[Durham INC] Durham County and City Fire Marshals Remind Residents that ‘Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape.’

Fri Oct 7 09:00:05 EDT 2022

[DCO_Shield_color]

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release                                               Date: 10/07/2022
Contact: Public Information Office                      Phone: (919) 560-0000/Fax: (919) 560-0020
E-mail: publicinformationoffice at dconc.gov<mailto:publicinformationoffice at dconc.gov>

Durham County and City Fire Marshals Remind Residents that ‘Fire Won’t Wait. Plan Your Escape.’

National Fire Protection Association’s 100th Fire Prevention Week is Oct. 9-15

Durham, N.C. – The Durham County Office of Emergency Services Fire Marshal Division is teaming up with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the City of Durham Fire Department to promote this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign theme of “Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape.” This year’s campaign runs from October 9-15, 2022 and works to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe from fires.

Fire Prevention Week<https://www.nfpa.org/fpw> was started by NFPA in 1922 in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire that occurred in 1871. This year is the 100th year of the fire prevention message from the NFPA – making it is the longest running public health observance in the country.

Each year, NFPA chooses a theme and this year, the organization aims to educate communities on the importance of having a home escape plan that is practiced and ready to implement when smoke and fire alarms sound.

The Durham County and City Fire Marshals and the Office of Emergency Services encourages all residents to embrace the 2022 Fire Prevention Week theme.

“It’s important to make and practice a home fire escape plan,” said Durham County Fire Marshal Jason Shepherd. “Fire is fast! If you have a fire, you could have less than 2 minutes to escape. That means every second counts. Making sure your plan meets the needs of all family members, including those with sensory or physical disabilities is a must. Being prepared is the best way to be ready when you need to act.”

There seven steps to practice your escape plan:

  1.  Draw a map of your home. Include all doors and windows.
  2.  Find two ways out of every room.
  3.  Make sure doors and windows are not blocked.
  4.  Choose an outside meeting place in front of your home.
  5.  Push the test button to sound the smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
  6.  Practice your drill with EVERYONE in the home.
  7.  Get outside to your meeting place.

“Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms save lives! They are your early warning system to get your family to act on your escape plan. Just like our children do fire drills at school, practice your escape plan with your family,” said City of Durham Fire Marshal Jody Morton.

A great resource for families to help create an escape plan can be found at the National Fire Protection Association’s “Sparky School House” website<https://sparkyschoolhouse.org/>, including videos and a downloadable PDF<https://sparkyschoolhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/NPFA-Fire-Safety-Choice-Boards-Download_SSH.pdf> for kids. For additional educational resources go to the NFPA’s public education website<https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education> and the United States Fire Administration and FEMA fire prevention and public education website<https://www.usfa.fema.gov/prevention/>.

It is also vital to know the difference between a smoke alarm and carbon monoxide alarm and the sounds they make when activated.

Smoke alarms is a device which detects smoke, usually an indicator of a fire. They have the continuous pulse of three loud beeps which is an indication of a smoke condition.

Carbon monoxide alarms detect and measure carbon monoxide (CO) concentration in the atmosphere. CO is a byproduct of incomplete combustion, and can come from a kitchen stove/range, portable propane heather, charcoal grill, and natural gas. They have the continuous pulse of four loud beeps which is an indication of a carbon monoxide condition.

When the battery is low on either alarm, they will make a chirp sound every 30-60 seconds. If the chirp continues after battery replacement, the alarm is at the end of its life and needs to be replaced. Smoke alarms have a 10-year life span. CO alarms have an end-of-life sound that vary by manufacturer.

You should have smoke alarms installed in each bedroom and in the area outside of the bedroom. Carbon monoxide alarms should be installed in any home that utilizes fossil fuels or burns wood.

For more information about the Durham County Office of Emergency Services Fire Marshal Division, visit its webpage at https://www.dconc.gov/county-departments/departments-f-z/fire-marshal, or contact Shepherd at 919-560-0663 or email to jshepherd at dconc.gov<mailto:jshepherd at dconc.gov>. To learn more about the City of Durham’s Fire Department, visit its webpage at https://www.durhamnc.gov/620/Fire-Department, or contact Morton at 919-560-4233, ext. 19240, or email to  jody.morton at durhamnc.gov<mailto:jody.morton at durhamnc.gov>.

###

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.deltaforce.net/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20221007/6f917ebe/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 4703 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <https://lists.deltaforce.net/pipermail/inc-list/attachments/20221007/6f917ebe/attachment.jpg>