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~I think the greatest life saving device ever made was the smoke
detector. For many years industry and commercial buildings have
had expensive water sprinkler systems and heat detection systems.
In the first case it would start water flowing thru sprinkler
heads to extinguish or confine a fire untill the fire department
arrived after responding to a water flow alarm to complete
extinguishment and clean up the water from the sprinklers. In the
second case when the temperature reached 135 degrees F. or higher
within a area covered by the system, it would activate an alarm
and notify the fire department or alarm company of a fire in the
building, which led to early discovery and extinguishment of the
fire. BUT they did not save lives from products of combustion
while you and your family were sleeping in your home.~
~But you say,"why are so many people dieing in house fires when
smoke detectors are on the market and so inexpensive"? Because
of APATHY, "we are so careful and we are not going to have a
fire" and "only other people have fires, not us" BULL, read the
papers, watch the news on TV, those "other" people once may have
said the same thing, and YOU might be the next one somebody else
reads about in the newspapers. Being careful can help prevent
fires but it will not save your life. Only a smoke detector can.~
~Would you believe a newspaper editor once told me. "I will have
to stop printing your articles about smoke detectors because
people will think we are in the smoke detector business and
trying to sell them." I told him, "My God you have been printing
what I have seen and what fires will do, and I'll repeat it again
and again, ONLY SMOKE DETECTORS WILL SAVE LIVES." I may sound
like a preacher, but let us save your life and the little
children.~
~PHOTOELECTRIC~
~This was the first type of smoke detector and is still being
installed in commercial buildings, hospitals, mobilehomes and new
home construction. It operates off of 110 volts either by direct
wiring by your electrician or by pluging into a wall outlet. So
you say, "what happens if the power goes off in a electrical
fire, or a breaker trips or a fuse blows" ? That's right it will
not work unless it has a battery backup.~
~HOW IT WORKS~
~It MUST have smoke that can be seen. That smoke passes thru a
light beam source within the smoke detector (similar to an
electric eye in a burglar alarm) , that smoke blocks off the
light beam and sets off the alarm. It works when there is a lot
of thick smoke , BUT will you still be able to wake up and react
when it goes off after you have been breathing all the unseen
products of combustion that may be produced BEFORE the smoke is
thick enought to set it off ?~
~IONIZATION DETECTOR~
~A very minute radioactive source is used within this detector
which detects the UNSEEN products of combustion, and sets off the
alarm. If located to close to the kitchen, cooking food, making
toast,opening the oven, or near a fireplace will set it off.~
~It is operated by a battery and therfor will work when the power
is off. And it will not be like the battery operated radio or
flashlight that will not work when you want it, because the acid
is running out of the dead battries, because it is requried to
"beep" once a minute for seven days to warn you to replace the
weak battery. And let me tell you this will drive you nuts. IF
you WOULD HAVE read the instructions you would have known both of
the above reasons it was going off with no fire and you would not
have removed the battery. And you and your family would not be
the next fire victims where the "smoke detector did not have a
battery in it" as you see in the news so often.~
~When you purchase this type of smoke detector, please note what
type of battery it requires. One type is long and round with plug
in's on both ends and is 12.6 volts and costs up to $7.97 to
replace once a year,just under the price of the smoke detector to
replace Don'get it, the normal 9 volt cost about .89 cents to
replace and MUST be replaced once a year or before it starts
"beeping" as mentioned . Do not be afraid to open the box in the
store to see what you are getting.~
~COST OF SMOKE DETECTOR~
~Oh boy are they different. From $7.95 all the way up to $40.00.
and just let me tell you what you can get: The basic detector is
what you need, then there is the detector with a TEST button. Oh
boy, "I can test to see if it works", it will tell you if the
curcuitry is working, not the smoke detector, that takes products
of combustion. So the test button makes it cost more.~
~Then there is the smoke detector with the added 135 degrees F.
heat detector. "Oh boy it will tell me when it get's hot from the
fire." The smoke detector will have gone off with the unseen
products of combustion long before it gets that hot, unless it is
very near a flaming fire. So the added heat detector adds to the
price of the smoke detector.~
~Then there is the smoke detector to beat all smoke detector's,
it has a built in light, to see your way out of the smoky fire
when it goes off. STOP and think , have you ever tried to see
thru fog or smoke with a light ?. More wasted money.
~Watch for sales in the newspaper's, watch for a good reasonable
price under $10.00. But no matter which one you purchase or what
the price, is not your life and the lives of your family, and all
you possessions worth the price.?~
~WHERE TO INSTALL AND HOW MANY DO YOU NEED~
`There is no simple answer to how many smoke detector,s you may
need in your home. But each home should have at least one on the
ceiling outside the sleeping area. If there is more than one
floor, one on the ceiling at the top of the stairs. I personally
have seen so much death from fire, I have one over each TV set. I
also have one that travels with me wherever may family or I go to
stay overnight.~
~My smoke detector's have gone off and awaken my family and I
when a relay stuck in the furnace and the heating element got too
hot and burnt in two, when the TV set in my son's bedroom
malfunctioned, when the TV was turned OFF, and started smoking,
and when my wife closed the damper on the fireplace before going
to bed, thinking it was out the carbon monoxide set off the smoke
detector. They do work.~
~HOW TO PURCHASE A SMOKE DETECTOR~
~Check the box for the Underwriters Laboratories (U/L) lable of
approval, read ALL the instructions on how and where to install
and test. Your Fire Department will be happy to answer your
questions and aid you in locating the best location for your
smoke detector. And while your at it, why don't you have them
inspect your home for fire hazards, it's free.~
~TESTING AND CARE OF YOUR SMOKE DETECTOR~
~After you have installed your smoke dector you just don't forget
it and hope it nevers goes off. You must test it at least once a
month. If you smoke(remember I wrote this before people starting
quiting), stand on a chair or step stool and blow smoke directly
into it untill it goes off, or roll up a paper napkin and dampen
the part you hold in your hand, lighting the remaining dry 1/2"
and blowing it out, hold it near the smoke detector untill it
goes off or you can light a match under it and let the products
of combustion set it off.~
~We can not prevent all fires from happening, but we can install
smoke detectors properly in our homes and test them to be sure
they are going to operate. Their purpose is to awaken us from our
sleep and give us the needed minutes to react properly and get
out of the burning house safely.~
~The home smoke detector is the best single weapon we have to
reduce fire deaths, injuries and destruction, but only one part
of a home fire safty plan.~
~Most important, you MUST plan and practice a home fire drill
escape plan, so if and when you and your family are awaken by the
alarm, and are half asleep and confused, you will be more able to
escape the fire in your home more quickly and safely.~
~Now you and your family are sleeping peacefully at night because
you have installed smoke detectors. You know that if there is a
fire in the house you will all wake up. But what will you do when
the alarm sounds, what will your three year old daughter or seven
year old son do, How about Grandma AND the baby,who will get them
out.?~
~Each year in the United States there are over five million fires
in homes. (I am not trying to scare you, I am trying to make you
think about something you have not thought about and have thought
only happens to somebody else) And remember most fatal fires
occure between midnight and 6 A.M.- your sleeping hours. The very
most important thing in waking up in a fire situation, is that
you and your children know what to do and how to react when that
alarm sounds in the night, you are half asleep and may have
already breathed in small amounts of fire gasses. Sleeping with
the bodroom doors will give you and your family more of the
needed time to react and escape, as the average bedroom door will
hold back flames approximately 15 minutes, feel the door if it is
hot NEVER open it. You will hear the alarm outside the closed
bedroom door.~
~MAKING A PLAN~
~You can never predict where a fire will break out in your home,
so get some graft paper and a pencil and go thru every room in
the house, indicating the doors and windows, the possible escape
routes from every room. What if you can not get out into the
hallway because of the heat, flames or smoke? Is there a window
in that room, will it open or has it been painted shut? Can the
children reach the ground or will they have to wait on the roof
for a ladder? (does your neighbor know where your ladder is?)How
about buying and installing a collapsible fire escape ladder that
is installed inside and below the window? There MUST be at least
two means of escape from every room.~
~Now go outside and pick a safe location for all your family to
meet once outside the house after escaping.The best place to meet
is in front of the house so you can tell the fireighters everyone
is out. Count heads and make
sure EVERYONE is out. Picture this: Without a pre planed meeting
place, you and your wife go out thru the front door and your
children go out a rear door or window into the backyard, you
don't see them and you panic and go back into the burning house
looking for them. The firefighters will find you inside, another
victim of fire. If someone does not meet at the meeting place,
tell the first arriving firefighter. Remember, NEVER RE-ENTER A
BURNING BUILDING ONCE YOU HAVE LEFT IT. The firefighters have
self-contained air masks and are trained to find and rescue
people, you are not prepared for it.~
~STUDY AND PRACTICE THE PLAN~
~Now sit down with every member of your family and discuss the
plan and reasons for it. Go through the entire house and point
out to each person the primary (bedroom door) and alternate
(window) escape route from each room in the house. Now go outside
and point out the meeting place and the closest neighbors house
that has a phone and where a ladder is storred that can be used
to help family members down from a window or roof.~
~Remember how I have indicated that children will try to hide
from fire and smoke. You MUST teach them they can not hide from
it, but MUST get out of the house. Be sure to pre-plan who will
take out the babies, very young children and elderly who can not
get out by themselves.~
~If the childs bedroom is located upstairs and they can not exit
by the door, teach them to close the door and go to the window,
open it and remain there untill you come for them with the ladder
as pre-planned. That if they can not wait there because of the
smoke, heat or fire. to drop their pillows, blankets and cloths
out the window next to the house to have something soft to land
on. DO TO THE DANGER OF FALLING THIS IS A LAST RESORT AND SHOULD
NOT BE PRACTICED.Teach them not to JUMP, but to go out the window
feet first, hang on by their hands and drop down onto the
bedding. The window is about 8 feet to the ground, by hanging
this way, subtracting their height (nine year old=four feet) he
has a four foot drop to the ground.~
~Now that you have the plan and have gone over it with all
members of your family, PRACTICE it. Have each person go to their
bedroom and simulate a fire problem (fire downstairs, smoke and
heat comming up the stairs, can't get out the bedroom doors,
ect.) Be sure each family member knows what to do in each
problem, look for improvements to make in the plan. Set off the
smoke detector to make it life like, have evryone start out by
laying in their beds, as it could save their lives in a real
fire.~
~Make each drill a different problem, be sure each person knows
what to do in each instance (older brother not home to take
younger one out as planned, neighbor not home where there is a
phone, you do not show up at window with ladder as planned). Do
not rush thru the drills the drills. MAKE SURE EVERYONE KNOWS
WHAT TO DO.~
~It is a good idea for each person to have a whistle in their
room, when the smoke detector goes off, each one can blow the
whistle (Sally, one blow, Mom & Dad, two blows, ect) or each
person call out, "Fire, Everybody out", calling out their name so
each family mamber knows the the others are aware of the fire and
are getting out of the house.~
~It is very important that you practice the fire drill plan at
least every two to three months so it will not be forgotten and
changes can be made (new baby, foster child, family member moved
away). After the children have learned the plan, surprise them
with an unanounced fire drill, see how they react, it will help
remove the panic children have in a fire.~
~After each fire drill go over it with all the family, seek
improvements and changes as needs and the childs ability to react
improve.~
~Post the fire drill plan in the house , be sure to discuss the
plan with any overnight house guest, especially your babysitters
so they will know how to react when the smoke detector alarm goes
off or they discover a fire and how the children have been
trained to react and what they will do in a fire situation.~
~Post 911 and your address by all the telephones for calling for
emergency help. the children have learned it in school but it is
easy to forget in a panic situation and be sure to leave the
phone number where you can be reached for the babysitter or older
child. REMEMBER the hospital or doctor need your permission to
treat a minor child.~
~Now you have the smoke detectors and the fire drill plan that
each family member knows and has practiced. are you ready for the
unexpected and will you and your family survive ?~
~WILL YOU SURVIVE ?~
~Sleeping with your bedroom door closed has been the only thing
to help you survive a fire since before the invention of the
smoke detector and STILL is. You may even recall when you were a
child and the fireman came to your school and told you, "sleep
with your bedroom closed, it will help keep back the smoke and
fire that will make you go to sleep and you can't wake up. There
is nothing in your bedroom to be afraid of, it's just dark with
the light off and hard to see, but you bed and chair can't move
around and scare you can it"?. I have taught that to children for
many years befor the smoke detector and many years after. So many
Mothers called the Fire Chief and said, "What is that man
teaching my 3 year old, he/she was afraid of the dark but now we
all have to sleep with our bedroom door closed".~
~The closed bedroom door will keep out smoke, heat, flame and
toxic gases for 10-15 minutes. And you can hear the smoke
detector alarm outside the bedroom door, You may be thinking, But
I won't be able to hear my child cry with the bedroom door
closed".True, but you can purchase and install an inexpencive
intercom in the childs room and your bedroom , living room, or
kitchen and hear them.~
~When you hear that smoke detector alarm thru your bedroom door,
it means THERE IS A FIRE, GET OUT. DO NOT jump right up out of
bed, but roll out onto the floor, crawl over to your CLOSED
bedroom door on your hands and knees and reach up as high as you
can and feel the door with the back of your hand, as that is
where the heat will first appear. If the door is hot, DO NOT open
it, it is very dangerous beyond it. If the door is not hot, stand
up if the room is not too smoky, and brace your foot and sholder
aginst the door and open it a crack and see if smoke, heat or hot
gases rush in, if it does not you are safe to crawl out on your
HANDS AND KNEES. Do NOT stand up and walk. The reason you brace
the door and open it a crack is, if it is dangerous beyond the
door, the pressure outside the door could push the door open and
superheated smoke and gasses could rush into your room as the
fresh air in you room rushes out to feed the fire, by bracing it
you are able to push it closed and get out your alternate exit,
the window. Remember to close every door or window you pass thru
when exiting the burning house or the smoke, heat and flames can
not spread thru the openings and the fresh air feed the fire.~
~DO NOT spend time getting dressed and going thru the house
looking for things you want to save. GET OUT, those things can be
replaced, your life can not. Children often run back into a
burning house to get a favorite toy or pet. They must be taught
they can be replaced and what could happen to them if they went
back in, or what might happen to you if you went back in looking
for them. ONCE OUT STAY OUT.~
~When you get outside follow your plan, send someone to call the
Fire Department. DO NOT think someone else has already called,
they will be needed for possible rescues if one of the family
members does not appear at the meeting place and to extinguish
the fire.~
~Be sure each family member knows how to report a fire to the
fire department, saying "my house is on fire " and hanging up the
phone will not do it. Try to stay calm so you can be understood,
slowly give the address and be sure it's understood. Tell them is
someone is still in the house, answer all their questions,
remember the firefighters are on their way, while you are
answering the questions. ONLY as a last resort call the telephone
operator or a friend to report the fire, there is to much chanch
the second-hand information will be wrong by the time it is
relayed to the fire department. To many times a person
discovering a fire has not called because they thought someone
else had called. It does not hurt to call anyway to be sure they
have been called.~
~APARTMENTS AND HOTELS~
~Just about all of the above escape planning can be used if you
live in an apartment or stay in a hotel, except getting to the
ground from your unit located several floors up.~
~If you find your door is not hot and the conditions of the hall
are not too hot and smokey,
you may want to try to exit. DO NOT use the elevator, too many
people have escaped their unit only to be trapped and die in a
elevator when the power went out and it stopped between floors
with the smoke and heat pouring up the elevator shaft like a
chimney. Use the stairway, most highrise buildings have a
enclosed fire and smokeproof stairway as required by the
firecode.~
~If you cannot get out of your unit due to the heat and smoke,
place wet towels and cloths around the bottom of the door to help
keep the heat and smoke out of your unit.Go to the window and
open it a few inches at the top to let any smoke out, and at the
bottom to let fresh air in for you to breath. DO NOT jump, take a
sheet off the bed and wave it out the window so firefighters will
know where you are trapped and will put up their ladders and
rescue you. Myself, I always stay in the lower floor
rooms and look where the fire exit is.~
~And remember, if you discover a fire in your building or can
exit your door, be sure to pull the fire alarm in the hall to
alert the other occupants and the fire department. And be sure to
remember to close every door you pass thru so the heat and smoke
cannot spread to the rest of the building.~
~Ladies Groups, Mens Groups, Clubs, Scouting Groups, ask your
local Fire Department to put on a program for you, Learn Not To
Burn.~
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