Safety Culture: Ready for the Unexpected

By MS. KIM KNIGHT, STAFF WRITER

It is 6:00 in the morning, and I am in the shower, getting ready for the day ahead when my daughter suddenly and frantically bangs on the bathroom door and starts yelling.

“There’s a fire! Mom! There’s a fire!”
My first thought? OMG! Of course this is going to happen when I am in the shower!
Absolute panic set in as I jumped out of the shower, not even taking the time to turn off the water. Soaking wet, I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around me, and flew out the door.

As I ran through the kitchen toward the staircase, I saw my daughter standing in the wide-open front door … just standing there, staring out. I was completely confused and bewildered as I attempted to grasp the situation quickly, which was difficult due to being scared and not being completely awake. When I got closer, I could see that it was not our house on fire, it was the house across the street, and it was completely engulfed in flames. Because the sun was not up yet, it looked like the world was on fire, and it was almost blinding. As I stepped out onto the front porch, I heard sirens in the distance, so someone else had also seen it and had already called the fire department.

Within minutes emergency vehicles of all kinds filled the street directly in front of my house. By that point, however, the house across the street could not be saved. We stood for a while in disbelief, watching the firefighters hose down the surrounding houses to prevent the fire from spreading.

Fortunately, the house that burned to the ground was vacant at the time, so no one was injured. Due to the quick response of the emergency teams, there was also little damage to the surrounding houses.

This memorable and unexpected event made me realize that house fires do not happen at a convenient time when you are dressed and ready or wide awake in the middle of the afternoon. If it had actually been my house on fire, no one under our roof would have been prepared.

My advice is this: have a well-defined plan and conduct regular fire drills at the most inconvenient time possible (like when someone is in the shower). It will be rather amusing for you and, at the same time, serve to ensure everyone in your house is ready for the unexpected.

FIRE SAFETY: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

Home fires account for
nearly 90 percent of all fire-related fatalities.

Working smoke alarms reduce the chance of
dying in a fire by half.

77 percent of families have not developed
and practiced a home fire escape plan,
one of the most important components to surviving a home fire.

Fire can spread rapidly through a home,
leaving a family as little as two minutes
to escape safely once the alarm sounds.

Install fire extinguishers and smoke detectors
in several key areas of the house—
especially the kitchen, garage, and laundry room.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends
a multi-purpose fire device large enough to
put out a small fire but not so heavy
that it will be difficult to handle.

HAVE WORKING SMOKE ALARMS.
PRACTICE AN ESCAPE PLAN.