Fire Prevention Month
Last week, I received an email from my trusty Santa Barbara County Office of Emergency Management (yes, I get regular emails from them and what’s more: I look forward to them!) informing me that in addition to October being breast cancer awareness month (HA! As if anyone could miss the pink ribbons!), October is also Fire Prevention Month.
The history of National Fire Prevention Week has its roots in the Great Chicago Fire, which occurred on October 9, 1871 and in two days destroyed half of the existing city and left 300 dead and 100,000 homeless. Having moved to Santa Barbara from Chicago, we are now faced with the potential for forest fires – at any given moment. And trust me: that is a scary, scary possibility.
However, the Silver Lining (you knew I’d find one!) is that there are many things that people can do to improve their safety at home, school, or work from a fire!
The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) designated October 6-12 as Fire Prevention Week. Santa Barbara County joined forces with the NFPA to remind local residents to ‘Prevent Kitchen Fires.’
According to the latest NFPA research, cooking is the leading cause of home fires. Two of every five home fires begin in the kitchen – more than any other place in the home. Isn’t that an amazing statistic? Cooking fires are also the leading cause of home fire-related injuries. This is the precise reason that I literally have a fire extinguisher IN my kitchen!
Often when the fire department is called to a fire that started in the kitchen, the residents say that they only left the kitchen for a few minutes. Sadly, that’s all it takes for a dangerous fire to start. Below are safety tips that the County of Santa Barbara and the local emergency managers would like to emphasize:
- Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, broiling, or boiling food.
- If you must leave the room, even for a short period of time, turn off the stove.
- When you are simmering, baking, or roasting food, check it regularly, stay in the home, and use a timer to remind you.
- If you have young children, use the stove’s back burners whenever possible. Keep children and pets at least three (3) feet away from the stove.
- When you cook, wear clothing with tight-fitting sleeves.
- Keep potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper and plastic bags, towels, and anything else that can burn, away from your stovetop.
- Clean up food and grease from burners and stovetops.
Lastly, as a reminder when a fire happens, there is no time for planning. So, sit down with your family now and make a step‐by-step plan for escaping from a fire in your home. Know where your fire extinguisher is mounted and make sure everyone in the family knows how to use it.
I sure do hope that none of us ever has to deal with this, but many of you already know my life philosophy: Hope for the Best. Prepare for the Worst.