If there was a fire in your home would you be prepared? A collaboration with the UFD of South Kingstown

Essential Question: What can you do to prevent yourself and your family from being the victims of a fire?

FACT “In the U.S. , someone dies from a house fire roughly every three hours.” (“Fast Facts.”)

Compare the Evidence Leading causes of house fires Cooking equipment Heating equipment Intentional fires Electrical distribution equipment Open flame (candles) Appliance, tool, or air conditioning equipment (Dryers are the most common) Smoking materials Leading causes of fire deaths Smoking materials fires Intentional fires Heating equipment fires Cooking fires Electrical distribution equipment fires Open flame fires (candles) Child play fires

Statistics In many cooking fires, human error is a factor. “Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home cooking fires.” “Over the last decade, candle fires have tripled.” Home candle fires in the bedroom account for 41% of all U.S. home candle fires. 24% of these fires result in death. “Roughly 70% of home fire deaths result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.” “Roughly one of every four fire U.S. deaths in 2001 was attributed to smoking materials.” (Ahrens) Between 1999-2002 there were 220 deaths associated with electrical equipment.

A fire doubles in size every minute!

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning According to the National Safety Council, 200-300 deaths a year are due to carbon monoxide poisoning. A person can be poisoned by a small amount of CO over a long period or a large amount of CO over a short period of time.

Preventative Actions Evaluate the safety of home Develop an action plan to bring your home up to proper safety standards. Develop an emergency evacuation plan for each room of the house and each level of the house. Practice your emergency evacuation plan with your family. Know what information is helpful to give to a 9-1-1 operator.

Plan so you don’t get burned

Evaluating the Safety of Your Home What items should we all have in our home to protect us from a fire? How many exits should each room of your home have? What would make your home unsafe?

What items should we all have in our home to protect us from a fire? Smoke Detectors (Min. one on each floor) One in each bedroom is now required in new homes Carbon monoxide detector on each floor Fire extinguisher Evacuation plan with a defined meeting place

How many exits should each room of your home have? 2

What would make your home unsafe? Unattended food cooking in the kitchen Unattended candles Overloaded plugs Blocked exits Missing batteries or broken smoke detectors No working CO detectors No evacuation plan

Works Cited Ahrens, Marty. “The U.S. Fire Problem Overview Report; Leading Causes and other Patterns and Trends.” 2003. 3/25/06 <www.nfpa.org>/assets/files/MbrSecurePDF/OSover.PDF>. “Fast Facts.” 3/25/06 <www.nfpa.org>.