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Look forward to seeing you here, and feel free to call with any question you may have about the meetings.
Fire Prevention
Welcome back to read about what’s going on in
your community with fire prevention. Now that the kids are back in school and
you are at work, there is no one in your home to make sure everything is running
the way it should. This month let’s focus on home safety. When you get up in the
morning you take a shower, feed the dog, get breakfast ready, maybe curl your
hair and put in a load of laundry while the kids are eating and doing homework
at the last minute. But did you remember when you cooked breakfast to turn the
stove off and when you finished curling your hair; did you turn the curling iron
off? Dads did you remember to unplug your electric razor? What about when the
load of laundry got finished washing and you put it in the dryer to dry while
you were at work? These are things that involve almost everyone. Did you know
that dryers and
washing machines were involved in an average of 18,280 home structure fires per
year? These fires caused an average of 26 deaths, 468 injuries and $198 million
in direct property damage per year. Or that out of 
800
reported structure fires that were caused by a personal heating device such as
heating pads, curling irons, and hair dryers, on average 340 of those were
caused by curling irons. And 20 out of 800 were caused by electric razors. This
can all be prevented if the time is taken to double check our equipment before
we leave for work or school in the morning and before we go to bad at night.
Here are some tips to help you make your home fire safe.
· Clean filters on appliances before or after each use and remove accumulated debris.
· Make sure that the appliance is plugged into an outlet suitable for its electrical needs as overloaded electrical outlets can result in blown fuses or tripped circuit breakers.
· Turn off and unplug appliances such as hair dryers, electric razors, and curling irons when leaving the home.
· Keep the areas where these appliances can be stored clear of combustibles (i.e., boxes or clothing).
Do not operate a clothes dryer when not home. Your clothes may get to hot while they are being dried and could cause a fire.
A few more things you can do to make sure you are ready in case of a fire are:
· Does your home have smoke alarms on every level, including the basement, and outside each sleeping area?
· Are the batteries working in all your smoke alarms? (Check the batteries by pushing the test button.)
· Do you check your smoke alarms every month?
· Are all the exits in your home clear of furniture, toys, and clutter?
· Does your family have a home fire escape plan that includes two exits, usually a door and a window, from each room?
· Has your family picked a safe place to meet outside after you exit your home?
· Have you and your family practiced a home fire drill within the last six months?
· Have you talked to your children about calling the emergency phone number 911, (which should be called from a neighbor’s or nearby phone once you get outside)?
Thanks for visiting for this month’s fire prevention tips. Join us next month to learn how to keep your child safe for Halloween.
Now what’s going on in you community with fire prevention?
· We will be bringing the ladder truck to Leicester Elementary School for a 9/11 memorial service. The service will start at 7pm.
· On September 13 we will be at Snow Hill Church Car Show from 8am-until.
· Let’s not forget about the state fair coming up. Safe Kids and NC State Highway Patrol are teaming up and will be at the same booth to offer various tips on safety.
· Child Passenger Safety Week is September 20-27.
· I would like to remind parents of the seat check at Babies-R-Us on September 25 from 1pm to 4pm. Again it is not necessary to have your child with you, but we do encourage you to bring them to ensure all straps are in the correct position.
· Also I am encouraging you again to attend our Open House on October 11 from 2pm to 5m. This will be a fun filled day you can spend with your community firefighters. Also, it’s a great way for you to get involved with the fire department. Until next month, keep your home fire safe.
Erin Norris
Fire & Life Safety Educator
fireprevention@enkafire.org
Enka-Candler Fire & Rescue
As you can see from the above list of activities and along with the calls we run on a daily basis, we do stay busy. If you come by and visit with any of the firefighters on shift here you can see the pride and dedication with which each and everyone serves the people here is Enka’s district.
What have we done this Year?
To date the number & type of calls we have ran this year, as of the end of August, is:
Medical - 525
Fires – 78
MVA – 456
Other – 263
Total Calls – 1585
See Chart Below:
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Would you like to help out at your fire department? Can you spare some time to get involved in the community you live in? We are looking for community members to become volunteers and also we need more people to assist the Auxiliary with their ongoing projects.
To be a volunteer all you need to do is fill out an application and be willing to spend the time needed to learn and get involved. We provide all the training needed to whatever level of assistance you wish to do. We have a place for everyone that wants to help.
Karen Childers is the President of the Auxiliary and she needs people to help them like wise. They do fund raising and bring the firefighters food during large calls, fires, floods, etc... I know she would enjoy talking to anyone that would like to get more information about the auxiliary.