Nana Speaks Out About Fire Safety
Tragedy has once again struck the community where I live. Yesterday morning a mobile home in the north end of the county burned to the ground. Four children and one adult died and more of the family was injured. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
Every year in the United States, about 3,000 people lose their lives in residential fires. In a fire, smoke and deadly gases tend to spread farther and faster than heat. That’s one reason why most fire victims die from inhalation of smoke and toxic gases, not as a result of burns. A majority of fatal fires happen when families are asleep because occupants are unaware of the fire until there is not adequate time to escape.
About two-thirds of home fire deaths occur in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Properly installed and maintained smoke alarms are considered to be one of the best and least expensive means of providing an early warning of a potentially deadly fire and could reduce the risk of dying from a fire in your home by almost half.
Yesterday I visited my daughter and while I was there I heard their smoke alarm beeping, indicating that the battery was low. I mentioned it to her and she said she was aware of it and intended to replace the battery. In light of the horrible tragedy I intend to call her again and remind her about the battery and to keep doing so until she changes it! Remind your loved ones to install smoke alarms and to change the batteries frequently.
Please help spread the word about fire safety! We never know when we might save a life by doing so!
the best smoke alarms are the ones that use photoelectric sensors.;’
Just a week ago, a family up the block from us lost their mobile home in a fire. This was evening, 3 people were gone, husband laid down to take a quick nap before going on a run. He woke up to neighbors banging on his door. He heard noises and saw fire. He’s lucky to be alive. House was destroyed. Don’t know cause, and don’t think there was a smoke detector. Non-smokers. I’m thankful they are ok.