1. Always keep the lid open when lighting your grill. Don’t close it until you are sure the grill is lit.
2. The U.S. Fire Administration recommends keeping the grill in a well-ventilated outdoor area, at least 3 feet away from trees, shrubs, siding, deck rails and eaves. Keep fire pits, personal fireplaces and torches at least 10 feet from your home or anything that can burn.
3. If you live in an apartment, check with your landlord or local fire department to learn where grilling is allowed. Many communities prohibit grilling on a deck or balcony.
4. Never cover the bottom of the grill with foil – it can restrict air circulation.
5. Always use and store propane cylinders outdoors in an upright position.
6. After filling or exchanging a cylinder, take it home immediately. While transporting the cylinder, keep your vehicle ventilated and the valve closed or capped. Do not leave the cylinder in your vehicle.
Firing Up The Gas Grill Safely
1. Never use matches or lighters to check for leaks. And never use starter fluid with propane grills.
2. Do not smoke while handling a propane cylinder, and keep all flammable materials away from the grill. 3. If the grill does not ignite within 10 seconds, turn off the gas, keep the lid open and wait 5 minutes before trying again. If the igniter fails to light the grill after two or three tries, turn off the gas and replace the igniter according to the manufacturer’s instructions. 4. Regularly check the tubes that lead into the burner for blockage from insects or food grease. 5. Never attempt to repair, clean or clear blockages on a hot grill. Inspect Your Grill Brush 1. If you are using a wire-bristle brush, inspect it carefully and discard if the bristles are loose. Tiny bristles that break off on grill surfaces can lodge in food and are ingested, injuring people; 2. Examine the grill grate carefully before cooking and examine food before consumption; 3. Consider alternative grill cleaning methods such as nylon brushes, pumice stones or tin foil and tongs, which can make suitable cleaning devices. 4. Clean your grill after each use. This will remove grease that can start a fire.For more information, visit Consumer Reports at www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/wire-grill-brush-danger.
Charcoal Grill Safety 1. Be careful when using lighter fluid. Do not add fluid to an already lit fire because the flames can flashback up into the container and explode. 2. Place the coals from your grill in a metal can with a lid once they have cooled. General Safety Tips
1. Always have one person in charge of the grill at all times. Never leave a hot grill unattended.
2. Do not wear loose clothing while cooking at a grill.
3. Remove grease or fat buildup in the trays below the grill so it can’t be ignited by a hot grill.
4. Never attempt to repair the tank valve or the appliance yourself. See a propane gas dealer or a qualified appliance repair person. Be sure to locate your model number and the manufacturer’s consumer inquiry phone number and write them on the front page of your manual.
5. If you smell gas and you are able to, safely turn off the cylinder vale, turning it to the right (clockwise). Immediately leave the area and call 911 or your local fire department. Before you use the grill again, have a qualified service technician inspect your cylinder.
6. Cool a first or second degree thermal burn with water for 15-20 minutes. Never use butter, creams or ointments since they can seal in the heat and cause continued burning. Seek medical attention as needed.
7. According to the N.F.P.A., gas grills contribute to a higher number of fires than charcoal grills.
Below is a link to the interview Ken Lanphear conducted with E.S.C.A.P.E.’s President and founder Firefighter Michael McLeieer on the WKZO Morning Show Monday morning 08/27/2018.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, U.S. fire departments respond to approximately 5,690 fires at education buildings each year. These fires caused an annual 85 civilian injuries and $92 million in direct property damage. Almost a quarter of all school fires are started intentionally. Safety education and preparation should be a priority for every family and school official.
E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire Safety offers these tips to play it safe as children and adolescents return to school:
- Fire drills should be held at least once a month while school is in session (weather permitting).
- Principals, teachers or other school staff must inspect all exits daily to ensure that stairways, doors, and other exits are working properly and are unblocked.
- On the day of the drill, the emergency drill alarm should be sounded on the school fire alarm system. Make sure everyone can recognize the sound of the alarm and knows what to do when it sounds.
- Teachers, officials, and staff should be familiar with the school’s fire protection system, including the location of fire alarms pull stations and sprinklers.
- Every room in the school should have a map posted identifying two ways out. In schools with open floor plans, exit paths should be obvious and kept free of obstruction.
- On the day of the fire drill, everyone in the school should participate.
- Students with specific needs should be assigned an adult or a student buddy to assist them. Fire drills are a good opportunity to identify who among the student population requires extra assistance.
- While it’s important to make sure that students leave the building as quickly as possible, order is more important than speed when it comes to conducting a safe fire drill.
- Use the class rosters to ensure every student is accounted for.
- Fire drills should be held both at expected and at unexpected time, and under varying conditions in order to simulate the conditions that can occur in an actual emergency.
- School fire drills are a model for students to use in their homes. Encourage students to practice their escape plans at home – just as they do at school
If a student engages in firesetting or other negative high risk taking behavior, contact your local fire department or visit www.kidsandfire.org for a list of West Michigan Fire Department based Youth Firesetting Prevention and Intervention programs.
College Fire Safety
While the above tips focus mostly on elementary, middle and high schools, they can also apply to college buildings, where firefighters respond to about 3,810 fires each year – 88% of which are due to cooking mishaps. Here’s a college-level course in fire prevention:
On-campus precautions
- Cook only in designated areas
- Keep cooking areas clean and free of clutter
- Never leave cooking unattended
- In case of a fire inside a microwave, close the door and unplug the unit
Campus lab precautions
- Never leave lab experiments or pressure vessels unattended
- Keep flammable gases and chemicals away from heat
Off-campus precautions
- Be sure each bedroom has a working smoke alarm
- Make sure the building sprinkler system is well maintained
- Building heating and fire-prevention systems need to be checked annually by fire officials
General precautions
- Identify the two closest exits and all possible evacuation routes
- Know locations of fire alarms and how to use them
- Report vandalized fire equipment to campus security
Fire Prevention Week is recognized each October. However, fire safety should be practiced 365 days a year. Whether you’re at home, in the office or at school, safety should come first. Do your part to protect yourself and those around you Where You Live!
This morning, Michael McLeieer and Jake the Fire Safety Dog joined Ken Lanphear on The Morning Show on WKZO AM 590 and 106.9 FM to talk about hotel and motel safety after 6 people died over the weekend at the Cosmo Extended Stay Motel in the Berrien County community of Sodus near Benton Harbor.
Tune in to AM 590 or 106.9 FM WKZO as fire safety expert Lt. Michael McLeieer from E.S.C.A.P.E. talks about Hotel and Motel Fire Safety live around 9:10 am Tuesday July 31, 2018. You may also listen to the live broadcast by clicking here.
Fire safety is important, even when you are away from home. Vacations and business travel make hotels and motels our home away from home. It is just as important to be prepared and know what you would do in a hotel/motel emergency as it is in your own home.
Here are the facts:
- According to the National Fire Protection Association, on average, one of every 13 hotels or motels reported a structure fire each year.
- There are an estimated 3,900 hotel and motel fires that cause 15 deaths, 100 injuries and $100 million in property losses throughout the United States each year.
- The majority of hotel fire deaths result from fires that started in the bedroom.
- Cooking equipment is the leading cause of hotel/motel fires.
Be safe when traveling:
- The United States Fire Administration encourages you to choose a hotel or motel that is protected by both hard-wired smoke alarms and an automatic fire sprinkler system in each guest room.
- When you check in, ask the front desk what the fire alarm sounds like.
After you check in, you and your family should:
- Carefully read and review the escape plan posted in your room.
- Find the two closest exits from your room.
- Count the number of doors between your room and the exits. This will help if you need to get out in the dark.
- Make sure the exits are unlocked. If they are locked, report it to the management right away.
- Find the fire alarms on your floor. Locate the nearest pull stations to active an alarm.
- Keep your room key and cell phone by your bed and take them with you if there is a fire.
- If the alarm sounds, leave right away, closing all doors behind you. Use the stairs – never use elevators during a fire.
- If you must escape through smoke, get low and go under the smoke to your exit.
If you can’t escape…
- Shut off fans and air conditioners.
- Stuff wet towels in the crack around the doors.
- Call 911 to let the fire department know your location.
- Wait at the window and signal with a flashlight or light colored cloth.
- Most importantly, remain calm.
Click here to download the Hotel-Motel Fire Safety flyer located below.
E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire Safety encourages you to visit the Hotel-Motel List to find lodging for you and your family that provides safety and security!
Lt. Michael McLeieer from ESCAPE Fire Safety speaks with Jim McKinney on air this morning and shares some tips to keep everyone safe around the Independence Day holiday.
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – In 2016 alone, the use of fireworks caused more than 11,000 injuries in the United States, with 35 percent of those injured under the age of 15. That’s according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
With fireworks season in full swing, experts want to make sure you’re being safe before you open a pack of fireworks.
“It’s very important that caregivers and other trusted adults are supervising young children to make sure that they’re not in the middle of something that could go wrong,” said Lieutenant Michael McLeieer of the Olivet Fire Department.
McLeieer says there are some important tips to keep in mind this summer while lighting off fireworks.
Some of them include staying away from buildings, keeping your pets inside, and most importantly, if you’re not sure what you’re doing, just leave it to the professionals and go to a public show.
“Two hundred people per day around the fireworks time, around the independence day holiday, end up in the hospital throughout the United States, so fireworks can be very dangerous,” said McLeieer.
Mark Garrity is the Store Manager at Phantom Fireworks in Lansing. He says fireworks can be dangerous in any situation, even if a person isn’t lighting them off. For example, he says a firework case tipped over on accident at work and blew up right next to him.
“It was a scary experience,” said Garrity. “I mean if you’re not safe with these fireworks you can do some really big bodily harm.”
According to the National Fire Protection Association, firecrackers top the list of causing the most injuries at 20 percent. Sparklers follow behind at 19 percent.
Garrity says even though sparklers are popular among kids, adults should still be the ones to light them.
“I’ve seen these fireworks do some harm to people and I just don’t want to hear about it somewhere else that somebody got hurt because they were using fireworks inappropriately,” said Garrity.
If you’d like more information on how to stay safe during this fireworks season, we’ve put some helpful links for you under Seen on 6.
Officials say it’s better to be safe than sorry.
The Maranda Park Party season started off with lots of energy and excitement at Lamar Park in Wyoming on Thursday June 21, 2018 (the first day of summer).
Nearly 8,500 people came out to enjoy all of the great fun and food for free. Whether it was flying down the zip line, grabbing a fruit snack from the Meijer Food Truck, learning about fire safety inside the E.S.C.A.P.E. Mobile Training Center or checking out the Rapid Bus, there was something for everyone to enjoy.
This party set the tone for all of the fun-filled parties to come for the rest of the summer.
As the temperatures rise across West Michigan, summertime brings children and adults outdoors for family gatherings, cookouts and a time to play. However one area firefighter warns of the dangers of water that stays in an outdoor water hose.
Lt. Michael McLeieer from the non-profit charity E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire Safety and the Olivet Fire Department says that “children and adults can suffer second degree burns when hot water is sprayed on them from a garden hose that has been sitting outside in the sun.”
“Water left in an outside hose can reach temperatures between 130 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. That is hot enough to cause a scald burn within seconds to children and animals,” according to McLeieer.
Toddlers and children are more often burned by a scald from hot liquid or steam. Most children ages 4 and under who are hospitalized for burn-related injuries suffer from a scald burn (65%) or contact burns (20%). Hot water burns including hot tap water, causes more deaths and hospitalizations than burns from any other hot liquids.
Lt. McLeieer offers these additional safety tips to keep everyone safe throughout the summer months:
- Adults or caregivers should allow the water to flow from a hose for several minutes purging the hot water and replacing it with cool water before spraying children, animals or outdoor plants.
- Dump standing water from outdoor inflatable ground level water slides when finished.
- Closely supervise all children when they are playing with a garden hose and sprayer.
- If a child experiences a 1st or 2nd degree burn, cool the burned area with cool running water for up to 15 minutes, cover the burn with a dry, clean, non-stick bandage and seek medical attention for 2nd degree burns that blister.
- Do not use ice, butter, lotions or oil on burns as they can seal in the heat and lead to infection and further burning.
- Take your child to the emergency room or call 911 for burns on their hands, feet or genitals that cause blisters or burns that cause the skin to be open.
Summer is almost here. Many schools have already released students for the summer break. Make sure your family knows that fire does not take a summer break.
E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire Safety and the United States Fire Administration offer these fire safety tips to remind children and their caregivers ways to have a fire safe summer.
- Make a home fire escape plan and practice it at least twice a year with your children.
- Have a fire escape plan for young children who cannot get outside by themselves. Talk about who will help each child get out safely.
- Children should know what to do when they hear a smoke alarm and there is no adult around. Help them practice going to an outside meeting place.
- Teach children to never go back inside a building that is on fire.
- Keep smoking materials locked up in a high place and out of children’s reach.
- Never play with lighters or matches when you are with your children.
- Never allow your child to pick up or bring you a lighter, matches or cigarettes.
- Keep children at least 3 feet away from anything that can get hot.
This summer, stop by any of the five Maranda Park Parties. The E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire Safety team will have their mobile smoke demonstration trailer and Jake the Fire Safety Dog on site to teach kids and families how to develop and practice their home fire escape plan, how to stop smoke from entering a room and provide information on how to obtain free smoke or carbon monoxide alarms to those who need them.
Here is the 2018 Maranda Park Party lineup close to Where You Live:
- June 21: Lamar Park | Wyoming
- June 28: Smith Ryerson Park | Muskegon
- July 12: Kollen Park | Holland
- July 19: East Kentwood High School | Kentwood
- July 26: Bronson Park | Kalamazoo
Park Parties run from noon-2pm at the dates listed above. Free lunch will be served to anyone 18 and under starting at 11:30 a.m., while supplies last.
White Pigeon firefighters (left) and Michigan State Firemen’s Association Executive Board (red jackets)
LAPEER, Mich. – Saturday May 19th, four members from the White Pigeon Fire Department in St. Joseph County were presented the 2018 Heroes Award by the Michigan State Firemen’s Association at the 143rd Annual Conference dinner and banquet in Lapeer.
Fire Chief Troy Andrews (with 19 years of service), Lieutenant Jeff Wagaman (with 14 years of service), Firefighter Thomas Law (with 14 years of service), and Fire Cadet Merlin Zehr (with 1 year of service) were recognized for their heroic efforts from a rescue which occurred on January 27, 2018, when a 54-year old man fell through thin ice while fishing. Upon arrival, White Pigeon firefighters noticed the fisherman was in frigid water holding on to the edge of the ice shelf.
White Pigeon firefighters worked together as a team following the Incident Command System and utilizing their frequent training to execute this rescue. Chief Andrews donned the department’s ice and cold water rescue suit, climbed into the water and rescued the hypothermic fisherman.
“These men have it in their heart to serve their community,” said Assistant Chief Tyler Royce, who nominated his brother firefighters for the Heroes Award. “They dedicate countless hours of their own time preparing our department to respond to and mitigate the next emergency,” said Royce.
White Pigeon Fire is a WOTV 4 Women Operation Save A Life department. Firefighters provide free smoke alarms and community risk reduction messaging to residents in need.