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Cooking with Care

• Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period time, turn off the stove.

• Keep anything that can catch fire – potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags – away form your stovetop.

• Wear short, close fitting or tightly rolled sleeves when cooking. Loose clothing can dangle onto stove burners and catch fire.

• Always keep an oven mitt and lid handy. If a small fire starts in a pan on the stove, put on the oven mitt and smother the flames by carefully sliding the lid over the pan. Turn off the burner. Don’t remove the lid until it is completely cool.

Everyday Electrical Safety

• Keep lamps, light fixtures, and light bulbs away from anything that can burn, such as lamp shades, bedding, curtains, and clothing.

• Replace cracked and damaged electrical cords.

• Use extension cords for temporary wiring only. Consider having additional circuits or receptacles added by a qualified electrician.

• Homes with young children should have tamper-resistant electrical receptacles.

• Call a qualified electrician or landlord if you have recurring problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers, discolored or warm wall outlets, flickering lights or a burning or rubbery smell coming from an appliance.

Healthy Heating

• Install and maintain carbon monoxide alarms to avoid risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

• Maintain heating equipment and chimneys by having them cleaned and inspected every year by a qualified professional.

• Keep all things that can burn, such as paper, bedding or furniture, at least 3 feet away form heating equipment.

• Turn portable space heaters off when you go to bed or leave the room.

• An oven should not be used to heat a home.

Strike Out Smoking-materials Fires

• If you smoke, choose fire-safe cigarettes if they are available in your area.

• If you smoke, smoke outside.

• Wherever you smoke, use deep, sturdy ashtrays.

• Never smoke in a home where oxygen is used.

• Keep matches and lighters up high in a locked cabinet, out of the reach of children.

Candle with Caution

• Keep candles at least 12 inches form anything that can burn.

• Use sturdy, safe candleholders.

• Never leave a burning candle unattended. Blow out candles when you leave a room.

• Avoid using candles in bedrooms and sleeping areas.

• Use flashlights for emergency lighting.

Safety 101

• Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. For the best protection, interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.

• Test smoke alarms at least once a month using the test button.

• Replace smoke alarms every 10 years.

• Make sure everyone can hear the sound of the smoke alarms.

• Have a home fire escape plan. Know at least two ways out of every room, if possible, and a meeting place outside. Practice your escape plan twice a year.

• When the smoke alarm sounds, get out and stay out.

• If you are building or remodeling your home, consider a residential fire sprinkler system.

 

FireWise is a nationwide fire prevention program endorsed by many state agencies across the United States. In Arkansas, it is the Arkansas Forestry Commission working together in a wildfire mitigation effort that works with communities and their local fire departments to teach homeowners how to eliminate wildfire hazards. Arkansas leads the nation in the number of communities participating in FireWise Communities/USA program. There are 70 communities in 24 counties currently in Arkansas established as FireWise communities. There are 100 communities currently in progress in 50 counties. Paris is the only town in Logan County that is currently established. The program is aimed at preventing wildland fires mostly. Wildland fires include brush, grass, and forest fires. Wildland fires are going to happen. Unfortunately, there is no way we can actually keep it from happening, but we can always try to prevent one from interfering our homes. We can achieve this by working to reduce or even eliminate the threat of wildland fires by making our homes fire-safe to prevent the risk of your homes from burning in the event of a wildland fire.

What homes are in danger of wildland fires? For starters, wildland fires generally occur where there may be trees, grass, or brush for fuel for a fire. However, the area that is most concerned about is the Wildland/Urban Interface. This is the area where homes are built nest to wooded or brushy areas. This can be anywhere whether it is in an urban area or a rural area where your home is located next to a wooded area.

A good first step in home fire prevention would be to use all heat and flame resistant materials. Flame resistant materials may include any masonry such as cement, stucco, plaster. Other materials that are flame resistant include fireproof siding and other fire proof materials. For a fire proof roof, use Class A roofing materials and shingles, or metal, cement, and slate or ceramic tile. Double pane glass can be another safety feature to add to a home.

Of course not all of these things can be applied to homes due to cost or other reasons. Although, there are other ways you can help make your home FireWise. One tip that is recommended is to keep your landscaping lean, clean, and green. Keep it lean by pruning shrubs and cutting back tree limbs that stretch over your roof and trim everything back 15 feet from your chimney. Keep it clean by removing all dead limbs, sticks, twigs, leaves, and even stacked firewood 300 feet from your home. By removing the “fuel” away from your home, the fire cannot burn near your home without “fuel”. Keep it green by planting vegetation that stays healthy and green for most of the year. Then, make sure it stays green by giving the plants the proper amount of water.

Stay on the defensive side of wildland fires by maintaining defensible space around your home and other buildings surrounding your home. A home is not FireWise unless all surrounding buildings such as garages and carports and porches and decks are maintained with defensible space. The objective of the whole campaign is to create and maintain an environment where a home can survive a wildfire without the intervention of firefighters. The magic number is 30 feet.  30 feet of defensible space is the standard for a home to be wildland fire safe. In this 30 feet, all “fuels” must be removed or pruned back so the fire has no fuel to burn. In the fire triangle, you have fuel, heat, and oxygen.  Remove one of those things and the fire cannot burn, in this case it is the fuel we are eliminating. Large hardwood trees should be pruned to where the lowest branches are 6 to 10 feet off the ground. This will prevent the fire from climbing the tree and catching the “tree canopy” on fire. Also, keep grass cut short and well watered. Keep in mind that gutters collect leaves and twigs, so it would be a good idea to clean those as well. The best rule on defensible space is to clean and maintain all areas within 30 feet of your home in all directions.