If you are buying or renting a manufactured home (sometimes called a mobile home), make sure you keep fire safety in mind. According to the National Fire Protection Association and E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire & Safety, by following a few tips and knowing the facts and the safety requirements for manufactured homes, you can help keep your family safe Where You Live.
Safety Tips
- Choose a home built after 1976 that has the HUD label certifying that it meets certain minimum safety standards.
- Be sure your home has enough smoke alarms. Manufactured homes are required to be sold with smoke alarms, but sometimes people remove them. You need a smoke alarm inside each bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and in or near the family/living room area(s). For the best protection, interconnect all smoke alarms so when one sounds, they all sound.
- Test smoke alarms at least once a month and replace batteries at least once a year.
- Have a home fire escape plan that includes two ways out of every room and an outside meeting place. Make sure all ways out of the home are easy to use. Practice your fire drill at least twice a year with your family.
- Make sure you can open and get out of windows and doors. Don’t block access to them.
- If the smoke alarms sound when you are cooking, consider moving the alarm further from the kitchen area or install a photoelectric type alarm with a hush button which is less sensitive to cooking.
- Never remove or disable a smoke alarm.
- Consider having a licensed electrician inspect the electrical system to be sure it is safe and meets the applicable National Electrical Code® requirements.
- Have smokers smoke outside the home. Provide large, non-tip ashtrays and empty them frequently. Douse butts with water before throwing them away. Check around and under cushions for smoldering butts.
- Keep space heaters at least three feet away from anything that can burn. When purchasing new space heaters, select appliances with automatic shut-off switches. Turn off portable heaters before falling asleep or when leaving the room. Supervise children and pets when space heaters are operating.
Remember to watch what you heat when cooking or frying and keep a 3-foot kid free zone away from anything that is hot.
Cooking is the leading cause of home fires and injuries each year. Adults over the age of 65 are twice as likely to die in a cooking-related home fire. Adults 85 years and over are four times as likely to die from a burn injury. E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire & Safety offer a few tips you can follow to prevent these fires, fatalities, and injuries:
- Be on alert! If you are sleepy or have consumed alcohol, don’t use the oven or stovetop.
- Stand by your pan! Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.
- If you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you are cooking.
- Keep anything that can catch fire — oven mitts, wooden utensils, food packaging, towels or curtains— away from your stovetop.
- Turn handles of pots and pans to the side so you don’t accidentally bump them and spill the contents.
- Cook on back burners first to avoid young hands from touching hot burners or hot pans.
- Keep kids away from the cooking area. Maintain a three-foot kid free zone away from things that are hot and can burn (the stove, oven, microwave, or food).
- Wear short, close-fitting, or tightly rolled sleeves when cooking. Loose clothing can easily catch fire if it comes in contact with a gas flame or electric burner.
- Check the kitchen after you finish cooking to make sure the oven, burners and other appliances are turned off.
Remember to take a few minutes and use common sense to prevent a fire or burn injury Where You Live!
Change Your Clock, Change Your Battery
Throughout October, we have shared tips to keep your family safe from fire.
On Sunday, November 2, it’s time to change your smoke and carbon monoxide alarm batteries when you change your clock back one hour from Daylight Saving Time.
Families are encouraged to use the extra hour “gained” from the end of daylight saving time to review and practice their home fire safety plan and remind their friends, family and neighbors of the life-saving habit of testing and changing smoke alarm batteries.
Working smoke alarms double the chance of a family surviving a home fire and/or an unsafe carbon monoxide level.
Remember, when the smoke or carbon monoxide alarm sound, Get Out and Stay Out and then call 911 from the designated meeting place.
Sometimes saving a life can be that simple – Change Your Clock Change Your Battery® Where You Live!
11th Annual Family Fire Safety Day – 10/25/2014
PORTAGE, MI – October 25, 2014 – E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire & Safety, WOOD TV 8, WOTV 4, AM 590 WKZO, 106.5 WVFM and WNWN 98.5 FM invited families to learn how to be fire safe today at the 11th Annual Family Fire Safety Day from 10am – 2pm at Lowe’s in Portage.
The day included a variety of activities. For starters, there were free 9-volt and AA battery and smoke alarm give-a-ways (while they lasted). Plus, children and families had the chance to meet WVFM’s Ken Lanphear and WOOD TV’s Bill Steffen as well as Jake The Fire Safety Dog from E.S.C.A.P.E.
Jake guided families as they crawled under the smoke inside the E.S.C.A.P.E. fire safety demonstration trailer and went outside to the designated meeting place.
In addition, a Life EMS Ambulance was on location and paramedics distributed safety information and a Portage fire engine was also available for a tour that offered the opportunity to ask the crew about their equipment.
Jake the Fire Safety Dog invited his friend, Dr. Seely Rotigel, to join us this year. She promoted health and safety for Jake and his four legged friends.
Coffee Rescue was on location serving refreshments again this year.
There was even a Halloween costume contest for kids with prizes at 11am.
Adults even had the opportunity to enter to win free fire safety items.
“2013 ended with the worst civilian fire fatality rate not seen since 1999 throughout Michigan,” said Firefighter Michael McLeieer, President and Founder of E.S.C.A.P.E. “Most of the fatalities, especially those here in West Michigan occurred in homes without working smoke alarms. It’s through events like the Family Fire Safety Day that we can connect the community and first responders together to educate and empower families to plan, prepare and practice fire safety all throughout the year,” said McLeieer.
E.S.C.A.P.E. would like to thank our generous sponsors and supporters of this annual event:
- Lowe’s in Portage
- WOOD TV 8
- WOTV 4
- Maranda
- WKZO AM 590
- WVFM 106.5
- WNWN 98.5
- Liberty Mutual Insurance
- Craig’s Cruisers
- SAFE Kids – Kalamazoo County
- Papa Johns – South Westnedge (Portage)
- Life EMS
- Portage Department of Public Safety – Fire Division
- The Visiting Vet
- EDub Designs
- Coffee Rescue
- Ridge NAPA
- Post Community Credit Union
- Roger and Joy Kamphius
The E.S.C.A.P.E. Mobile Training Center Fire & Safety Trailer
Our five bugle premier media sponsors
The 2014 E.S.C.A.P.E. Mobile Training Center five bugle sponsors.
To view the photo album from the 11th Annual Family Fire Safety Day, visit:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.881251331885780.1073741868.126934187317502&type=1
For more information about E.S.C.A.P.E. and other fire safety tips, visit http://www.escapeinc.org or http://www.jakethefiredog.org.
Halloween can be fun when you stay safe!
Halloween is coming soon. Our friend Maranda from WOTV4Women offers these tips to make your night safe, fun and enjoyable.
Flame Resistant Costumes
Look for flame-resistant costumes. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends costumes made out of synthetic materials like nylon or polyester, which are less flammable than other materials.
Make sure you glow!
Make sure the Trick-or-Treaters have a flashlight. Add reflective tape to costumes and Trick-or-Treat bags. Have everyone wear light-colored clothing in order to be seen.
Face Paint Fright
Instead of masks, which can cover the eyes and make it hard to see, consider using face paint.
Trick-or-Treating Route
Plan the Trick-or-Treat route and make sure adults know where children are going. A parent or responsible adult should accompany young children along the planned route.
Get the Pumpkin Glow
Use a glow stick instead of a candle in the Jack-O-Lantern to avoid a fire hazard.
Sidewalk Safety
Walk only on the sidewalks, not in the street. If no sidewalk is available, walk at the edge of the roadway, facing traffic. Look both ways before crossing the street and cross only at the corner. Don’t cut across yards or use alleys. Don’t cross between parked cars.
Bright Front Porch
If someone is welcoming Trick-or-Treaters at their home, they should make sure the outdoor light is on. Accept treats at the door – never go inside.
Safe Walking Zone
Sweep leaves from the sidewalks and steps. Make sure you clear the porch or front yard of any obstacles that a child could trip over.
Animal Safety
Restrain any household pets. Be cautious around neighbor’s pets and any other animals, no matter how cute they may be!
October is Fire Safety Month, and Jake the Safety Dog and E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire Safety want to make sure your family is safe with these fire safety tips:
- Make sure you have a working smoke alarm
- Test your alarm monthly
- Change batteries yearly
- Replace alarm every ten years
- Have a smoke alarm in each bedroom and on each floor
- Don’t put an alarm in the kitchen to reduce false alarms
- Call your local fire department’s non-emergency line with questions or concerns
- Review home escape plans
- Have at least two exits that are easily accessible
- Have a meeting place for the family
It’s family business at Spencer Manufacturing in South Haven. Our friend Maranda from WOTV 4 Women visited the family-owned company, which has been building custom fire trucks since 1986.
Spencer creates each fire truck based on what a fire department needs. Each truck takes about three months to complete and is made in three steps: building the body, painting, and checking the plumbing and electrical. The staff at Spencer have to follow strict guidelines in building the fire trucks. Each truck can cost anywhere between $100,000 and $1 million.
Jake The Fire Safety Dog joined his friend Maranda from WOTV4Women and kids in Kalamazoo came ready to run the Fifth Third Junior on October 22.
Kids ages five to 13 got to participate in a half mile or one mile fun run on the track at Kalamazoo Central High School. The program is hosted by the Fifth Third River Bank Run. It introduces kids to running through the Feelin’ Good Mileage Club, which took place in more than 20 area schools. Students who completed at least five miles in the Feelin’ Good Mileage Club got to participate in Fifth Third Junior for free!
KALAMAZOO COUNTY, Mich. (WOTV) Students in the Kalamazoo area are getting a first-hand lesson at how trees turn into lumber. The Log to Lumber program was started five years ago to teach kids in wood shop about where lumber comes from. The program also shows them how their classes relate to real-life situations and lets them explore career opportunities they might not otherwise know about.
The program teaches students about forestry, forest management, how to measure a tree, determine its value, and cut it down. It then takes them through the process of hauling a tree to the saw mill and cutting it into boards.
Here is the full video of the Log to Lumber program on Maranda Where You Live – 10/23/2014:
Here is the 1st part of the Log To Lumber program on Maranda Where You Live – 10/23/2014:
Here is the 2nd part:
Here is the 3rd part:
Here is the 4th and final part:
Nothing says fall quite like a campfire. Whether telling spooky ghost stories or roasting marshmallows around the fire, it’s important to understand how to stay safe around a fall campfire.
- Select an appropriate location. Before creating a campfire, make sure you understand any rules or regulations for your area. Avoid building the fire near low-hanging branches, tree roots, structures, and other flammable items. Try to choose a location where your fire will be sheltered from the wind and use campfire rings or other designated campfire accessories whenever possible.
- Use the appropriate campfire fuel. Soft woods like pine, fir, and cedar are best for starting a fire. Start the fire by building a small teepee of dry sticks and igniting it with a match. As the fire gets started, add larger pieces of wood. Remember to keep the fire small. Don’t burn items that may explode or give off toxic fumes. Items should never be thrown in a fire. That includes batteries, plastic bags, glass, and aluminum cans.
- Supervise the campfire area continuously. A responsible adult should always be present while a campfire is burning. Encourage small children to stay seated several feet away from the fire. Extinguished campfire areas should still be monitored after the flames have gone out to make sure the campfire does not re-ignite and to make sure that children are not burned by embers, which still retain heat even after the fire is extinguished.
- Completely extinguish the campfire. A roaring fire is both a success, and a responsibility. It is your job to properly maintain and extinguish your campfire when you are finished. Make sure you always have a large bucket of water and metal shovel on hand to put out the fire. Pour lots of water on the fire, drown all embers, not just the red ones, until the hissing sound stops. Stir the campfire ashes and embers with a shovel and pour more water on the ashes, then feel the area to make sure they are cold to the touch.
From the pumpkin patch to ghost stories around the campfire, E.S.C.A.P.E. Fire Safety reminds you that fall activities are more fun when you know that your kids are safe Where You Live!