Tag Archive for: #firepreventionweek

Fire Prevention Week Oct. 9-15

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-information courtesy of the American Red Cross Eastern North Carolina office, Raleigh, NC

Fire Prevention Week runs Oct. 9-15 and the American Red Cross said everybody needs to have a two-minute home fire escape plan and working smoke alarms in place to keep their homes and families safe from the nation’s most frequent disaster – housefires.

According to American Red Cross Eastern North Carolina officials, fire experts say it takes two minutes to safely escape a fire before it’s too late. Housefires account for most of the 60,000-plus disasters that the Red Cross responds to each year across the U.S. — calls of house fires rise by 30 percent in the cold months versus the warmer times of the year. In Eastern North Carolina, home fire responses were 33 percent higher than last year.

“As the threat of home fires increases with colder temperatures, Fire Prevention Week serves as an important reminder to prepare now,” said Barry Porter, Regional CEO at the American Red Cross of Eastern North Carolina. “Practice your two-minute home fire escape drill and test your smoke alarms monthly to help keep your family safe.”

Practice your plan with everyone in your household; also teach children what a smoke alarm sounds like and what to do in an emergency. Visit redcross.org/fire for more information, including a printable escape plan and safety tips for cooking and home heating — the leading causes of home fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association, which is sponsoring Fire Prevention Week with the theme, “Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape.”

  • Include at least two ways to exit every room in your home in your escape plan.
  • Select a meeting spot at a safe distance away from your home, such as your neighbor’s home or landmark like a specific tree in your front yard, where everyone knows to meet.
  • Place smoke alarms on each level of your home, including inside and outside bedrooms and sleeping areas. Test alarms monthly and change the batteries at least once a year, if your model requires it.
  • Check the manufacturer’s date of your smoke alarms. If they’re 10 years or older, they likely need to be replaced because components such batteries can become less reliable. Follow your alarm’s manufacturer instructions.
  • Tailor your escape plan to everyone’s needs in your household. If you or a loved one is deaf or hard of hearing, install strobe light and bed-shaker alarms to help alert you to a fire. Visit org/ASL-disaster-resourcesfor more information, including resources in American Sign Language.

If you cannot afford to purchase smoke alarms or are physically unable to install one, the Red Cross may be able to help. Visit SoundtheAlarm.org/ENC for more information.

Since October 2014, the Red Cross Home Fire Campaign with community partners has saved at least 1,393 lives — including 43 in North Carolina — by educating families about fire safety, helping them create escape plans and installing free smoke alarms in high-risk areas across the country. To learn more about the campaign and how you can get involved, visit redcross.org/homefires.

The Red Cross Home Fire Campaign is made possible with generous financial donations from partners, including, our statewide presenting Sound the Alarm sponsor Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina.

Henderson Fire Dept

TownTalk: Fire Prevention Week

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If you’ve ever been awakened in the middle of the night by that annoying little chirp of the smoke detector signaling the need for a new battery, consider this: that annoying little chirp could be a life-saving sound that could avert tragedy in a real emergency.

October 3-9 is Fire Safety Week, and Henderson Fire Captain Lee Edmonds wants everyone to learn the different sounds of fire safety. For example, a smoke alarm signal is three loud beeps; a carbon monoxide alarm is four continuous rapid beeps.

“Learning the sounds of fire safety is very important,” he said.

In a conversation with John C. Rose on Monday’s Town Talk, Edmonds suggested that every household have two escape plans, and from different locations in the home. “Every second counts,” he said.

Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors are valuable tools to help homeowners – as long as they are in good working order. A good rule of thumb is to change the batteries when the time changes twice a year.

A new type of smoke alarm has a 10-year life span and there’s no battery to replace, he said. So when it begins to chirp, it’s time to toss and replace.

Residents in the community have the chance to learn more about smoke alarms and more during an event from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7. There will be fire trucks and a “smoke trailer” on hand for children and others to view at the former Golden Corral parking lot on North Cooper Drive.

Smoke alarms should be located inside and outside of sleeping and living spaces, Edmonds said. But, he said, smoke alarms should not be located near kitchens or bathrooms, where steam from cooking or showering could cause them to be activated.

Another important tool to have on hand is a fire extinguisher, and Edmonds said the most common type is one that can handle the three main types of fires in households – regular combustible fires, fires caused by flammable liquids and electrical fires.

This “ABC” fire extinguisher will take care of most any type of fire that occurs in a residence, he noted.

By the end of September, there have been 100 fire-related deaths. “That’s a lot and we’re just nine months into the year,” he said. Last year’s total was 120, and Edmonds said the main way to keep that number down is to make sure there are working smoke detectors in the home.

Any Henderson resident who hears that annoying little chirp can call the fire station at 252.4301877 to get help. “Someone will come out and replace the battery or the smoke detector,” Edmonds said.

Visit the National Fire Protection Association website at nfpa.org to learn more about fire safety.