Here we are again, it is October and Fire Prevention Month. We have visited with so many classes and so many students that I have lost count. We have also received so many cookies and other treats that we could feed the entire city for a week. A table full of sweets is not what I need to come to work to every shift, but it is so nice to know that we are appreciated. Speaking of fire prevention, have you thought about it lately? If not, then you are like most. I want to challenge you to be different than most, though. It just might save your life. Probably the quickest way to brush up on your fire safety, if you have young kids, is to ask them. They have been studying fire safety diligently, at least around here. I suspect it is the same everywhere. If you do not have young kids, you still need to know about fire safety. Everyone knows that we should have an escape plan, but how many actually do? If you do have one, when is the last time that you sat down as a family and discussed it. Is it still workable (have things changed - family dynamics, remodel, etc)? Does everyone remember the plan? Do you have a designated meeting place, and does everyone know where that is? Having a plan is important, but early detection and warning is critical to escaping a burning house. We all think that we have time, but believe me time is not on your side in a house fire. The Fire Problem
 Many Americans believe "fires can only happen to other people...not to me and not in my home". Yet, over 80 percent of fire deaths occur in the home.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), fire is the third leading cause of accidental deaths. Residential occupancies account for most fire fatalities and most of these deaths occur at night during the sleeping hours. 1.5 million Americans are injured by fire each year. It is estimated that each household will experience three (usually unreported) fires per decade and two fires serious enough to report to a fire department per lifetime.
Even though 92% of homes have smoke detectors in America today, the fire death rate does not reflect any decrease in deaths due to this protection. The United States has one of the highest fire death rates in the industrialized world, with home fires as a leading cause of death of children. To put the fire epidemic into perspective, each year fire kills more Americans than all natural disasters combined, and kills more children than polio did as a run away epidemic. According to the Burn Awareness Center, burns are the number one cause of accidental death in children under the age of 2, the second cause of accidental death in children from ages 1-4, and the third for ages 1-18.
The Safety Solution
There is a solution… being prepared. Knowing that your chances of having a fire are so great, you should expect to need a plan. Chances are, you will wake up with only a matter of moments to do everything right... for you and your loved ones.
Reasonable fire safety can be produced through the following three-point program:
1. Minimizing fire hazards
2. Providing early warning
3. Having and practicing an escape plan"
FYI, according to a Texas A&M study, the most common type of detector, the type sold at your local discount store, has a 55.8% chance of failure in a smoldering fire, which is the type of fire that you are most likely to have in your house. This ionization detector, which is supposed to detect particles, fails to detect the type of particle (small and few) found in smoldering fires. It also does not detect the minimal temperature change found in smoldering fires. The best bet is a photoelectric detector. It has only a 4.06 % probability of providing early warning, according to the A&M study. The ones that I have in my house detect both smoke and heat and will trigger with minimal smoke or at a temperature of 135 degrees Celsius. With the ionization type detector, most people do not get pay much attention because of the false alarms that they have experienced over the years. With the photoelectric detectors that I have, my family knows that any alarm is to be taken seriously and without question. And, yes, we do talk about fire safety in my home. My question is, "Do you." I promise you that if you will spend just 5 minutes a month, which equals to just 1 hour per year, discussing home fire safety, that will be 1 hour more per year than probably anyone else that you know, and it just might save your life.
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at the same time. Last game was yesterday; awards ceremony today. I had a great group of boys, and I got a hug and a thank you from each one of them. Great parents, too. The best compliment (besides the hugs): A parent said to me, "See you next year."