Safe and Sound : Some Tips to Protect You and Your Home From Disaster

As 75 fifth-graders from George B. Miller Elementary School in La Palma sat in rapt attention, Maria Sabol showed how the tiny flame of a candle could ignite something as seemingly harmless as steel wool.

She also exhibited how quickly a stove-top grease fire could flame up, and how to extinguish it by smothering the flames with a pan lid. Then she showed how the vapors from an oily rag could be ignited suddenly by a spark.

Sabol’s traveling “magic show” on fire safety is part of the Orange County Fire Department’s junior firefighter program, which reaches 10,000 students and their families every year. The program includes a four-week study plan designed to teach home fire safety to children and to involve their parents and siblings.

“The majority of fires we respond to occur in the home, and we find that most fires can be prevented,” said Sabol, a community education specialist with the Fire Department. She added that 80% of fire deaths occur in homes and that most fires happen between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The Top 10 causes of home fires, according to the Fire Department, are cooking, appliances, incendiary (of suspicious origin, possibly arson), electrical, other equipment failure, heating, smoking, children playing with fire, open flames, and other heat sources.

The Miller students learned how to smother grease fires with baking soda. They made a kitchen “fire pail”--a coffee can filled with baking soda--which is better to have around the house than a box of baking soda, Sabol says, since the baking soda can clump up in a box, making it less effective in extinguishing a fire. With the baking soda in a coffee can, it’s easier to reach in and break up any clumps before pouring it on a fire.

Sabol also says that people get confused and sometimes just remember that they’re to use “something white” to smother a grease fire and throw flour on it instead of baking soda. Flour can cause a grease fire to explode.

A fire extinguisher should be tested before it is needed to make sure the person handling it knows how to use it. No one has time to stop and read instructions when a fire breaks out.

Sabol shows her junior firefighters the PASS method of using a fire extinguisher: P--pull the pin from the top of the extinguisher, A--aim toward the base of the fire, S--squeeze the handle, and S--sweep from side to side as you spray.

Some fire extinguishers work only on certain kinds of fires. The wrong kind of extinguisher won’t help and can even make things worse. Recommended is one labeled “ABC,” which is an all-purpose extinguisher.

Some simple yard and household implements can be used to fight home fires, according to the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross. Shovels can be used to throw dirt on small outdoor fires. Rakes can help move debris away from outdoor fires. Wet gunnysacks can help snuff a fire. A household broom might be used to beat out a small fire, and a ladder can be used to reach roofs and windows in two-story homes.

Good planning is an important part of surviving a home fire. Homework for the junior firefighter course includes drawing up and practicing a home safety plan. Students use a piece of graph paper to draw a scale model of the inside of their house, marking all doors and windows. They then rehearse how to remove screens from windows and how to feel a closed door for heat before opening it, and to crawl to avoid smoke inhalation.

According to the Orange County Red Cross, a fire escape rehearsal should start with family members in their bedrooms with the doors closed. After an alarm is sounded, family members test doors for heat and then take alternate exits that have been identified in the escape plan. The family is then to gather at a designated meeting place outdoors.

Companies that provide homeowners’ insurance offer brochures on home safety to policy holders. Luis Sahagun, public affairs coordinator at the Southern California office of State Farm Insurance Cos. in Costa Mesa, says that the information in these brochures may appear self-evident but is often ignored.

Sahagun recalls an incident in which a house burned down because the homeowner used a flammable substance--either gasoline or turpentine--to clean soot from a chimney. Even though the man waited several days to build a fire, his house burned down when he lit a fire in the fireplace.

Fuses are often a hidden danger. A fuse blows because of a short circuit or an overload. Sometimes the problem is caused by too many appliances plugged into the same circuit or by a defect in one of the appliances. If fuses frequently blow out, Sahagun says, it’s time to have the house rewired to avoid an electrical fire.

Another safety problem that is easy to avoid is replacing fuses in older homes without circuit breakers, according to Sahagun. Homeowners need to have plenty of the correct size of fuses handy and to learn how to use them. They should never substitute a metallic object, such as a penny, for a fuse, he says. This overrides a system designed to blow a fuse when the power drawn on a circuit exceeds its capacity. Overriding this system creates a fire hazard.

A fuse should not be replaced with one that has a greater capacity because this will allow wires to carry more current than they are designed to hold, creating another potential fire hazard.

Baby-proofing a home also seems simple enough, but there are dangers that might be overlooked, according to Harvey Feinstein of Babybusters, a Huntington Beach company that will inspect a home for infant and child safety hazards for about $30.

“It’s basically just a matter of getting down on your hands and knees and looking at life through the eyes of a child,” says Feinstein, a former building inspector for Costa Mesa.

Parents can install safety hardware, which is available at children’s stores; or for a fee, Babybusters will install safety latches on cabinets and drawers, electrical outlet covers, plug covers, baby gates, door gates, window locks, toilet locks and plexiglass between the slates in stairways.

The problem with some of these devices, he says, is that they can create inconveniences for parents. A more practical approach to safety, he says, is to lock rooms with potential safety hazards, such as the bathroom, when they’re not in use.

These safety devices can be a deterrent, but Feinstein reminds his clients that “nothing is foolproof or totally safe. You just have to keep an eye on your child at all times. . . . It is up to the parent to make the safety of the child work.”

It’s important that parents make sure that harmful products--such as knives, cleaning compounds, medicine, insecticides, detergents and soap--are not within a child’s reach.

The Orange County Red Cross offers several classes in home safety. Earthquake and disaster preparedness classes offer a booklet with a basic home safety checklist, which includes fire safety information and instructions on how to create a home fire escape plan. Information also is provided on a “first-aid kit in a can” and some basic first aid techniques.

Infant and child cardiopulmonary resuscitation classes also include a section on child-accident prevention. The Red Cross offers classes in first aid and water safety and plans to introduce a program this year that promotes water safety specifically for infants and preschoolers. For a schedule of classes offered in the county, call the American Red Cross Santa Ana Service Center at (714) 835-5381.

“A lot of people are prepared, and they’re getting better, but a lot of people still aren’t,” says Debbie M. Leahy , assistant director of health and safety services for the Orange County chapter of the American Red Cross.

Taking classes in preparedness, first aid or CPR should be a priority for everyone, Leahy says.

“People do not think it’s going to happen to them, or they just think, ‘Oh, I’ll just do that another time. I’m too busy right now,’ ” she says.

Leahy says classes just take a few hours and are inexpensive. For example, the earthquake and disaster preparedness course is only $5 a family. CPR and first aid classes are about $30.

More information on home safety is available from a variety of sources, including the following:

The Consumer Information Center of the U.S. General Services Administration offers brochures on “Asbestos in the Home,” No. 133X, $1; “Homebuyers Guide to Environmental Hazards,” No. 427X, and “What You Should Know About Lead-Based Paint in Your Home,” No. 467X, 50 cents. To send for a free catalogue of brochures and an order blank, write to R. Woods, Consumer Information Center-W, P.O. Box 100, Pueblo, Colo. 81002.

The Southern California Earthquake Preparedness Project, a state and federally funded agency under the Office of Emergency Services, has a free booklet with detailed instructions on how to develop a family preparedness plan, strap water heaters to walls and bolt sill plates to foundations. To receive the “Home Earthquake Preparedness Guide,” write to the Southern California Earthquake Preparedness Project, 1110 E. Green St., Suite 300, Pasadena, Calif. 91106.

In the Orange County Fire Department’s brochure “How to Dispose of Household Hazardous Materials,” readers are alerted to the fact that materials such as furniture polish, nail polish remover and partially full aerosol cans need to be taken to household hazardous materials collection centers for disposal because of their combustibility. For more information on household hazardous materials and disposal sites, call (714) 744-0516.

SAFETY TIPS Street address A street address should be clearly visible to the street, so police or firefighters can easily find the house in an emergency. Foundation The sill plate of the house should be bolted to its foundation because a major quake can shake a building off its foundation. Brush clearance The Orange County Fire Department asks homeowners to clear hillside grass, dry weeds, brush, dry leaves and dead trees to 30 feet or more from homes. For more information, call (714) 744-0500. Chimney Chimneys should have rain caps and half-inch mesh arresters. Tree branches should be at least 10 feet away from a chimney. Roof Clear the roof of leaves, pine needles and twigs that could help ignite a fire. Kitchen Cooking is the most common cause of home fires. Never leave oil or fat heating on stoves unattended, even to answer the telephone or doorbell. If a fire occurs on the stove top, cover the pan with a lid of the same size or larger or a cookie sheet. Do not try to move a pan that is on fire. Do not put water on the fire; this will only make it spread. Baking soda can extinguish a grease fire (make sure it’s not in clumps), while a fire extinguisher could be used on an oven fire. Get an all purpose fire extinguisher and know how to use it. To avoid poisoning, make sure detergents, soaps, cleaners and other possible hazards are out of small children’s reach. Windows Make second-story windows inaccessible to small children. Don’t leave a chair, table or object a child can climb on near the window. Keep the window locked. For a sliding window, install a device on the track that only allows the window to open a few inches. Smoke detectors Every home should have a smoke detector near sleeping areas. A detector should be at the top of open stairways, at the bottom of enclosed stairways and near the furnace, according to the Orange County Fire Department. Test it once a month and replace the batteries once a year. Bedrooms Never smoke in bed. Have fire ladders (rope ladders that fold up and store under a bed or in a closet) in second floor bedrooms. The County Fire Department advises having a telephone, a whistle and eye glasses (if you wear them) next to your bed. The whistle can alert other family members to a fire and it can lead people to rescue you. Do not install metal bars on your windows unless the bars can be released from the inside. Make sure that windows are not painted shut. Place beds away from any objects that might fall during an earthquake. Bathrooms Move all medicines and bathroom cleaners out of the reach of small children. Use a rubber mat inside your tub or shower to prevent slipping. Set hot water heater thermostats no higher than 120 degrees and always check the temperature of a bath or shower to avoid scalding. Never leave small children unattended in a bathtub. Living Room/Family Room “Octopus” electrical outlets with multiple electrical items plugged in are a fire hazard. If more than two devices must be plugged in, get an extension strip with a circuit breaker. Don’t place extension cords under carpets or rugs because overheating can result. Stereo components stacked directly on top of one another are also a potential fire hazard. There needs to be some space in between components to allow for ventilation and cooling. Install a screen in front of a fireplace to contain sparks. Fasten tall bookcases to a wall with brackets, to prevent them tipping over during an earthquake. Place a guard (a small strip of wood or even wire) to hold books in open shelves. Utilities Know how to shut off the utilities, including the emergency gas cut-off, main water valve and electricity fuse box or circuit breaker. Water heaters Water heaters should be strapped to the nearest wall because they can easily topple in an earthquake. Flexible connectors that can absorb some of the impact of a quake are also advisable on water heaters and all other gas appliances. Swimming pools For information on pool safety, rent the 20-minute video, “Home Pool Safety: It Only Takes A Minute,” from the Red Cross. Water safety courses and CPR classes are also offered. Contact the Santa Ana headquarters of the Red Cross at (714) 835-5381.