Protect Yourself

  Smoke Detector Safety

1.  Install a smoke detector outside each bedroom and on every floor of your home, including the basement. If you sleep in a room with the doors closed, install a smoke detector inside the room as well.
2.  Test and clean your smoke detectors monthly, and replace them if they're over ten years old..
3.  Change batteries at least once a year.
4.  Prepare and practice an escape plan.  When an alarm sounds - get out fast!

Children and Fire Safety

1.  Keep lighters and matches away from children.
2.  Teach children how to call for emergency assistance.
3.  Use safety plugs in electrical outlets.

1.  Install a smoke detector near the kitchen.
2.  Never leave food unattended on the stove.
3.  Keep dangling clothing away from burners.
4.  Keep appliances clean and free of grease and crumbs.
5.  Keep combustibles away from cooking area.
6.  Turn pot handles inward on stove where you can't bump them and children can't grab them.
7.  Smother a Grease Fire -  If a pan of food catches fire, carefully slide a lid over it and turn off the burner.  Never use water or flour on cooking fires.
8.  Keep the oven door shut and turn off the heat to smother an oven or broiler fire.
9.  Keep a fire extinguisher in the kitchen.  Make sure you have the right type and training.

1.  Keep portable heaters and space heaters at least three feet away from anything that can burn.
2.  Never leave heaters on when you leave home or go to bed.
3.  Use heaters only in well-ventilated rooms.
4.  Keep children and pets away from heaters.
5.  Place heaters where they will not be knocked over easily.

1.  Use only seasoned wood - never green wood, artificial logs, or trash.
2.  Always use a protective screen.
3.  Clean interiors, hearths, and chimneys annually.

1.  Provide smokers with large, deep, non-tip ashtrays.
2.  Empty ashtrays often, wetting contents before dumping them.
3.  Never smoke in bed or while drinking alcohol or while you are on medication that could make you drowsy.

1.  Replace any electrical cord that has cracked insulation or a broken connector.
2.  Do not pinch electrical cords under or behind furniture.
3.  Never run extension cords across doorways or where they can be stepped on or chafed.
4.  Do not plug one extension cord into another and avoid plugging more than one extension cord into an outlet.
5.  Extension cords are designed for temporary use only.  Unplug them and put them away after each use.

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Plan Your Escape

Know Two Ways Out -  Know two ways out from every room in your home.  Smoke or flames may block an exit forcing you to use an alternate escape route.

Know How to Unlock Doors and Windows -  Windows should open easily and fully to allow for escape.  All security-barred windows should be equipped with quick-release devices that every household member can operate. Practice emergency exit drills to identify and correct obstructions.

Know All Building Exits - If you live in an apartment building, count the number of doorways between your apartment and the two nearest exits.  During a fire, you may have to escape in the dark. If your apartment building has outside metal fire-escape stair, ask your building owner or landlord to show you how to use them.

If You Are Trapped:

1.  Close all doors between you and the fire.
2.  If there is a phone in the room, call the fire department (9-1-1), and tell the dispatcher where you are trapped.  Call the fire department even if you can see fire trucks through your window.
3.  Stuff rags, towels, or clothing in the cracks around doors to keep smoke out.
4.  Wait at a window.  Signal the fire fighters by waving a light-colored cloth or flashlight and wait to be rescued.

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If Fire Strikes

Test Doors Before You Open Them -  Kneeling or crouching at the door, reach up as high as you can and touch the door, the knob, and the space between the door and its frame with the back of your hand.  If the door is cool, open it cautiously and continue along your escape route.  If  the door is hot, use another escape route.

Crawl Low Under Smoke -  If you must exit through smoke, crouch or crawl.  Heat and smoke rise.  Cleaner air will be 12 to 24 inches above the floor.  Leave the building as quickly as you can.  Call the fire department from a neighbor's phone.

Stop, Drop, and Roll -  If your clothing catch fire, stop where you are.  Drop gently to the floor or ground, cover your face with your hands to protect your face from flames, and roll over to smother the flames.  If you cannot drop to the floor, smother the flames with a blanket or towel.

Smother a Grease Fire -  If a pan of food catches fire, carefully slide a lid over it and turn off the burner.  Never use water or flour on cooking fires.  For an oven or broiler fire, keep the oven door shut and turn off the heat to smother the flames.

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Fire Safety on the Job

   Plan Ahead

1.  Count the doors or desks between your work area and the nearest exit.  You may have to find your way out in the dark.
2.  Learn the locations of alternative exits from all work areas.
3.  Know the location of the nearest fire alarm and learn how to use it.
4.  Post the fire department emergency number on or near all phones.
5.  Be sure that someone in authority knows about any disability that could delay an escape and make plans for a safe evacuation.
6.  Post building evacuation plans and discuss them during new-employee orientations.
7.  Conduct regular fire drills.
8.  When possible, include disabled employees in the planning process.

1.  Sound the alarm and call the fire department, no matter how small the fire appears to be.
2.  Leave the area quickly, closing all doors as you go to contain fire and smoke.
3.  If you must escape through smoke, crawl low, keeping your head 12 to 24 inches above the floor.
4.  Test doors before you open them.  Kneeling or crouching at the door, reach up as high as you can and touch the door, the knob, and the space between the door and its frame with the back of your hand.  If the door is cool, open it cautiously and continue along your escape route.  If the door is hot, use another escape route.
5.  Follow directions from fire and security personnel.  Once outside, move away from the building, out of the way of firefighters.  Remain outside until the fire department says you may go back in.

1.  If your company allows smoking in the workplace, smoke only where permitted.
2.  Do not flick ashes on the floor or into wastebaskets.  Use large, non-tip ashtrays and make sure everything in them is cold before you empty them.

1.  Replace any electrical cord that has cracked insulation or a broken connector.
2.  Do not pinch electrical cords under or behind furniture.
3.  Never run extension cords across doorways or where they can be stepped on or chafed.
4.  Do not plug one extension cord into another and avoid plugging more than one extension cord into an outlet.
5.  Extension cords are designed for temporary use only.  Unplug them and put them away after each use.

1.  Leave space to circulate around heaters and heat-producing equipment such as copy machines and computer terminals.  Keep appliances away from anything that might catch fire.
2.  Designate an employee to turn off or unplug all appliances - including coffee makers and hotplates - at the end of each work day.

-  Keep exits, storage areas, and stairways free from waste paper, empty boxes, dirty rags, and other fire hazards.

-   Adhere to your building's security measures and keep unauthorized people out of the building. Keep doors locked after business hours.  Alleys and other areas around the building should be well lit.  Keep clutter out of halls, lobbies, alleys, and other public areas.

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