Fire Prevention Week– Oct. 8-14

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HURLBURT FIELD, Fla --  This year's theme: "Prevent cooking fires, watch what you heat."
With all the attention received by major disasters, 4 out 5 Americans don't realize the most common disaster threat is not hurricanes, tornados or floods - it's home fires

The lack of awareness of the threat posed by home fires revealed in a recent Red Cross poll helps explain why only 26 percent of families have developed and practiced a home fire escape plan. Here are some simple steps to help you prevent fires:

Keep all sources of fuel (paper, clothing, bedding, and carpets or rugs) at least three feet away from all heat sources when cooking, or using alternative heating like a space heater.

Provide constant adult supervision during cooking or in rooms with lit candles or fires (no cooking or candles in our AFSOC dorm rooms please).
Do not leave burning candles unattended.

Keep matches and lighters away and out of reach of children.
Teach young children to tell an adult if they find matches and lighters just lying around.
Teach adolescents to resist peer pressure and not to play with fire if curious or bored.
Simple steps to make your home safer:
- Smoke alarms save lives. Install a smoke alarm outside each sleeping area and on each additional level of your home.
- If people sleep with doors closed, install smoke alarms inside sleeping areas.
- Use the test button to check each smoke alarm once a month.
When necessary, replace batteries immediately. Re-place all batteries at least once a year.
- Smoke alarms become less sensitive over time, so replace your smoke alarm every 10 years.
- Consider having one or more working fire extinguishers in your home.
- Get training from the fire department in proper use of your extinguishers.
- Consider installing an automatic fire sprinkler system in your home.
- Determine at least two ways to escape from every room of your home. Consider escape ladders for sleeping areas on the second or third floors. Learn how to use escape ladders and store them near windows.
- Select a location outside your home where everyone would meet after escaping.
- Practice your escape plan, especially with children and older adults, at least twice a year and revise as necessary.