Trevose Fire Company

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TREVOSE FIRE COMPANY

**ALERT**
Smoke alarms

Installation

·  Install smoke alarms on every level of the home and outside each sleeping area. For the best protection, install interconnected smoke alarms in each bedroom and throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
Testing
·  Test smoke alarms every month. Working smoke alarms save lives.
Deaf or hard of hearing
·  Special smoke alarms are made for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Sleeping with bedroom door open or closed
·  Make sure everyone can hear the sound of the smoke alarms. Know what your smoke alarms sound like. If you sleep with bedroom doors closed, have interconnected smoke alarms.
Children waking to the sound of the smoke alarm
·  Some studies have shown that some children may not awaken to the sound of the smoke alarm. Know what your child will do before a fire occurs.See NFPA's online fact sheets for information on this issue, as well as smoke alarms and escape planning.
Smoke alarm replacement
·  Replace all smoke alarms when they are10 years old.
Fire deaths – no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms
·  Roughly 70% of home fire deaths result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
Escape
Assistance to others during escape
·  When there is a fire, caregivers are responsible for getting children out safely.
·  Children must know how to escape on their own in case the caregiver cannot provide assistance.If someone is trapped in the home, inform firefighters right away.
Pets
·  If pets are trapped inside your home, inform firefighters right away.
Smoke
·  Smoke is toxic. If you must escape through smoke, get low and go under the smoke to your exit.
Use of escape ladders
·  Consider getting escape ladders for sleeping areas on the second and third floors.Make sure escape ladder fits the window.Use only if all other exits are blocked. Practice opening the ladder and dropping it out the window, but not using it.
Feel the door procedure
·  Before opening a door, feel the door.If it’s hot, use your second way out.
Planning
·  Have a home escape plan and practice it twice a year.
·  Make sure emergency personnel can see your house numbers from the street.
·  Choose an outside meeting place. The meeting place should be in front and away from the house and should be something permanent like a tree or a neighbor’s home.
·  Find all doors and windows that lead outside. Make sure they open easily.Know at least two ways out of every room, if possible.
·  For homes with a second or third level, consider escape ladders.
·  When a smoke alarm sounds, or there is smoke or fire, get out and stay out.
·  Closed doors help protect you.Close doors as you escape to slow the spread of smoke and fire.
·  Go to your outside meeting place.
·  After you have escaped, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number.
·  If you are trapped, close the door to keep smoke out, call for help, and wait by the window for rescue.
·  Wherever you are, have an escape plan.
Burns
·  Treat a burn right away, putting it in cool water. Cool the burn for three to five minutes.Cover the burn with a clean, dry cloth.When in doubt, seek medical attention.
Smoking
·  If you smoke, smoke outside.
·  Wherever you smoke, use deep, sturdy ashtrays.
·  Before you throw out butts and ashes, make sure they are out, and dousing in water or sand is the best way to do that.
·  Check under furniture cushions and in other places people smoke for cigarette butts that may have fallen out of sight.
·  Smoking should not be allowed in a home where oxygen is being used.
·  If you smoke, choose fire-safe cigarettes. They are less likely to cause fires.
·  To prevent a deadly cigarette fire, you have to be alert. You won’t be if you are sleepy, have been drinking, or have taken medicine or other drugs.
Candles
·  Keep candles at least 12 inches from anything that can burn.
·  Use sturdy, safe candleholders.
·  Never leave a burning candle unattended. Blow out candles when you leave a room.
·  NFPA discourages the use of candles in bedrooms and sleeping areas.
·  Use a flashlight, not a candle for emergency lighting.
·  Be careful not to splatter wax when extinguishing a candle.
Stop, Drop, and Roll
·  If your clothes catch fire, stop, drop, and roll.Stop immediately, drop to the ground, and cover face with hands.Roll over and over or back and forth to put out the fire.
Fire extinguishers
·  Fire extinguishers have limits.Learn and practice how to use fire extinguishers before a fire occurs.
Safe Heating Behaviors
Select and install heating equipment for safety and effectiveness
·  Make sure your choice of equipment is permitted by law in your community. Portable kerosene heaters, chimineas, and firepitts are not allowed in all communities.
·  Select a space heater that is rated by the manufacturer for the size space you intend to heat.
·  Make sure your space heater has the label of a recognized, independent testing laboratory.
·  Check for product recalls at www.cpsc.gov.
·  Install stationary space heating equipment, water heaters, or central heating equipment following the manufacturer’s instructions. If possible, have a professional install the equipment.
·  Make sure all fuel-burning equipment is vented to the outside as required by NFPA standards and manufacturer’s instructions.
Use heating equipment safely, in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions
·  For electric-powered equipment, plug power cords only into outlets with sufficient capacity and never into an extension cord.
·  For liquid-fueled equipment, always use the proper grade of the proper fuel (e.g., only the proper grade of kerosene in a kerosene heater), in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions. Never use gasoline as a fuel in a device not approved for gasoline, or else the equipment may burn too hot, which could lead to equipment failure. Also, refuel only in a well-ventilated area, preferably outside, and only when the heater is completely cool.
·  For wood-fueled equipment, burn only dry, seasoned wood that has been split, stacked, and allowed to dry for 12 months. Do not use green wood, trash, or any other combustibles that could burn unevenly, resulting in flare-ups, or burn incompletely, resulting in deposits of creosote, an oily, sticky, combustible byproduct of incomplete burning of wood. Artificial logs, typically made of sawdust and wax, can pose a flare-up risk or a sticky deposit risk in some situations; they should be used only in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions and never in wood stoves. To start the fire, use only newspaper or kindling wood, and never use flammable liquids, such as lighter fluid, kerosene, diesel fuel, or gasoline. And when adding wood to a working fire, wear only short, tight-fitting sleeves to reduce the risk of igniting your clothing if the fire flares up during the refueling.
·  For wood-fueled equipment, allow ashes to cool before disposal, which should be in a metal container kept a safe distance from the home and any other combustible buildings or other structures.
·  Open fires must always be closely attended. This includes fireplaces, chimineas, and firepitts. Keep doors and screens closed when such equipment is in use, to control the air flow and to keep fires from flaring up or embers from blowing outside the equipment.
·  Turn off space heaters whenever the space they heat is unoccupied and in any other circumstances when manufacturer’s instructions say they should not be used.
·  Because they are especially vulnerable to being knocked over if someone gets up and moves around at night in the dark, portable space heaters should be turned off when going to bed. To avoid any risk of freezing to the residents, portable space heaters should be used only for auxiliary heating so that they can be safely turned off at night.
·  For any fuel-burning equipment, in order to avoid risk of death from unvented carbon monoxide, install and maintain a carbon monoxide alarm.
·  For any fuel-burning equipment, make sure the venting for exhaust removal is kept clear and unobstructed. This includes removal of snow around the outlet to the outside.
·  Keep a 3-foot (roughly 1 meter, in metric terms) clearance between all heating equipment and any combustibles.
·  For central heating equipment, water heaters, fireplaces, stationary space heaters, and chimneys or chimney connectors, this means installing equipment with proper clearances, typically specified in an NFPA installation standards, to all fixed combustibles, including walls and structural elements.
·  For portable space heaters, this means placing equipment at least 3 feet away from all fixed combustibles.
·  For all heating equipment, this means placing moveable combustibles, such as furniture and bedding, at least 3 feet away from the equipment.
·  Supervise children when equipment is operating, and install or place equipment with an eye to traffic patterns, all so that people of all ages will stay 3 feet away from operating heating equipment. This will protect against not only injury from fire but also contact burns, which are even more common than fire injuries for heating equipment.
·  Chimineas and firepitts should be used only outside the home and located at least 10 feet away from the home. They should never be used on or near a structure, wooden deck, wooden shed, or gazebo.
·  Inspect and maintain heating equipment regularly for safety.
·  Inspect all heating equipment annually, and clean as necessary. The annual inspection can best be timed for just before the beginning of a new heating season. Inspections are also warranted if you move into a new home or begin use of your equipment after a period of non-use.
·  For wood-fueled equipment, the annual inspection needs to address potential build-up of creosote in heating equipment and associated chimneys and chimney connectors.
·  For electric-powered equipment, inspect cords for cracking, fraying, loose connections, or broken plugs, and replace any damaged equipment before use.

We at Trevose Fire Company are very proactive in our fire prevention program. In the past few years it has really taken off. Last year alone about 1200 people visited our fire house in a 4 hour time frame, that’s amazing. Being able to reach out and educate that many residents from Trevose and its surrounding neighbor’s is a great achievement of ours.

This year we are expecting even more residents and their family members to visit our breathtaking open house exhibit.

Our open house is on Sunday October 7, 2007 starting at noon till 4 pm. Come and join us to ride the fire trucks, meet the Eagles cheerleaders, extinguish a house fire, lots of games for the kids, enjoy food and beverages from our Canteen unit, and most importantly learn how to plan your escape. This year’s safety program is provided by National Fire Protection Agency which is how to plan your escape.

For more info please visit our website at http://www.trevosefireco.com

Click on the Public Safety tab for more information.