Fire Prevention News: Weekly Roundup – March 27, 2012

1. Campaigns / Other Fire Prevention Efforts
2. Campus Fire Safety
3. Inspections/Code enforcement
4. Smoke Alarms
5. Sprinklers
6. Wildland Fire Safety
7. Fire safety tips and reminders
8. Other Safety News
9. Smoke Alarm Saves
10. Sprinkler Saves
11. International News

Links to Fire Prevention-related news articles – Updated 03/26/2012

Campaigns/ Other Fire Prevention Activities

1. Operation 6abc Save a Life kicks off its 20th year – “We’re very fortunate to participate in the smoke detector program because there are so many people in the area who don’t realize how important it is to have a smoke detector ,” said firefighter Patti Kostrueiak of Perkasie, Pa.
2. Smoke detector helping the hearing impaired
3. Shreveport Fire Department Plans First Smoke Alarm Campaign of 2012 However, Shreveport residents can receive a FREE smoke alarm or get their current smoke alarm serviced by contacting the Fire Prevention Division at …
4. Learn about fire prevention sprinklers –  The free workshop will include side-by-side fires in a room with fire sprinklers and in a room without them, said Leslie Hynes, spokeswoman for Snohomish County Fire District 1. The workshop starts at 9 am at district headquarters at 12425 Meridian Ave .
5. Paulden holds Emergency Services Day to educate people about fire safety –  Education is a key factor in fire protection, and the Paulden Area Community Organization is leading a campaign by sponsoring its second annual Paulden Emergency Services Day today.
6. Quinnipiac students get a lesson in fire safety – The message was clear in about five minutes: Don’t leave fire sources unattended or you and your belongings could go up in smoke. Student leaders at Quinnipiac University teamed up with the Hamden Fire …
7. Fire safety film created for children –  – UK – CHILDREN will be able to learn about fire safety thanks to a film created by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue. The film features talking fire extinguisher characters and will be sold to schools nationwide.

Campus fire safety

1. No report this week

Inspections / Code enforcement

1. No report this week

Smoke Alarms

1. Fire Dept. proposes new law on smoke alarms Sheboygan Fire Chief Jeff Hermann has reintroduced an ordinance that would require … The proposed ordinance would require every smoke detector use lithium …
2. Proper Smoke Alarm Installation Important But having a smoke alarm installed isn’t going to make a difference if its not … easily have a fire and then you wont have your smoke detector in place.

Sprinklers

1. N.Y. Representative Backs Federal Sprinkler Legislation – Steve Israel (D-Dix Hills) said Monday that he was becoming co-sponsor of federal legislation that would provide tax incentives for installing fire sprinklers in buildings where they are not currently required. March 19–Rep. Steve Israel
2. Md. sprinkler bill would end local opt-out provision Bill requiring all new homes to be built with indoor sprinkler systems is getting push-back from senators who say it could drive up building costs and home prices, undermine local authority
3. Dispute over sprinkler requirement in new home takes owner, city … … battling the city over being required to install sprinklers for fire prevention. Huebner is seen here in front of his home on Thursday, March 8, 2012.
4. County commissioners to vote on sprinkler controversy El Paso County commissioners will take up the contentious issue of fire code requirements — namely automatic sprinklers for homes larger than 6000 square …
5. Sprinkler vote by commissioners pushed to next week El Paso County commissioners delayed a vote until Tuesday on a fire code … to override the requirement for sprinklers in one- and two-family dwellings …
6. “A British woman relives her near death home fire experience to advocate for fire sprinklers in all new homes.”
7. Learn about fire prevention sprinklers –  The free workshop will include side-by-side fires in a room with fire sprinklers and in a room without them, said Leslie Hynes, spokeswoman for Snohomish County Fire District 1. The workshop starts at 9 am at district headquarters at 12425 Meridian Ave .
8. Residential sprinkler workshop to feature burn demonstration –  Members of the public, building officials, home builders, fire service personnel and the media are invited to attend. Fire Team USA will demonstrate the dramatic effects of home sprinklers with a side-by-side comparison burn at the conclusion of a free …
9. Debate on mandating sprinklers centers on home builders’ costs –  The Maryland House and Senate this week each passed bills that would effectively mandate sprinkler systems for new single-family homes. Supported by Lower Shore Sen. Jim Mathias, the measure specifically prohibits local jurisdictions from

Wildland Fire Safety

1. Smokey helps children learn fire safety – Forest Service personnel teach methods of fire prevention to thousands of children in Tulare County every year. During the winter months, when fire danger is low, employees on the Western Divide Ranger District form teams to present fire prevention …
2. Colorado wildfire raises concern for community safety Firewise tips help Colorado residents reduce their homes’ risk from wildfire
3. Dry winter raises wildfire danger this spring – As Smokey Bear would say, “Only you can prevent a forest fire.” Prevention tips include never taking a burning stick out of a fire, never using any type of fireworks on public land, keeping stoves and lanterns away from items that burn easily and …
4. High Fire Danger for More Than Half of Wisconsin – … so far have responded to 160 wildfires on more than 300 acres of DNR protected land. The DNR is particularly concerned about northwestern Wisconsin where last summer’s storms knocked over thousands of trees and created a potential fire hazard .

Safety tips and reminders

1. Tips for Fire Safety in Your Home – In an instant, a fire can turn from a controlled flame to an out-of-control fire that destroys a home. That’s why the time to take action for an unexpected event, or to ward one off, is before it ever starts. According to Federal Emergency Management …
2. WV Fire Marshal releases fire safety tips for people with disabilities – People with disabilities, older adults, and young children are at a high risk of death or injury during a house fire. West Virginia is not only a state with one of the highest fire death rates in the United States, …
3. Fatal Hope Mills fire highlights need for grill safety – In apartment buildings, the fire code is clear: no grilling within 10 feet. At one- or two-family houses or townhomes, however, that law doesn’t apply. “We have no control over what somebody does at their home,” she said.
4. Proper Smoke Alarm Installation Important But having a smoke alarm installed isn’t going to make a difference if its not … easily have a fire and then you wont have your smoke detector in place.
5. Smoke detector safety tips One thing that might have made a difference, a working smoke detector. … properly and the other was placed in what fire officials say was a bad spot.

Other Safety News

1. Today’s homes burn faster than ever
2. Medical oxygen played key role in fatal fire – State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan said medical oxygen has been a growing issue in serious fires in Massachusetts. Since his office began tracking such fires in 1997, 85 serious fires have involved home oxygen, Coan said. They have resulted in 33 deaths …
3. Fire Hazard Leads to Recall of Adjustable Mattress Bases by Leggett & Platt –  Electrical components in the motor control board can fail and short causing overheating, which poses a fire hazard . Incidents: The firm has received 29 complaints of overheating in the electronic motor control board located in a housing …
4. OSU fire and safety program hailed as nation’s best Whether it’s a lab on sprinkler system analysis – where students set off and test … Michael Larrañaga, the department head director for OSU’s Fire …

Smoke Alarm Saves

1. Mayfield Village: Smoke detectors that saved a family – It may be time to update the smoke detectors in your home. A Mayfield Village family owes its life to the latest technology in smoke detectors. A wireless system that linked three detectors in the house that includes a voice command.
2. Mother Alerted to Morning Fire by Smoke Alarm – A mother and daughter were saved from their burning home by two Windsor police officers early Tuesday morning. The blaze started in the Grande Avenue home’s living room, according to Windsor Fire Marshal Bob Bolasevich, …
3. Smoke detector credited with saving home – Smoke detectors installed by Beaufort-Port Royal firefighters helped save the home of a Beaufort family early Wednesday, according to a news release. The owner of a home on Morris Street said the smoke detector woke her around midnight.
4. Smoke detectors save woman’s life – While York County Fire and Life Safety units were on scene at a residence on Cattail Lane last month, firefighters noticed that there were no working smoke detectors in the house. Knowing that to be an unsafe condition, the firefighters …

Sprinkler Saves

1. Fire quickly doused by sprinklers at Knowlton Technologies – A sprinkler system is being credited for stopping a fire at Knowlton Technologies on Wednesday evening. The Watertown City Fire Department was called to the Factory St. business at around 8:30 last night.

Fire Prevention News: International

1. BC aims for a smoke alarm in every home – The research suggests that one in three fire deaths over that period might have been prevented if there had been a working smoke detector in the home. The data also show that children, elderly people, those in first nations communities and rural areas …
2. Fire safety film created for children –  – UK – CHILDREN will be able to learn about fire safety thanks to a film created by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue. The film features talking fire extinguisher characters and will be sold to schools nationwide.