Prevention

[nozzletester]

Wouldn't you say prevention of fires is the best way to fight fires? My mother recently lost her kitchen to a fire that started by cleaning products. In a cabinet she kept bleach, comet, and a few other cleaning products. In that same cabinet a couple of bottles of whiskey where stored. The local fire dept. said that the cleaning products somehow got together and caused enough heat to boil the whiskey and there was an explosion. It started as a flash fire. Things turned out well for my mom, her insurance covered it and she got a new kitchen. But things could have been worse. I think it would be great if the fire dept. everywhere could educate the public about how this type of fire can happen. I came home and cleaned out my cabinets. But still I am not sure what products should not be stored together. Anyone out there care to educate me and the public on how to prevent such fires?

[Veritas]

Nozzle,

I have to agree with you- a prevention is THE best ways to prevent the disasters from actually happing. Afterall, a firefighter's first duty is to protect the lives and the property, and well, what better way to do it other than mitigate?

Unfortunately, for the exception of a few Stations I have noticed a vast decline in the Departments' Prevention programs. One firefighter's response to why his Station did not have a great program was that either not too many people know how to approach the situation or that others did not want to help the prevention because of the "cutting down on the amount of box fires ran". Either one of the choices is appauling.

Maybe those who are actually active members might not have the time to do the prevention, but what happened to all of the administrative members we aquire in vast loads? They can be responsible for the development of the program... but that's a whole another can of worms.

I can tell you that planning a program will take a lot of planning before you can actually have it up and running. You should consider factors such as the audience you are trying to involve, and what topics you will actually cover. You will not be able to get everyone involved and will not be able to solve all of the issues all at once. so the best thing to do would be to choose one target audience and one target issue... such as the checks of the fire alarms in a certain community.
To see what issues and what community group you might be able to effectively involve look at the EMS/Fire reports for the past 5-10 years to recognize the problems that affect your community. After all preventing burns where there is an increased number of "injured people after a fall" won't do your community much good.
Also, look at the Census facts for the past 5-10 years. Are you getting more of the small children that play with matches or are you getting more of the elderly population that may need more prevention of the fall related injuries?
Once last thing that you need to consider is the fact that fire/injury prevention is not a game that you will play alone. You will have to look into all of the resources available to you. Is there a neighborhood Station (2nd, 3rd dues) that have a similar program or are willing to develop one with you? It's more effective to have several Departments work on one project. Also, try to see if there are other Departments that have an effective program that has already been developed, that will give you tons of information on how to have you program up and running. Not to mention you will learn a lot of important tips and facts from those who "have been there and done that". Also, look at the community organizations around you, they are more than willing to help you with your issue and work and support you. A fire related insurance company or an auto insurance may be your best supporter. After all, you are working towards the same goals!

So there are a lot of things to consider and you will need to have the plan all laid out before you before you can say Alright on the 7th of May we'll have a Fire Prevention day at the Station. But trust me, all of this will help you in a long run. Don't give up!

[Veritas]

By the way, I have noticed that you are more working towards the prevention of the sorts of fires that have happened to your mom's kitchen. However, you might want to consider if this sort of fires is a big problem in your area or if there is something bigger. Of course preventing one fire is still great- if we can tackle at least one of them we know that we've done something right. However, you might want to investigate if there is a larger problem out there in your community and you may want to work on that.

However, it is up to you to really decide what you are working on. But once again, plan, plan, PLAN. If you decide to go with this problem you will have to look at such factors as what had caused the problem. Was it a gas tank placed by the kitchen stove? Was it an un-related gas leak? Was it kids playing with matches? Of course all of those are just the examples, but make sure that you're not tackling an un-related cause there.

As for the information on what you'd actually like to educate the public about there are several resources out there for that. Research the Net- this may be THE most valuable tool, talk to the Departments, talk to your Fire Marshall, and finally never forget the effectiveness of FEMA!

Also, remember that you may not be able to get your public in for a meeting and be the speaker there. So you'll need to recognize the fact that you'll need to be creative on your approach to the public

[mvfdkrazydogg]

Wouldn't you say prevention of fires is the best way to fight fires? My mother recently lost her kitchen to a fire that started by cleaning products. In a cabinet she kept bleach, comet, and a few other cleaning products. In that same cabinet a couple of bottles of whiskey where stored. The local fire dept. said that the cleaning products somehow got together and caused enough heat to boil the whiskey and there was an explosion. It started as a flash fire. Things turned out well for my mom, her insurance covered it and she got a new kitchen. But things could have been worse. I think it would be great if the fire dept. everywhere could educate the public about how this type of fire can happen. I came home and cleaned out my cabinets. But still I am not sure what products should not be stored together. Anyone out there care to educate me and the public on how to prevent such fires?

well nozzletester i will start by saying that i am glad to hear that no one was harmed.when it comes to cleaning supplies they should always be kept seperate from any thing that you eat or drink. not only could it possibly cause a flash fire like in your mothers case it can also poison you. it is a lot easier if you keep all like products together. ie cleaning supplies in one area, whiskey and what not in a different place and food some where else. also remember that just because it is two different cabinets they may still be conected by an open space so that is still a no go. also like veritas said look on the internet and ask your local firehouse/public safty officals. one thing about the fight against fire is that many times they could have been easily avoided or prevented. i strongly believe in educating the public as much as possible. but don't forget that us firefighters will always be needed.

[nozzletester]

wow........i got a response finally.......thank you guys so very much........i appreciate the info ....i think if some public awareness psa's where developed by the local firemen ....it would be more effective ...everyone listens to the radio...maybe even some psa's for tv also.

[Veritas]

wow........i got a response finally.......thank you guys so very much........i appreciate the info ....i think if some public awareness psa's where developed by the local firemen ....it would be more effective ...everyone listens to the radio...maybe even some psa's for tv also.

That's also a great way to reach your audience and get the word out!

I'm sure that you've seen the Police "commercials" on TV, and from what I have heard, they are highly effective.

The only thing that bugs me about those is that it may still not be the best way to tackle each and every person out there because some may not listen to the radio, some may not watch tv, some may come from a low income background where either one is unavailable. But then you can tackle a combination of them and possibly even involve the press.

[crash_&_smash]

I've heard before that DARE has been shown to not be effective in keeping kids off of drugs, but yet PD's still get money for the program. I agree that fire dept's need a PR program to start from the top down. An idea needs to start at the IChief's meeting and work it's way down, benefiting Vol and Pd companies.

PS.....I work for a Fed fire dept. We are becoming victims of our own fire prevention. Now, "there're" starting to say that since we don't have fires, less of us are needed. But I think educating the public is still the best way to go. It raises awareness for you dept and makes people think about some of their "risks". Considering that a fire doubles every 60 sec. prevention could make a difference.