Fire Safety In The Home

FIRE SAFETY IN THE HOME

Some information in this post was sourced from Qld Fire & Emergency Service and Australian Bureau of Statistics.

INTRODUCTION

Having been a professional Emergency Management Consultant for nearly 15 years, I have taught thousands of Occupants in industrial workplaces and commercial buildings their emergency procedures. It is a legislative requirement for all workplaces to have a fire plan, and a trained Warden team in place to implement emergency procedures in the event of a fire or other emergency. The same can’t be said for our home, as there is no legislation covering households other than it being a legal requirement for all homes to have smoke alarms installed. The QFES strongly promotes households to also have a fire plan in place, but can’t enforce this on households. As a result, there are far too many house fires that destroy houses and lives every year, often because the households involved did not maintain their smoke alarms, have a fire plan in place and practice their escape plan. With winter fast approaching, it is a timely reminder to consider the very real dangers of fire in the home, as this is the time of year that most house fires occur. If you don’t already have a fire escape plan in place for your home, it is certainly recommended to implement one as soon as possible to mitigate a potential catastrophe.

DID YOU KNOW:

• Latest ABS figures show that in Queensland alone, 80 lives have been lost due to house fires in the last 5 years.
• Most fatalities occur in winter with an average of 2500 fires recorded state-wide.
• Almost 50% of fires start in the kitchen and around 30% of those are from cooking.
• Most fatalities occur at night.

SO WHAT ARE THE STATISTICS FOR HOMES HAVING A FIRE ESCAPE PLAN IN PLACE?

FIRE PREVENTION NATIONAL AVERAGE QLD AVERAGE

Have a fire escape plan 58% 67%
Have an extinguisher at home 41% 43%
Have a fire blanket in the kitchen 30% 30%

I think you would agree that these stats aren’t promising. If we had these recommendations at 100% in all households, we would see a lot less heartache and loss of life.

OTHER FACTS TO CONSIDER:

• You can’t smell smoke when you’re asleep. That’s why it is a legal requirement to install and maintain smoke alarms in the home.
• Before opening doors to a potential fire, test the heat of the door with the back of your hand for heat radiating from the other side.
• Don’t rely on children to wake up to the sound of a smoke alarm. They will often sleep through it. (I have witnessed this with my
   own children)
• Smoke alarms don’t last forever. They typically have a shelf life of 10 years, but that is not to say they will last that long. This is why
   it is so important to test them once per month and change the batteries every 12 months. 1st April (April fool’s day) is the promoted
   national ‘change smoke alarm battery’ day.

UNDERSTANDING THE TYPES OF SMOKE ALARMS: WHICH ARE BEST SUITED IN YOUR HOME? IONISATION SMOKE ALARMS

Ionisation smoke alarms work by detecting the presence of large quantities of very small particles entering the ionisation chamber, which when in sufficient quantity will cause an alarm to sound. Because of the way these detectors work, they can be falsely activated by toasters, ovens, open grills etc., so are not recommended near kitchen areas.

PHOTO ELECTRIC (PHOTO OPTICAL) SMOKE ALARMS (RECOMMENDED BY QFES)

Photoelectric smoke alarms have a chamber with a light source and visible smoke entering the chamber makes the light scatter (like the dust in the air in a sunbeam of light), and in sufficient quantity makes the alarm sound. Photoelectric technology is generally more sensitive to the large smoke particles that tend to be produced by smouldering fires. Most residential dwelling fires tend to produce large amounts of visible smoke.
This is why photoelectric smoke alarms are considered superior to ionisation technology in providing early warning in a residential house fire.

DEVELOPING A FIRE ESCAPE PLAN:

There are a number of factors to consider when developing a fire escape plan for the home.

1. Is the home single level or 2 or more levels?
2. Do you have security screens that can be opened easily from the inside?
3. Do you have 2 exit routes from each room? Primary and Secondary paths (see below plan)
4. If you have deadlocks on exit doors, are keys easily accessible?
5. Do you have a designated meeting place outside the front of the house, in a safe area,clear of where the Fire Service will be attending?

GENERAL PROCEDURES FOR DISCOVERING A FIRE IN THE HOME:

• Upon a smoke alarm activation, quickly assess the situation. • If a fire is discovered and is too dangerous to approach and extinguish, yell
  “Fire, Fire, Fire” to warn all persons that this is a real emergency. If possible, close the door on the fire to contain it.
• Stay close to the floor and crawl to the nearest exit. Smoke and heat build from the ceiling and moves down. (get down low and go, go,
   go, as Ronald Macdonald says)
• Call 000. Say your name, where you are, what has happened and answer the operator’s questions. Remain on the phone until the operator
   hangs up.
• If you are trapped in a room, and can’t escape through your primary exit, shut the door to the room and place a towel or clothing at the
  bottom of the door to keep smoke out. If the situation is worsening, you may have
  to use the alternative exit by smashing a window to escape.
• If you don’t have security screens that can open outwards in an emergency, smash the window from the top down to minimise glass
  landing on top of you.
• Remove as much glass as possible and place a thick blanket or mat on the bottom window frame to protect yourself against cuts while
  climbing out.
• If a two story house, if possible, throw a mattress to the ground to help absorb your impact. If you do need to jump, climb out the
  window and lower yourself as much as possible until you are hanging from the window sill to reduce the height of the fall.
• Once out of the house, make your way to the designated meeting place to await the arrival of Fire Services.
• Inform the Fire Service if anyone is missing. DO NOT attempt to re-enter the house.

PRACTICING YOUR FIRE ESCAPE PLAN:

• During a fire emergency, time is critical. All people living in the house should regularly practice the escape plan.
• It is also important to understand, that during an emergency, you don’t have time to think or react to someone at the other end of the
house, so it’s critical that everyone in the house understands exactly what to do in a fire emergency.
• Use different scenarios to ensure understanding of escaping from different areas of the house.
• Use night time scenarios with the lights off. Remember to stay low and crawl to exits to simulate smoke filled rooms.
• Practicing your escape plan leads to less panic and better outcomes for everyone during a real emergency.

NEXT POST – PART 2 – ‘FIRE SAFETY IN THE HOME’ WILL DISCUSS FIRE PREVENTION AND SAFETY MEASURES ROOM BY ROOM. ONE OF THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES I OFFER, IS TO COME TO YOUR HOME TO HELP YOU DEVELOP YOUR HOME EVACUATION PLAN AND REVIEW YOUR HOME FOR FIRE SAFETY ISSUES THAT MAY BE PRESENT.

Visit www.andersonemc.com.au for all training and services information.
Tony Anderson
Anderson EMC – ABN 69252470671
QBCC Emergency Procedures Contractors Licence 1191435
Phone: 0400 589 790
Email: tony@andersonemc.com.au