Home Fire Safety

    Make a home inspection

    Purchase extinguishers, smoke detectors

                        Consider a residential sprinkler system

Home Fire Inspection Checklist

Phone Number Clearly Displayed on the Phone?
                 Usually this number is 911  (In Cumberland County call 911)
 

Test the Smoke Detector monthly.
Replace batteries at least once each year.

Do you leave clearly-stated emergency instructions for babysitters?

Click here for BABYSITTER CHECKLIST

Do you have a FIRE ESCAPE PLAN ?

Click here to see tips for a FIRE ESCAPE PLAN
Include an escape route from each room.
Agree upon a meeting place following escape.

Do you have a reachable fire extinguisher in your home?
Important: Buy at least one now if you don't!

Instruct all family members on it use.

Are matches and lighters kept in a safe place?

These items should be out of the reach of children.

Is your house number visible from the street so that emergency vehicles can find you?

Reflective numbers make it possible to see clearly at night

Do you have a screen on your fireplace.

Keep the fire screen closed at all times.

Do you sleep with your bedroom door closed?

This will give you more time to escape in case of fire.

Do all members of the family know what to do if their clothes catch on fire?

Practice "stop, drop, and roll"
Never, never run!!!!

   Fire Sprinkler Facts

• Each sprinkler discharges individually, all sprinklers do not diffuse at once. One sprinkler controls most residential fires. Sprinkler heads are heat-activated.
• Smoke does not activate the sprinkler head. During a fire, the average sprinkler discharges 11 gallons per minute, compared to the average fire department pumper flowing 125 to 750 gallons per minute.
• Only one in 16 million sprinklers discharges due to manufacturing defect .
• Fire sprinklers are the most reliable fire protection system known. They report a 99.76% success rate in communities where all fires are reported. Residential systems are installed with flow switches that sound the alarm when the system is flowing, signaling others to call the fire department.
• Residential systems are designed to save lives but they also reduce the incidence of property loss by 85%.
• Annually, home fires claim about 80% of the total fire deaths in the United States. The very young, the elderly and the disabled are most often the fatalities in a fire. Most insurance companies offer discounts for automatic sprinklers.
• Residential fire sprinklers come in various designs that can blend with any décor.
• The United States has a very high incidence of fire, and the worst per capita fire death record in the industrialized world. Our fire departments are the best in the world at extinguishing fires, but the problem is response time.
• To save most lives, five minutes is the crucial time period, and most alarms are received too late for the fire fighters to have a chance to save the lives of the occupants.
• Sprinklers can never replace firefighters, but they can enhance their arsenal of defense.