Keep the home fires burning? Bad idea

The theme for this year’s Fire Prevention Week, which ended Saturday, was “Practice Your Escape Plan.”

To put a modern twist on it, the National Fire Protection Assn. invited folks to make videos of their escape drills and post them on YouTube for all to see.

The video campaign was not a rousing success. By midweek, only two videos were submitted, one of which starred Otis, a family dog. But that doesn’t mean the message was a bad one.

There were 412,000 home fires in the U.S. last year, according to the U.S. Fire Administration, a branch of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The blazes caused more than 2,600 deaths and nearly $7 billion in damage.

The dangers are heightened in many parts of Southern California because of hazards from dry vegetation, including brush, near residential areas.

Agencies and nonprofit organizations vary in the advice they give for preventing residential fires. But on the fundamentals, they tend to agree.

Here’s a summary of the advice from the National Fire Protection Assn. ( www.nfpa.org), the U.S. Fire Administration ( www.usfa.dhs.gov) and the Los Angeles County Fire Department ( www.fire.lacounty.gov).

Smoke detectors: The rate of deaths caused by fires has fallen by nearly half since the 1970s, and these little devices have played a key role in that drop, fire officials say.

If you live in a rented apartment, your landlord is usually required by law to have them installed.

If you are a homeowner, get at least one for each floor, including the basement, and make sure there is one outside each sleeping area (inside the sleeping areas too, if doors are usually closed while sleeping).

Mount the detectors high on walls or on ceilings -- smoke rises -- and never paint over them.

If they run on batteries, put in fresh ones at least twice a year. A handy way to remember is to change the batteries whenever we switch back and forth from daylight saving time.

Finally, it’s a good idea to replace the detectors every eight to 10 years.

Cooking: Mishaps involving food preparation are the leading cause of home fires in the U.S. About 30% of them begin in kitchens, according to the National Fire Protection Assn.

Most commonly, heat from a range or stove ignites grease, walls, cabinets, curtains, clothing, plastic bags or just about anything else flammable that can be found in a kitchen.

The leading culprit: unattended cooking. Fire officials recommend that you never leave something on a burner and walk away.

Oven mitts or pot lids sometimes can be used to smother a small range-top fire. In fact, smothering is the remedy of choice for a range-top fire. Never pour water on a grease fire. And be careful not to directly spray a fire extinguisher into a pan fire because that can spread burning grease around the kitchen.

Always keep dangling clothing away from burners.

Heat/flame: The two main offenders are fireplaces and space heaters.

Always burn seasoned, as opposed to “green,” wood in a fireplace; otherwise the waste product creosote can build up and ignite.

Chimneys should be cleaned periodically -- some sources say as often as once a year, depending on how much they’re used. Consult your local chimney sweep.

A screen put over the front of the fireplace should be sturdy enough to stay in place and block any embers that come flying out. Save the charcoal lighting fluid for the barbecue -- it should never be used to start a wood fire inside your home.

Space heaters should never be placed adjacent to something that could ignite, including clothing, bed linens and furniture.

And although candles don’t add much heat to a room, their flames can be dangerous. Again, the most important thing is to keep lighted candles away from flammable materials.

Also, don’t leave a burning candle unattended (that accounted for 20% of fires caused by candles, the National Fire Protection Assn. said). Obviously, candles should be blown out before you go to bed.

Smoking: It’s not the leading cause of home fires, but it is for home-fire deaths.

If you smoke, don’t do it if there’s any possibility that you’ll fall asleep. Mattresses, bed linens and upholstered furniture are among the materials most often ignited in smoking-caused fires.

Ashtrays should be deep and wide and placed on sturdy tables. Keep matches and lighters in places where children can’t get at them.

Outdoors: The Los Angeles County Fire Department says that dead and otherwise highly flammable vegetation should be cleared to at least 30 feet away from structures. The clearance area should be bigger in high fire-hazard locales.

Stacked wood also should be kept 30 feet from structures. Woodpiles should get their own nonflammable vegetation perimeter of at least 10 feet.

Trees should be trimmed so that branches are at least 10 feet from chimneys (and chimneys should have spark arresters installed). Also, trees taller than 18 feet should have branches lower than 6 feet removed.

While you’re outside, make sure your home address is visible from the street so the fire department can identify it in an emergency.

Escape plan: Even if you have attended to all of the above, make a plan in case fire does strike.

There should be more than one route planned for getting out of each room in case the most direct route is blocked by fire or smoke.

The routes don’t always have to follow hallways. One could make use of a ground-floor window, for instance.

Remind everyone not to enter a room if the door feels hot. And if there’s smoke along the route, get close to the floor, where the air is likely to be clearer.

The basic idea is to get out of the house safely as quickly as possible.

Choose a meeting area outside the house where attendance can be taken.

Then, in a bit of family theater, practice! Make it fun, so the kids don’t laugh at you too much.

If all this preparation one day saves the lives of your loved ones, it will be worth all the jokes at your expense.

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david.colker@latimes.com

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Halloween safety

Combine holidays and decorations, and the potential for home fires can get scary. Here are safety tips for Halloween:

Purchase costumes that are labeled flame-resistant or flame-retardant.

If you make your own costume, choose materials that will not easily ignite if they come in contact with flames or heat.

To illuminate jack-o-lanterns, battery-powered lights are safest (there are flicker lights available that simulate candles). If candles are used, make sure the pumpkin is not placed near items that can burn.

Dried flowers and cornstalks used in decorations are highly flammable -- keep them away from open flames.

Don’t block home exits with decorations.

Source: National Fire Protection Assn.