:

• Blankets
• Matches
• Multipurpose, dry chemical fire extinguisher
• First aid kit and instruction manual
• Flashlight or battery-powered lantern
• Battery-powered radio
• Battery powered clock or watch
• Extra batteries
• Manual can opener

Other items you should consider to be included:

• Food that needs no cooking or refrigeration such as bread, crackers, cereal, canned foods, and dried fruits. Remember baby food and formula if you have young children.
• Water stored in clean containers, or purchased bottled water (5 gallons per person ) in case your water pipes freeze and rupture.
• Medicines – that any family member may need.

Know the Facts: Building a Safer Community Together

Carbon Monoxide Safety

• Protect your family from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning by installing CO detectors near all bedroom areas.

• CO cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted but it can make you sick or kill you.

• Symptoms of CO poisoning can be headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, confusion, seizures, loss of consciousness, and even death.

• Have fireplaces, chimneys, and furnaces inspected yearly.

• Never use emergency generators indoors and keep them away from doors, windows, and vents.

• Always move vehicles outside the garage when warming them up.

• Never use the oven or stove to supplement or heat your home.

• If the CO alarm activates you must get fresh air. Get outside ASAP and call 911.

• Stay outside until help arrives. 

Heating Your Home Safely 

• If you have gas powered appliances, furnace, or a fireplace you should install CO detectors outside all bedroom areas.

• Have all heating equipment, fireplaces, and chimneys inspected every year by a qualified technician.

• Keep flammable products at least 3 feet away from any heat source.

• Keep children away from any heating equipment.

• Space and kerosene heaters should have automatic shut-offs in case they tip over.

• Only fill kerosene heaters outdoors when they are cool.

• Turn off any space heater before leaving the room or going to bed.

• Never leave a wood stove or fireplace on when leaving the house or when going to bed.

• Never burn paper in a fireplace and be sure the fireplace screens/doors remain closed to prevent embers from jumping out.

• Plug space heaters directly into outlets, never use extension cords.

• Space heaters need space so they should only be used in rooms with plenty of space.

More Space Heater Safety tips.

The following videos include additional carbon monoxide and heating safety tips:

Carbon Monoxide and Heating Safety Video in English

Carbon Monoxide and Heating Safety Video in English with Subtitles

Carbon Monoxide and Heating Safety Video in Spanish

Carbon Monoxide and Heating Safety Video in Burmese

Cooking Safely at Home

• Always stay at the stove when cooking. Unattended cooking is the number one cause of house fires.

• Wear short or close-fitting clothing to prevent clothes from catching on fire.

• Create a 3 foot safety zone around the stove to prevent young children from getting burned.

• Turn pan handles inward to prevent spills.

• Keep all flammable materials away from hot surfaces and open flames.

• Clean cooking surfaces to prevent grease build up.

• To extinguish a small cooking fire cover the pan with a lid/cookie sheet, use a fire extinguisher, or pour baking soda on the fire.

• Never ever use water to extinguish a cooking fire.

• Never attempt to move any pan that is on fire.

• If items in the stove or microwave catch on fire leave the door closed, and turn off the heat.

• Be very careful when removing hot foods from the microwave.

• When children are old enough, teach them the safe way to use the oven and microwave.

Cooking Safety Video in English

Cooking Safety Video in English with Subtitles

Cooking Safety Video in Spanish

Cooking Safety Video in Burmese

Thank you to PBS 39 Studios for creating these videos for the FWFD.

Facts about Fire

Home Fires

•U.S. fire departments respond to an average of one home fire every 86 seconds.

•Between 2011 and 2015, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 358,500 home structure fires per year. These fires caused 12,300 civilian injuries, 2,510 civilian deaths, and $6.7 billion in direct damage.

•On average, seven people per day die in U.S. home fires.

•Cooking is the leading cause of home fires and home-fire injuries.

•For decades, smoking has been the leading cause of home-fire deaths.

•Heating equipment was involved in one in every five home-fire deaths.

Escape Planning

•According to an NFPA survey, only one in every three American households has actually developed and practiced a home fire-escape plan.

•While 71% of Americans have an escape plan in case of a fire, only 47% of them have practiced it.

•One-third of American households who made an estimate thought they would have at least six minutes before a fire in their home became threatening. The time available is often less. And only eight percent said their first thought upon hearing a smoke alarm would be to get out.

Smoke Alarms

•Smoke alarms provide an early warning of a fire, giving people additional time to escape.

•Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a reported home fire in half.

•Three in every five home-fire deaths result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms (38%) or no working smoke alarms (21%).

•When smoke alarms fail to operate, it is usually because batteries are missing, disconnected, or dead. Dead batteries caused one-quarter (24%) of the smoke alarm failures.

•Interconnected smoke alarms throughout the home increase safety. When one sounds, they all sound. It is especially important to have interconnected alarms if you sleep with the door closed.

Cooking

•Between 2011 and 2015, U.S. fire departments responded to a per year average of 170,200 home structure fires that involved cooking equipment. These fires caused a per year average of 510 civilian deaths, 5470 civilian injuries, and $1.2 billion in direct property damage.

•From 2011 to 2015, U.S. fire departments responded to an average of 466 home cooking fires per day.

•Cooking is tied for the second leading cause of home fire deaths.

•Unattended cooking is the leading factor contributing to these fires. Frying poses the greatest risk of fire.

•Ranges, or cooktops, accounted for the majority (62%) of home cooking-fire incidents. Ovens accounted for 13%.

•More than half of all cooking-fire injuries occurred when people tried to fight the fire themselves.

•Thanksgiving is the peak day for home cooking fires, followed by the day before Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, Easter, and Christmas.

Heating

•From 2009 to 2013, U.S. fire departments responded to 56,000 home structure fires that involved heating equipment. These fires caused 470 civilian fire deaths, 1,490 civilian injuries, and $1 billion in direct property damage.

•The leading factor contributing to home-heating fires (30%) was a failure to clean. This usually involved creosote buildup- in chimneys.

•Most home-heating fire deaths (84%) involved stationary or portable space heaters.

•Nearly half (49%) of all home-heating fires occurred in December, January, and February.

Home Fire Sprinklers

•Fire sprinklers reduce the risk of dying in a home fire by 80% and reduce the risk of property loss by 70%.

•Fire sprinkler installation in new homes is cost effective, averaging 1-2% of a home’s total construction cost.

•Only the sprinkler closest to the fire activates, preventing the spread of deadly toxic smoke and fire.

•Home fire sprinklers protect lives by keeping fires small. Sprinklers can reduce the heat, flames, and smoke produced in a fire, allowing people more time to escape.

•Home fire sprinklers activate on an individual basis. Only the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate, spraying water on the fire and not the rest of the home.

•A home fire sprinkler can control or put out a fire with a fraction of the water that would be used by fire department hoses.

•Accidental sprinkler discharges are rare.

This content was reproduced from NFPA's Fire Prevention Week website, www.firepreventionweek.org. © 2018 NFPA

Plan Your Escape

There’s more to fire prevention than just having two ways out. Use these tips to plan your escape and stay fire safe!

PLAN YOUR ESCAPE video in English

PLAN YOUR ESCAPE video in English with subtitles

PLAN YOUR ESCAPE video in Spanish

PLAN YOUR ESCAPE video in Burmese

Thank you to PBS 39 Studios for creating the Home Escape Plans videos for the FWFD. 

MAKE A MAP OF YOUR HOME (Download this PDF to create your escape map.)

Mark a door and a window that can be used to get out of every room.

Choose a meeting place outside in front of your home. This is where everyone can meet once they’ve escaped. Draw a picture of your outside meeting place on your escape plan.

Write the emergency telephone number for the fire department on your escape plan.

Have a grown-up sound the smoke alarm and practice your escape plan with everyone living in your home.

Keep your escape plan on the refrigerator and remind grown-ups to have your family practice the plan twice a year or whenever anyone in your home celebrates a birthday.

KNOW WHEN TO GO
If there is a fire in your home, there will be smoke.

•  A smoke alarm will let you know there is a fire.
•  A smoke alarm makes a loud noise – beep, beep, beep.
•  When the smoke alarm sounds, get outside and stay outside.
•  Go to your family's outside meeting place.

SOUND THE ALARM

• Ask a grown-up to check to be sure there are smoke alarms on every level of your home, inside each bedroom and outside each sleeping area.
• Remind grown-ups to test smoke alarms once a month.

 COOK SAFELY   

• 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.

WIRE CHECK

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

TURN DOWN THE HEAT

• 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.

CANDLE WITH CARE

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

CONDOS AND APARTMENTS FIRE SAFETY