ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : The Fire Next Time

Fire prevention officials lament that it often takes a tragedy to get people’s attention, and that even then there is only a short time to get a particular safety message out to the public before life’s other concerns crowd out the advice.

Last week in Santa Ana, a Vietnamese father and his handicapped son died where they slept, and a 2-week-old daughter escaped injury only to have her mother left in critical condition--all because a hibachi was used to heat the family’s small garage apartment.

Unfortunately, this story of a family being overcome by carbon monoxide is a tragedy waiting to happen for many others, whether it’s in a crowded garage that an immigrant family calls home or in a van or boat cabin of someone enjoying a weekend away from it all. It may seem obvious that using a hibachi or small cooking can to heat a home or recreation space is dangerous, but the message clearly must reach more people, especially the poor and immigrants like the Nguyen family.

Santa Ana, with a large immigrant population, does offer fire-prevention talks for community groups. Community and neighborhood leaders should solicit this free advice. The Orange County Fire Department offers briefings and will even provide translators for them. And local communities around the area with their own fire prevention programs can take a cue from the county; it finds translators from community centers or relocation groups.

Some fire departments, Santa Ana’s and Orange County’s among them, have brochures printed in foreign languages. Santa Ana, with its large Latino population, has information printed in Spanish; the county has brochures printed in seven languages. But such pamphlets must reach those in need of information to be effective, and that means leaders in community centers and immigrant-relocation groups must make a point of asking for them. The county Fire Department’s education department, 744-0400, can provide more information.