Safety Basics: Fire Safety

There are well over 350,000 structure fires in the United States every year. And older adults are the age group most likely to be fire victims. In this session of our Safety series, we're going to talk about fire safety. And there are lots of simple steps people with vision loss can take to make sure they stay safe. We'll learn how we can prevent fires and what we can do to stay safe should a fire occur.

Let's get started. First, we'll address fire prevention. Here's a question. What's the single most common cause of house fires? If you said unattended cooking, you'd be exactly right. So the main message here is stay by the stove while you're cooking, it's that simple. If a pan of grease or oil catches fire, try to cover it with a baking sheet or pan lid. Don't pick up a pan with burning oil and try to run outside, and don't try to extinguish the fire with water. It'll only make things worse.

We naturally think of using fire extinguishers on kitchen fires. The kitchen's where we usually store the fire extinguisher, right? But remember, fire extinguishers need to be maintained, kept at full charge, have the right kind of retardant, and need to be deployed and used correctly. If you're not confident about any one of these things, the best bet is to get out.

Now, let's move on to electrical safety. Most problems can be prevented with a few simple strategies, and none of them require perfect vision to be effective. Don't overload extension cords. And by all means, keep them out of the way of traffic areas. If an appliance or lamp smells or smokes, unplug it immediately. And don't ignore circuit breakers that keep tripping off. That means something is overloading the circuit and is likely causing wiring to heat up.

Space heaters can pose fire risks if they're not used correctly. Keep them at least three feet from anything that can burn. Don't use them to dry clothing. And many electric space heaters put a strain on older home wiring. In simple terms, they require more current than the wiring can provide and can cause wiring systems to overheat. If you're using a space heater and the plug or outlet feels warm to the touch, it's a good bet the heater may be causing wires to overheat.

That being said, even if they're not warm, other wiring inside your walls could be getting hot. A recommendation from a licensed electrician is the only foolproof way to know if your space heater is safe. While we're discussing heating, it's common sense, but don't fail to have the furnace checked and cleaned every year. And a fireplace chimney should get the same treatment. Use a screen in front of any open fire. It's even better to have a tempered glass door. And never burn trash or anything other than wood in a fireplace.

Finally, fire prevention is a year-round job. And the holidays present some special dangers. The first thing that comes to mind is Christmas trees, right? Well, they certainly require attention, and I'll talk about them in a second. But the major cause of holiday fires are candles.

Candle fires peak in December, and there are three times more candle fires then than at any other time of the year. You won't be surprised to learn there's a simple way to prevent candle fires. It's the same way to avoid cooking fires. Don't leave your candles unattended. Blow out candles before leaving the room. It doesn't take more than a second for a cat, dog, or child to knock over a candle. And candles burn at a temperature of 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a lot of heat for a small flame.

Tables where candles are placed are often full of stuff that burns, centerpieces, napkins, tablecloths, and so on. If you're unsure about whether candles are burning or not because they're hard to see, wave your hand about six inches above them, and you can feel if they're giving off heat. Lighting candles is safer when you use wooden matches or even a butane lighter.

Cheap cardboard matches burn out quickly, and they don't give you time to line up the flame with the candle wick. All right, on to Christmas trees. Here's the bad news. They may burn. And if they do, they burn quickly, even artificial ones. So at best, we want to improve the amount of time we have to escape when a tree catches fire. Keeping a tree well-watered can give us valuable seconds. So can using an artificial tree.

Now, let's talk about escape planning. This becomes especially important if you rely on nonvisual cues to get around your home. Only 23% of US households have planned and practiced a home fire escape plan. But prior practice and planning can make the difference between life or death. To understand why, let's discuss a term used by fire safety experts called the flashover stage.

The flashover stage is the point where enough heat is released from a fire that everything that can burn in a room catches on fire all at once. At the flashover stage, it's too late to escape. 30 years or so ago, it took more than 15 minutes for a fire in a room to reach flashover stage. Today, it takes about three minutes. Why? We have more open floor plans, which allow fires to spread quickly. We use more synthetic materials in all our carpets, pillows, and furniture. And these materials all burn hotter and faster. So we may only have three minutes from the time of that first flame to get out safely. It makes sense that we need to make the most of those precious three minutes.

So first, always know where the nearest exit is, at home or away from home. Every room in the home ideally should have two exits. Make sure you can unlock your doors and windows from the inside. If bedrooms are on the second floor, windows need some extra attention if they're going to be an exit. They'll likely need an escape ladder. Now, there are lots of escape ladders on the market. Some install permanently, and others need to be attached to the window when needed. If the ladder needs to be attached, know where it's being stored and that it's easy to get to. Don't keep it in a closet underneath a bunch of clothes or boxes. Directions for most ladders are in small print. You might some sighted assistance reading the directions and setting up the system. Practice getting to your home exits. This may sound funny, but if you can, try crawling to your exit. You'll find it's a change from walking.

You may be used to navigating through your home by counting steps, feeling, or trailing with your hands at waist level or listening for audible cues. But during a fire, you'll be staying low to to ground to avoid smoke and fumes and the noise from our smoke alarms that will be drowning out other sounds. It's disorienting to crawl, and it helps to get used to it. Some fire experts recommend placing tactile markers along the baseboard of exit routes inside the home.

Locate and agree on a safe meeting place where everyone in the home will gather after escaping. Then you can quickly tell who is out and who is not and inform firefighters if someone is missing. The meeting place should be in front of the home so firefighters can see you, a safe distance from the home, and marked by something everyone can find, like a tree, a light pole, or a mailbox. It's dangerous to go back into a home looking for someone who is already out but not where we can find them.

For apartment dwellers, it's safest to have a unit on the ground floor. If that isn't an option, know where the stairwells are and how to get there. That being said, sometimes in a high-rise apartment, it's best to stay put if the building has a fire. Stairwells can sometimes be filled with smoke and dangerous to enter.

Finally, practice the escape plan by having drills. Remember, you might only have three minutes to get out of the house safely. Frequent practice improves speed, especially when you're using nonvisual cues for moving around a home. The most important pieces of fire safety equipment are smoke alarms. The National Fire Protection Association reports that three out of five home fire deaths were in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. There should be alarms next to every sleeping area in the home and on every floor of the home. Batteries should be tested each month and changed every year. Even if smoke alarms are hard-wired, they still have battery backups that need to be tested. It's a good idea to clean them often with a vacuum, too.

For those with hearing loss, high decibel or vibrating alarm systems are an option. And when they go off, don't wait. Just follow your escape plan. Now that we know how fast fires spread, it's amazing to think that in a recent survey, only 8% of people said their first thought on hearing a smoke alarm would be to get out of the house.

All right, we've talked about what we can do to stay safe before a fire. Now let's look at what we need to do during a fire. The first rule, of course, is to get out and stay out. Don't try to rescue your stuff or try to extinguish the fire. Remember, go to the meeting place and stay there. Test any doors before opening them. Feel up high on the door with the back of your hand. If it feels hot, leave it shut and use the second exit. If it feels cool, open it slowly, and crawl out low to the ground if you smell any smoke.

Remember I mentioned to practice finding exits while crawling? That's because fires produce smoke and toxic gases. They are less dense close to the floor. The cardinal rule is stay low and go. If you're trapped, close all the doors between you and the fire and stuff cracks with damp cloth if possible. Call 911 and signal rescuers from a window with a bright colored sheet or cloth. And if any part of you catches on fire, we all know the rule Stop, Drop, and Roll. Don't try to extinguish the flames with your hands. Cover your face with your hands and drop to the ground, rolling over and over.

I think we need to mention guide dogs. I've had folks who use guide dogs assure me that their dog would help guide them out of a burning home. The thing is, I've talked to trainers at guide dog schools, and they aren't so sure. Service animals are not trained to deal with fires. The trainers I've talked to tell me that a single animal may rise to the occasion, but it's more likely the dog will be more traumatized and terrified than its owner. A very frightened dog won't respond to commands, and it might even attack the owner. And remember, the cardinal rule when escaping is stay low and go. Even if you harness your dog to guide you, which uses up precious time, dog harnesses are designed to be held while walking upright.

Now, here's the hard part. And this applies to pets as well as guide dogs. Don't delay an escape or endanger yourself to rescue your guide dog. Let them get out by themselves. Now, that sounds awful, but you can increase their safety by doing a few important things. First, include them in your escape plan and practice that plan. Keep dogs near entrances when away from home. Keep collars on animals and leashes at the ready, in case firefighters need to rescue your pet or guide dog. Get a Pet Alert sticker to attach to a window or a front door. This can save rescuers time finding your pets. And make sure to keep the number of animals listed on them updated. Fire safety doesn't have to be hard. And you can stay safe with or without a vision impairment.

Don't leave your cooking or candles unattended. Install and maintain smoke alarms. Know and practice your escape plan. By following these and the other basic tips we've learned today, you'll be protecting yourself and your family from the very real hazard of a home fire. Stay safe.