02/01/2022
From our Director of Safety:
Based on a few events this week, I would like to share the following in an effort to help you all stay safe.
Winter weather/fire safety:
During storms and following storms that produce a significant amount of snowfall (6” or greater), you should take a few minutes to assess your property and access to your home.
If you have a fire hydrant on your property, many municipalities require you to maintain a 3 foot clearance at all times…this includes snow. Nobody WANTS to shovel around a fire hydrant but look at it this way…fire can double in size every minute. If you have to call 9-1-1 for a fire, would you want the responders to have to use precious moments to dig out a hydrant before fighting the fire? Typically, the first few moments upon arrival to a scene are spent conducting search and rescue while another crew attempts to extinguish the fire…every moment counts!
If you have multiple entrance/exit doors to your home, you should shovel a path from all of them…even if the path just takes you to a safe place in the middle of your yard, it will give you an exit. In an event this week, the homeowners retreated from the fire to their back porch (enclosed) but were unable to get that door open due to the amount of snow against that door. Firefighters were able to get the occupants to safety but again, precious moments were lost and the story could have ended much worse.
If you use space heaters…PLEASE read/follow the manufacturers guidelines regarding wattage/voltage use and limit these devices to a dedicated outlet. An issue with an overloaded outlet may not present itself at the outlet, the issue may occur hidden within the wall or closer to an electric panel and fire could spread for awhile before you see/smell smoke.
Close your doors!!! Before you go to bed at night, close bedroom doors. A closed door is a fire stop, typically they will buy you valuable time in the event of a fire and/or slow the spread of a fire.
Testy your smoke detectors and replace the batteries as needed.
In the unfortunate event of a fire…DO NOT attempt to gather up belongings…..get your family and pets and get to safety.
Finally…(and I can’t believe I even have to type this but people NEVER cease to amaze me) …if you are approaching the scene of a fire, NEVER EVER drive over the fire hose!!! YES, it happened on a call I was on recently! Fortunately, the fire had been extinguished and we were just conducting a secondary search because as the motorist drove over the charged line it cut the flow of water but the plug and pump were still active which created a pressure build up that created a violent reaction after the car cleared the line. The nozzle jumped about 3 feet in the air and almost took out a first responder. Had we been flowing water to fight a fire at that moment, it could have been deadly.
Not trying to bore anyone with FF stuff or scare anyone with this either….just trying to make everyone aware of potential hazards that could lead to catastrophic results.
Vince Ferloin, CDS
Director of Safety
(814) 824-9949 OFFICE
(800) 609-6611 TOLL FREE
(814) 460-7822 CELL
(814) 824-4610 FAX
Safety is not something we just discuss – it’s the way we do business!
