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Fire! Save Your Home
| Article
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15304 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1989 |
1,507 Words |
| Author
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Carolyn Hughes Crowley
Carolyn Hughes Crowley is a Washington, D.C. free-lancer who
frequently writes on health topics. |
Almost every American can count on being in a fire during his lifetime. The United States has the world's highest fire death rate. Fires cost the country $30 billion a year and result in more fatalities than all natural disasters combined.
Every day an average of 6,800 fires occur, including forest, brush, and structure fires. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), one-half of all structure fires in America occur in residences. Residential fires--most caused by cooking, heating, and cigarette smoking--are responsible for three-fourths of the nation's fire deaths per year, usually totaling 6 to 7,000, two-thirds of all fire-related injuries, and almost one-half of all property loss.
Here are suggestions to make your home safer.
Sprinklers and smoke detectors
Many homeowners think that the smell of smoke would wake them out of sleep. Wrong! Carbon monoxide in the smoke is known to paralyze and quickly asphyxiate before one can even detect the odor. A fire consumes oxygen in a room, making it hard to breathe, think clearly, and control muscles. The natural response is to gasp for breath and thus inhale more smoky fumes full of poisonous gases. Plastics, which make up 25 percent of all home and office structures, give off noxious gases when they burn. And more than 75 percent of those who perish in fires die not from flames, but from inhaling toxic substances in the smoke.
Quick detection of smoke and fumes is the most important determinant of life and death of your family in a fire. A National Bureau of Standards study estimates that the combined use of smoke detectors and sprinklers could reduce fire fatalities by three-fourths, vaulting the United States from last in fire safety to a first-place tie with Switzerland. Thirty-three states have laws requiring smoke detectors in all new homes. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a nonprofit group based in Quincy, Massachusetts, recommends placing a smoke detector, which costs ten to fifty dollars at hardware stores, in each bedroom and on each level of a house, and on a ceiling or high on a wall. Federal officials estimate 20 percent of all American homes lack smoke detectors, and of those installed, somewhere between 30 and 50 percent lack adequately charged batteries or are clogged with grease and dirt. Set one day of the month to check and vacuum your
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