Fire Safety Week 2017

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Sunday October 8th to Saturday October 14th, 2017 is National Fire Safety Week in the USA

October is a great time of year for fire safety! The leaves are changing, temperatures are dropping, and that means the heat will be coming on. Part of fire safety week brings the importance of having carbon monoxide detectors and making sure they are working as well.

Last winter, my family learned an important lesson and made a huge mistake. We somehow neglected to have a carbon monoxide detector on our lower level of our raised ranch.

My little ones and I were upstairs playing. My husband and my father-in-law were cleaning the chimney and wood stove, which were located on the lower level.

We had let our wood stove die about 4 days before. It didn’t occur to us that there would be any lit embers left in it. The pipe was disconnected from the chimney, thus allowing the small amount of smoke to filter through the house instead of through the chimney. This meant active amounts of carbon monoxide were filling the home.

The detector upstairs went off and I was already quite light headed and feeling the effects without realizing what was actually happening to me. I grabbed both of my kids and scrambled out the door then realized my husband was downstairs.

I began to get frantic when I realized he wasn’t answering me. I ran through the house looking for him. Thankfully he was in the garage, safe from harm. Had he been downstairs, the results would of been way different.

This event was our wake up call to fire safety. We had at one point a carbon monoxide detector downstairs, but when it chirped the low battery warning it got moved and forgotten.

Next, we went and checked our detectors and realized half of them were not the kind that detects carbon monoxide since there are two different kinds of detectors. Then we checked the dates and we had one that was going to expire in a month.

Having an annual fire safety awareness week is a great time to remember to check the dates on the detectors to make sure they haven’t expired. It is good to also get into the habit of testing your detectors frequently to make sure they are working properly.

Another helpful thing during this week is to talk to your children about what to do in case of a fire. Practice fire drills with your family. Do one drill during the day and one at night. Show your children to crawl/stay low to help avoid smoke. Also show them pictures of what a firefighter looks like or take them to a local event if it’s offered in your community. Have a designated meeting spot and teach your kids how to get out on their own.

fire safety week Providence Moms Blog

Some other key things include making sure to have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen as well as one near a wood stove or fireplace if your home has one. Make sure plugs are in good working order and are not overcrowded. Also make sure candles are in a safe area.

With the right things in effect, it can make a huge difference in case of a fire! The National Fire Protection Association website has some great resources available too for educating your family from Sparky Youtube clips, coloring sheets, and a grid sheet to draw out an evacuation plan for your house.