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Posts Tagged ‘FEMA’

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Every year in the United States, we celebrate the Fourth of July with community parades, picnics, barbecues, and fireworks – the things of which happy memories are made. But sadly, Independence Day also includes tragic events resulting from fireworks use. The safest way to enjoy them is through public displays conducted by professional pyrotechnicians hired by communities. Learning fireworks safety tips can help ensure that everyone has a happy and safe summer holiday.

By the Numbers: Fireworks

* 30,100: Estimated number of fires caused by fireworks each year

* 7,000: Estimated number of injuries caused by fireworks in 2008

* 7: Fireworks-related deaths occurred in 2008

* $34: million Amount of direct property loss caused by fireworks

Sources: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)

Who is at Most Risk?

In 2008, U.S. hospital emergency rooms treated an estimated 7,000 people for fireworks-related injuries. 70% of these injuries occurred between June 20 – July 20. Of these:

* 46% of injuries were to the extremities and 36% were to the head.
* 56% were burns, while 21% were contusions and lacerations.
* Two of 5 people injured by fireworks were under the age of 15.
* 62% of injuries were to males; 38% were to females.
* Devices such as sparklers, fountains, roman candles, and novelties accounted for 40% of injuries; firecrackers caused 18% of injuries.

DOWNLOAD:

2008 Fireworks Annual Report: Fireworks-Related Deaths, Emergency Department-Treated Injuries, and Enforcement Activities During 2008 (PDF, 300 Kb):http://www.cpsc.gov/library/2008fwreport.pdf

This report provides the results of the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission staff analysis of data on non-occupational fireworks-related deaths and injuries during 2008.

How and Why Do These Injuries Occur?

* Availability: In spite of federal regulations and varying state prohibitions, many types of fireworks are still accessible to the public. Distributors often sell fireworks near state borders, where laws prohibiting sales on either side of the border may differ.
* Fireworks type: Among the various types of fireworks, some of which are sold legally in some states, bottle rockets can fly into peoples’ faces and cause eye injuries; sparklers can ignite clothing (sparklers burn at more than 1,000°F); and firecrackers can injure the hands or face if they explode at close range.
* Being too close: Injuries may result from being too close to fireworks when they explode; for example, when someone leans over to look more closely at a firework that has been ignited, or when a misguided bottle rocket hits a nearby person.
* Lack of physical coordination: Younger children often lack the physical coordination to handle fireworks safely.
* Curiosity: Children are often excited and curious around fireworks, which can increase their chances of being injured (for example, when they re-examine a firecracker dud that initially fails to ignite).
* Experimentation: Homemade fireworks (for example, ones made of the powder from several firecrackers) can lead to dangerous and unpredictable explosions.

Did You Know?

* 92% of the fireworks injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms involved fireworks that Federal regulations permit consumers to use.

* The tip of a sparkler burns at a temperature of more than 1,200 degrees – this is hot enough to cause third degree burns.

What Can I Do?

* The best way to protect your family is not to use any fireworks at home — period. Attend public fireworks displays and leave the lighting to the professionals.

* Kids should never play with fireworks. Sparklers can reach 1,800° Fahrenheit (982° Celsius) — hot enough to melt gold.

* Steer clear of others — fireworks have been known to backfire or shoot off in the wrong direction. Never throw or point fireworks at someone, even in jest.

* Don’t allow kids to pick up pieces of fireworks after an event. Some may still be ignited and can explode at any time.

* Think about your pet. Animals have sensitive ears and can be extremely frightened or stressed on the Fourth of July. Keep pets indoors to reduce the risk that they’ll run loose or get injured.

Links:

Consumer Product Safety Commission: Fireworks Fact Sheet:
http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/012.html

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control: Fireworks-Related Injuries:
http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Fireworks/fireworks-factsheet.html

National Fire Protection Association: Fireworks
http://www.nfpa.org/categoryList.asp?categoryID=297&cookie_test=1

For additional information, please download this PDF from USFA on Fireworks and Fire Safety: www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/…/jun_2010_fireworks.pdf

Article Credits: FEMA, U.S. Fire Administration

Live Safe Foundation is an Ohio based non-profit organization (501c3), and leading grassroots movement, devoted to making fire safety education, awareness initiatives and life saving tools available on a broad basis to communities, campuses, and institutions in an effort to reduce national fire fatalities and fire losses. Live Safe aims to help finance fire safety education where means are otherwise unavailable. Live Safe is developing and sponsoring programs to help groups find the resources needed to advance individual and community fire safety.

Tags: CPSC, FEMA, fireworks, nfpa, USFA
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10 Things That Won’t Burn in a House Fire

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Suffering a house fire is a devastating experience. Each year, $8.6 billion in property loss is estimated due to fires, according to FEMA. When the damage is severe, countless precious belongings are lost, depriving the owners of a portion of their lives. However in many cases, there are a select few items that withstand the inferno. The average house fire burns at a temperature of about 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, which isn’t hot enough to destroy most metals and earthly-made substances. And if an item is well-placed and small in size, its chances of survival increase drastically. Below is a list of things that are often found intact underneath the rubble during the aftermath of a house fire.

Jewelry: Although they may endure superficial damage when they’re engulfed by flames, most items of jewelry maintain their compositions amid high heat. Diamonds, which are formed below earth’s surface under intense heat and pressure, melt at about 6,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Gold melts at a much cooler temperature – about 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit – but that’s enough to survive most house fires. Platinum jewelry is the priciest, so it’s a good thing that the metal’s melting point is just higher than 3,200 degrees Fahrenheit. Sapphire and Ruby also possess extremely high melting points.
Silver Coins: Coin collectors who own myriads of silver coins – like the quarter prior to 1965 – might find them to be their most durable possessions. The melting point of silver is just below 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. So that valuable 1804 Silver Dollar from Queller’s Collection just might live to see an additional 200 years.
Filing Cabinets: Steel filing cabinets are built to last so that businesses won’t have to deal with the loss of important files after building fires. Many people keep personal documents in filing cabinets, which are often kept in home offices. Their steel composition and usual placement within a home – often away from the kitchen or fireplace – give them a high survival rate.
Tools: Do-it-yourselfers might not have to repurchase the tools they’ll need to rebuild their homes after a fire. Steel tools are extremely durable – the melting point of carbon steel is between 2,600 and 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit, and the melting point of stainless steel is roughly 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit.
Silverware: Most forks, knives and spoons are composed of stainless steel. So even if the fire started in the kitchen, it’s possible that not every item in the room perished. Their small size and placement also allows them to take the heat.
Cookware: Cookware is built to endure extremely high temperatures. Most pots and pans are made of steel and iron; the latter of which melts at just below 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit. Like silverware, their placement within confined spaces helps them survive the not-so-severe fires.
Barbecue Grill: Go figure that an item made for fireside cooking could outlast a fire. Most grills are composed of steel or iron, which allows them to last for decades. Of course, most are kept in the backyard – away from the worst of the inferno. But they still may have to endure falling debris.
Some Appliances: When sifting through the ruins after a house fire, it’s common to find an appliance or two that remains intact amid the chaos that surrounds it. Many appliances these days are made of stainless steel, which gives them a sleek design and durability.
Stone Table: The oldest rocks on this plant have survived billions of years of wear and tear, so it’s no surprise that a stone table could outlast a simple house fire. It took thousands of degrees of heat to make the rocks, and it’ll take thousand of degrees of heat to melt them.
Firesafe: The steel composition of a firesafe allows it endure 1,700 degree infernos. Imagine if the entire house was made from the same material as a firesafe? House fire problem solved.

Article credits: Information courtesy of Monty Stonewall’s blog, author of www.firesciencecolleges.com/about/

Tags: FEMA, fire loss, house fire
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Live Safe partners with the U.S. Fire Administration’s Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Dublin, Ohio – The Live Safe Foundation is proud to announce the support and partnership in the U.S. fire administration’s Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign – encouraging residents to install smoke alarms and sprinklers.

More than 3,000 people die in home fires each year in the United States; most of whom are in homes without a working smoke alarm. To prevent these deaths, the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is sponsoring a nationwide Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign designed to raise awareness about how working, properly installed smoke alarms can lower a person’s chances of dying in a fire. The Live Safe Foundation is supporting this critical effort to reduce injuries and the loss of life.

The USFA’s Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign is aimed at encouraging Americans to practice fire safety by installing and maintaining smoke alarms and residential fire sprinklers, which can help save the lives of residents and fire fighters, practicing fire escape plans, and performing a home safety walk-through to remove fire hazards from the home. The campaign is promoting fire safety through a free Campaign Toolkit disc; educational materials; print, radio and television PSAs; children’s materials, community organization-sponsored events and a consumer-friendly campaign Web site.

“Live Safe is proud to be a partner with the USFA in this very relevant campaign. Far too many people have died in fires as a result of not having working smoke alarms or sprinklers. One person killed in a home fire is just too many,” said Melissa Falter, Live Safe Foundation spokesperson. “Together, we can educate our communities and help save lives.”

“If a fire breaks out in your home while you’re asleep, how will you know? Having a working smoke alarm is like having a fire safety official on duty in your home, 24 hours a day.” said Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator Glenn A.Gaines. “Working smoke alarms will alert you to the fire and we know conclusively, a residential sprinkler system can help put the fire out.” Gaines adds, “Smoke alarms and sprinklers are able to provide residents the time it takes to get everyone out of the house, before firefighters have to come in.”

When both smoke alarms and fire sprinklers are present in a home, the risk of dying in a fire is reduced by 82 percent, when compared to a residence without either. According to the National Fire Protection Association, between 2003-2006, almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

The USFA offers a few helpful tips on smoke alarms and sprinklers:

Place properly installed and maintained smoke alarms both inside and outside of sleeping areas and on every level of your home.
Interconnected smoke alarms are best, because if one sounds, they all sound.
Get smoke alarms that can sound fast. The U.S. Fire Administration recommends that every residence and place where people sleep be equipped with both ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms or dual sensor smoke alarms, which contain both ionization and photoelectric smoke sensors.
If possible, install residential fire sprinklers in your home.

Inspect and test smoke alarms monthly and change alkaline batteries at least once every year, or as instructed. You can use a date you already know, like your birthday or when you change your clocks as a reminder.
Avoid painting or covering the fire sprinkler, because that will affect the sensitivity to heat.

The Live Safe Foundation is supporting the USFA’s Install. Inspect. Protect Campaign by distributing information.

Double Click on the “black box” below to listen to PSA:

Organizations in partnership with the U.S. Fire Administration’s Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign include the American Fire Sprinkler Association, Burn Institute, Everyone Goes Home, Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association, Fire Department Safety Officers Association, Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, Home Safety Council, International Association of Black Professional Firefighters, International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Women in Fire & Emergency Services, NASFM Fire Research and Education Foundation, National Association of Hispanic Firefighters, National Association of State Fire Marshals, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, National Fire Protection Association, National Fire Sprinkler Association, National Volunteer Fire Council, and SAFE KIDS Worldwide.

For more information on the Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign and other fire prevention information, please visit www.usfa.dhs.gov/smokealarms. To learn more about Live Safe’s local campaign activities, please feel free to contact www.live-safe.org.

Install. Inspect. Protect.

Smoke Alarms Save Lives

Live Safe Foundation is an Ohio based non-profit organization (501c3), and leading grassroots movement, devoted to making fire safety education, awareness initiatives and life saving tools available on a broad basis to communities, campuses, and institutions in an effort to reduce national fire fatalities and fire losses. LiveSafe aims to help finance fire safety education where means are otherwise unavailable. LiveSafe is developing and sponsoring programs to help groups find the resources needed to advance individual and community fire safety.

Tags: FEMA, smoke detector, USFA
Posted in Line of Duty | No Comments »