In This Issue:

1. Home Safety Risk Factor Quiz
2. Seniors are at a High Risk for Fire Deaths
3. Tips to Reduce Fire Risk
4. Escape Planning with Disabilities
5. Fire Safety for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing
6. What to Do in Case of Fire
7. How to Reduce Kitchen Fire Risks
8. Fire Extinguisher Extinguished Despair
9. Holiday Home Gift Ideas
10. Ten Tips to Prevent Home Fires
11. Internet Resources

Home life is a treasure in life and we need to protect it. To see what threatens home life, take our Home Safety Risk Factor Quiz. See Seniors Are At High Risk for Fire Deaths, Escape Planning with Disabilities and Fire Safety for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Check out Tips to Reduce Fire Risks, What to Do in Case of Fire, How to Reduce Kitchen Fire Risks, and Fire Extinguisher Extinguished Despair. Our Holiday Home Gift Giving Ideas could save lives. We have included some excellent Internet resources, too. Our Halloween message to you is "Stay safe and enjoy Home Life!"

1. Home Safety Risk Factor Quiz

Everyday, we face risks and hazards in our home life that can cause accidents, injuries and death. The key to controlling risks (and preventing threatening actions from happening) is knowing about them. To learn about risks you may have, take our Home Safety Risk Quiz. Read our newsletter for ideas to identify and control your home life risks.

Take the Home Safety Risk Factor Quiz

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2. Seniors are at High Risk for Fire Deaths

Doesn't dying of "old age" sound like a much better option than death by fire? Unfortunately, compared to the rest of the US, the risk of death by fire dramatically increases with age. United States Fire Administration statistics prove seniors have higher risk of death or injury by fire than any other age group!

• 65 - 74 are nearly TWICE as likely to die in a fire.
• 75 - 84 are nearly FOUR times as likely to die in a fire.
• 85 and older are more than FIVE times as likely to die in a fire.

Reasons vary. Common factors that increase fire risk include living alone, not having help, physical or sensory limits (limited strength, joint flexibility, hearing or vision loss, balance impairments, mobility such as difficulty climbing stairs, walking, carrying or lifting anything, etc.) and medications that affect quick thinking or fast physical action. If you or a loved one have any such challenging limitations, without effective emergency planning, your home life is at risk.

Common Causes of Fires

Fires are mostly preventable. Knowing common causes can be the first step to eliminating your risks.

1. Cooking (Leading cause of home fires)

• Grease fires

• Leaving flammable things near hot stove

• Appliances

2. Careless Smoking (Leading cause of fire deaths. Cigarettes continue to burn even without puffing)

3. Faulty Wiring (Over loaded or damaged wiring)

4. Flammable clothing (Clothes and pajamas catching on fire)

5. Heating such as

• Use of portable heaters (Cause: placing portable heaters too close to flammable wood, paper, plastics and fabrics such as blankets, bedding, curtains, etc.)

• Fireplaces

• Mechanical Failure (Often due to lack of maintenance)

6. Holiday or seasonal fires caused by

• Unattended or open flamed candles (Christmas and Halloween)

• Dry Christmas trees

• Children playing with fire

• Flammable holiday decorations catching fire

The holidays are coming soon.
Take preventive action now to protect your home life!

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3. Tips to Reduce Fire Risk

In a fire, fast action and quick thinking can make the difference between life and death. Personal fitness, advanced planning, and preventive actions can save lives, property and heartache. Here are some tips to reduce home life risks.  

View Tips to Reduce Fire Risks                                       

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4.  Escape Planning with Disabilities

Escape plans save lives. If you or a loved one has a disability or challenge affecting the ability to hear emergency warnings or to safely and quickly get out of an emergency situation independently, then develop a detailed personal emergency evacuation plan now. Consider all the possibilities and what could be done to eliminate or at least reduce home life risks.

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5.  Fire Safety for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Smoke alarms save lives. But, you have to hear them. People who have hearing loss cannot depend on the sound of an alarm to alert them to a fire. One option is to use alarms with strobe (flashing) lights that have been tested by an independent testing laboratory.

For a terrific resource, check out this link developed by the National Fire Protection Association called Fire Safety for the Deaf or Hard of Hearing. This article provides detailed information and resources to locate special alarm equipment for people with hearing loss.

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6. What to Do in Case of Fire

1. If you can put a fire out quickly, easily and safely, do it, but don't risk your life.

2. If you can't put (a small contained fire out), leave immediately!

3. Don't go back into a burning building.

4. Call 911 from a neighbor's house.

5. If there is smoke, stay low and crawl under smoke.

6. If clothes catch fire, STOP, DROP and ROLL or if this is impossible or difficult, smother the fire with a blanket, towel or rug.

7. If impaired and unable to exit after calling 911, USFA suggests

1. signaling from a window by hanging a towel, sheet or rug near the window or

2. shine a flashlight at the window.

3. If able, put a rug, towel, sheet or blanket at the bottom of the door to help keep smoke out .

8. If burned, seek immediate medical attention. (Never put butter or ointment on a burn.)

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7. How to Reduce Kitchen Fire Risks

Cooking accidents are a common cause of in home fires. It is so easy to get distracted when cooking. Common distractions are doing laundry, answering the telephone or doorbell, watching TV, or speaking with family or visitors.

Here are some tips to reduce kitchen fire safety risks:

• Never leave food unattended when cooking.

• Avoid wearing loose clothing and long sleeves.

• Heat cooking oils gradually (and don't leave).

• Be extra cautious when deep-frying. (Keep large lid within reach.)

• If a fire breaks out in a pan, put a lid on the pan.

• Never throw water on a grease fire.

• Never use a range or stove to heat your home.

• Turn cooking handles inward toward the center of the stove when cooking to prevent catching the handles in clothes, or knocking off the stove.

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8. Fire Extinguisher Extinguished Despair by Vanessa M. Dazio, OTD

One day, while working in my second floor home office, a really loud, piercing sound broke my concentration. It was the smoke detector! Just about the same time, I smelled smoke, but did not see it. A repair man had unknowingly tipped over a plastic trash can that was a few feet away from a working hobby kiln in our downstairs garage. Eventually, the trash can melted, and paper contents caught on fire. By the time I figured our where the fire was, six foot flames were hugging exposed wooden 2 X 4's directly above the kiln. Smoke was beginning to accumulate in the garage. I knew I could escape through one of the three garage doors or one side of the garage or the patio doors on the other side. Fast action was needed. First, 911. Then, I grabbed the fire extinguisher in the garage and remembered the word PASS from a previous fire safety course, Now, I PASS that tip along to you.

PASS

PULL (Pin on the fire extinguisher.)
AIM (Aim low, start at the base of the fire.)
SQUEEZE (Squeeze the handle to release the extinguishing agent.)
SWEEP (Swish the fire extinguisher hose from side to side at the base of the fire, until the fire is out.)

The fire department arrived within a few minutes of my call. They removed the smoldering remnants of the melted waste and noted our fire could have been disastrous.

Based on personal experience, I know fire training and fire extinguishers save property. The firefighters said the fire extinguisher and quick thinking saved the house and everything in it (including my three little Yorkies and old Cocker Spaniel). Disaster and despair were prevented. On that day, our home life was saved!

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9. Holiday Home Gift Ideas

The holidays are fast approaching. If you are looking for gift giving ideas, here are a few home gift ideas for family and friends:

1. Fire extinguisher(s)

2. Smoke detectors

3. Carbon monoxide detector

4. First aid kit

5. Pathway night lights

6. Safety treads or rubber mats in a slippery tub

7. Remote telephone that can be easily reached in any room

8. Sturdy step stool with hand rails

9. Weather radio

10. MedicTag (Keep vital health and contact information on key ring)

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10. Ten Tips to Prevent Home Fires

1. Never smoke in bed.

2. Never smoke when using oxygen!

3. Never leave smoking materials unattended.

4. Use "safety ashtrays" with wide lips.

5. Empty all ashtrays into the toilet or a metal container before napping or going to bed.

6. Every month, be sure your smoke detector is working.

7. Plan your emergency escape in case of fire.

8. Don't use your stove to heat your home.

9. Get rid of exposed, cut or shredded or damaged wiring of any kind.

10. Install Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters in your home.

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11. Internet Resources

For more detailed information, refer to any of the sites we used to develop Home Life.

• Escape Planning For Older Adults

• Fire Escape Plan (Grid)

• Fire and Burn Safety for Senior Citizens, developed by the Division of Fire Safety, the State of New Jersey

• Fire Extinguishers

• Fire Extinguisher Use

• Fire Safety Facts for People 50 Plus

• Fire Safety for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

• Home Safety: Are You at Risk for Injury?, SAFE Aging, Inc.

• National Fire Protection Association

• People With Disabilities: This is a good site that leads to other interesting and useful information.

• Personal Emergency Evacuation Planning Checklist

• Plan and Practice a Home Fire Drill

• Removing the Barriers: A Fire Safety Fact Sheet for People With Disabilities

• Smoke Alarms

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