Eighty percent of Americans do not know that home fires are the most common disaster in the United States.  Those are some of the findings of a poll just released by the American Red Cross, whose local chapters helped families affected by nearly 67,000 house and apartment fires last year -- 92 percent of all Red Cross disaster responses. However, two-thirds of those surveyed cited floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and mudslides as greater threats to their family than home fires.

There are steps that families can take year-round to minimize the risk of fire in their home, mitigate the tragedy and prevent loss of life.

Simple Steps to Prevent Fires

• Keep all sources of fuel (paper, clothing, bedding and carpets or rugs) at least three feet away from heat sources, such as when using alternative heating like a space heater and when cooking.

• Provide constant adult supervision during cooking or in rooms with lit candles or fires. Do not leave burning candles unattended.

• Keep matches and lighters away and out of reach of children.

• Teach young children to tell an adult if they see matches and lighters and not to touch them. Teach adolescents to resist peer pressure by choosing a more productive activity and not to play with fire if curious or bored.

Simple Steps to Make Your Home Safer

• Smoke alarms save lives. Install a smoke alarm outside each sleeping area and on each additional level of your home. If people sleep with doors closed, install smoke alarms inside sleeping areas, too. Use the test button to check each smoke alarm once a month. When necessary, replace batteries immediately. Replace all batteries at least once a year. Smoke alarms become less sensitive over time. Replace your smoke alarms every 10 years.

• Consider having one or more working fire extinguishers in your home. Get training from the fire department in proper use of your extinguishers.

• Consider installing an automatic fire sprinkler system in your home.

• Determine at least two ways to escape from every room of your home. Consider escape ladders for sleeping areas on the second or third floor. Learn how to use them and store them near the window.

• Select a location outside your home where everyone would meet after escaping. Practice your escape plan, especially with children, at least twice a year and revise as necessary.

Safety Tips in the Event that Fire Strikes Your Home

• Once you are out, stay out! Call the fire department from a neighbor's home.

• If you see smoke or fire in your first escape route, use your second way out. If you must exit through smoke, crawl low under the smoke to your exit. If you are escaping through a closed door, feel the door before opening it. If it is warm, use your second way out.

  If smoke, heat, or flames block your exit routes, stay in the room with the door closed. Signal for help using a brightly-colored cloth at the window. If there is a telephone in the room, call the fire department and tell them where you are.                                                            

509-447-5305

Pend Oreille County Fire District No. 3

325272 Hwy. 2