Fire  & Chemical Safety Plan

Objective   Create a fire prevention plan to protect your home

Also see  Wildfires

Fire & Chemical Safety Plan Elements

Smoke Detectors
Install smoke detectors in several areas in your home, especially the kitchen, all large rooms and hallways to bedroom areas. If smoke detectors are powered by your home electrical system, ensure they have a battery backup.

Escape Routes
Have escape routes planned.  Second floor escape routes should include emergency ladders that are attached inside windows and can be rolled out to provide an alternate escape route.

Fire Fighting
Have equipment, skills and plan to effectively fight a fire if normal emergency units cannot respond.

Safe Heating Sources
Have properly installed and inspected heating systems that rely on open flame

Flammable Liquid Safety
Be very careful when storing flammable liquids. Store in well ventilated areas and not in rooms that have electrical appliances.  If vapors accumulate, the small spark in an electrical motor can ignite the vapors.  If you have natural gas or propane appliances, do not store flammable materials in the same room.
 

Fire Prevention

Electrical Fires

• Don't overload electrical outlets or extension cords.
• Extension cords running under carpets or rugs can cause fires
• If a fuse blows or circuit breaker trips open, determine the cause. Do not put in a higher rated fuse or breaker.
• If you detect an acrid or "hot plastic" smell, something electrical is overheating.  Check all appliances and be prepared for an electrical fire.  Consider unplugging electronics and appliances until you find the cause.

Kitchen Fires

• Your stove is a fire source. Never store things on or over the stove.
• If a grease fire starts, cover the pan with a lid to smother the flames, and turn off the burner. Do not pour water on a grease fire. Baking soda also works as an extinguisher.
• Never leave cooking unattended as fires can start and spread quickly.

Living Areas

• Use extreme caution with cigarettes! Provide large, deep ashtrays for smoker and check under couch and chair cushions for smoldering cigarettes before you go to bed.
• Use a metal fireplace screen on your hearth. Have the chimney checked and cleaned regularly.
• Close doors to woodstoves when in use
• Use only the correct fuel source in fireplace, woodstove, and kerosene heaters. Refuel liquid fuel heaters and lamps only when they are cool.
• Keep portable heaters at least 3 feet away from combustibles: paper, bedding, clothes, or curtains. Always turn off portable heaters off when you go to sleep or leave the house.
• Keep combustible materials 3 feet away from electric and gas wall heaters
• Provide air vent space around electronic appliances such as televisions and stereos.
• Store lighters and matches up high, out of the reach of young children.
• Do not store portable propane canisters or liquid fuel containers in living areas.

Storage areas, workshops and outdoor
Sheds, basements and garages are often used to store flammable materials not found in other areas of the home.

• Store gasoline and other flammable liquids, such as paint, outside in tight, properly labeled metal containers. Never use or store flammable liquids near appliances, heat, a pilot light, or while smoking. Do not store gasoline in your home or basement.
• Move your lawnmower, snow blower, or motorcycle away from gasoline fumes before starting. Cool the motor before you refuel.
• Have your gas or oil fired furnace serviced every year.
• Never use gasoline on a grill fire. Once the fire has started, use only dry kindling to revive it; not charcoal lighter fluid.
• Keep your work area clean. Sort and remove trash from the house. Don't store anything near a furnace or heater.
• Install a lightning rod or lighting protection system on your roof. Check to see if your roof is fire retardant. If it is not made of slate or tile, the roofing should be labeled Class C.

Bedrooms

• Never smoke in bed.
• Install smoke detectors outside every bedroom and put an extra one inside if you smoke or sleep with the door closed. Test, replace batteries and clean your detectors every six-months.
• Plan two escape routes from your bedroom. If one way out is a window and you're above the ground floor, make sure you have a way to get to the ground safely. Ask your fire department for advice.
• Be sure everyone in your family is familiar with the home escape plan, the meeting place, and the fire department phone number.

Open Flames

• If you use oil lamps or candles during power outages, be sure they are on a flat, stable area.
• Look for combustible materials above candles and oil lamps
• Do not leave candles or oil lamps unattended

Spontaneous Combustion
Fires can start without a spark or flame.  Spontaneous combustion can start when flammable materials start to react with chemicals or start to decompose.  Do not allow piles of combustible material to accumulate.  Placed rags or material contaminated with oil, grease or liquid fuels in metal containers well away from your building.  How spontaneous combustion works:

1. A substance with a relatively low ignition temperature begins to release heat, which may occur in several ways, such as oxidation or fermentation.
2. The heat is unable to escape, and the temperature of the material rises
3. The temperature of the material rises above its ignition point
4. Combustion begins, if a sufficiently oxygen, is present.

Firefighting Preparations

During a crisis that prevents response by local emergency units, you will have to be prepared to fight fires in your home.

Fire Extinguishers
Mount several fire extinguishers in your home.  Be sure they are easy to get to. Keep one in the kitchen, one in your garage, and one in the master bedroom that you can grab at night if you smell smoke or the smoke detector alarms.

Water Hoses
Connect a water hose, with nozzles to all outside water faucets.  Each hose should be able to reach any area inside and outside your home to allow use of at least two hoses. If you live in an apartment or urban building and do not have access to outside water spigots, you can connect a garden hose via a "Y" type adapter to your  or bathroom kitchen faucet.  During a crisis, when using open flame for heating or cooking, keep this connected at all times.  If your building has installed fire hoses or extinguishers, learn how to use them.

Water Buckets
In the absence of water pressure, fill several buckets with water for firefighting use.

Firefighting Safety
During fires, people are killed by the smoke and gases.  Be sure you have an exit path before attempting to fight a fire.  Filtering respirators do not protect you from smoke or deadly gases.