Steps to help ensure your home is safe from fire
Our hearts go out to the families that lost their homes in the recent Spokane fires. One of the benefits of living in Spokane is that we have strong community outreach for those in need.
Last week’s fires brought out volunteers who immediately stepped up to help. Community centers were set up for people who were temporarily evacuated from their homes. Rural residents called into the radio stations offering to pick up livestock and secure animals safely on their farms. Samaritans brought food and water to the exhausted firefighters as they worked tireless hours around the clock.
When tragedy hits, it raises awareness in each of us. Because we live so close to the forested natural elements, some important questions we need to ask ourselves include:
•Am I covered with current building replacement cost and content value of my home?
•What would I do if I only had a few minutes to save anything valuable and sentimental in my home?
•Where is the nearest fire station?
•Where do I take my family for safety?
•What would I do with my pets or livestock?
Fire safety measures are important before, during and after summer heats up the risk of wildfires around us. From Firewise.org, we offer these helpful fire safety tips:
Prepare Before Fire Strikes
•Make sure all adult members of your family know where your gas, electric and water main shut-off controls are and how to turn them off. Also, show teens how to use a fire extinguisher.
•Become familiar with your community’s disaster-preparedness plans and create a family plan. Know where the closest police, fire and emergency medical facilities are located.
•Plan several different escape routes from your home and neighborhood. Designate an emergency meeting place for the family to reunite. Establish a contact point to communicate with concerned relatives.
•Talk to your neighbors about wildfire safety. Plan how the neighborhood could work together before, during and after a wildfire. Make a list of your neighbors’ skills such as medical or technical. Consider how you would help neighbors who have special needs such as elderly or disabled persons. Make plans to take care of children who may be on their own if parents can’t get home.
•Periodically review your homeowner’s insurance policy with your insurance agent or company to make sure you have enough coverage to rebuild your home and life if you are the victim of a disaster.
During a Wildfire
•If you are warned that a wildfire is threatening your area, listen to your portable radio for reports and evacuation information. Follow the instructions of local officials.
•Back your car into the garage or park it in an open space facing the direction of escape.
•Close garage windows and doors, but leave them unlocked. Disconnect automatic garage door openers.
•Arrange temporary housing outside the threatened area. To find them quickly, confine pets to one room. Make plans to care for your pets in case you must evacuate.
•When advised to evacuate, do so immediately. Take your emergency kit. Wear protective clothing — sturdy shoes, cotton or woolen clothing, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt, gloves and a handkerchief to protect your face.
•Lock your home. Follow the evacuation route that your local officials have identified. If no official route exists, choose a route away from fire hazards. Watch for changes in the speed and direction of the fire and smoke.
•Notify your relatives and the local officials that you have left and where you can be reached.
•If you are SURE you have the time, take these additional steps to protect your home
•Shut off gas at the meter. Turn off pilot lights. Turn off propane tanks.
•Close windows, vents, doors, blinds and heavy drapes. Remove lightweight curtains. Move flammable furniture into the center of the home away from windows and sliding glass doors. Place combustible patio furniture inside.
•Turn on a light in each room to increase the visibility of your home in heavy smoke.
•Connect the garden hose to outsides taps. Seal attic and ground vents. Gather fire tools, including a rake, axe, hand/chainsaw, bucket and shovel.
•Place lawn sprinklers on the roof and near above-ground fuel tanks. Wet the roof. Wet or remove shrubs within 15 feet of the home.
After a Wildfire
•Listen to, and follow the recommendations of the local aid organizations, including the emergency management office, the fire department and the utility companies. Check for hazards, such as gas or water leaks and electrical shorts. Turn off damaged utilities. Have the fire department or gas and electric companies turn the utilities back on when the area is secured. Check for injuries and administer first aid as needed.
When you next purchase or upgrade your home, consider fire safety in these critical areas:
•Choose fire-resistant roofing and siding materials. Replace wood shingles immediately. For outbuildings and sheds, a metal roof is the most fire-resistant. For the home itself, new composition roof shingles utilize fire-resistant technology (see www.firesmartroofing.com). If it’s time to replace siding, remember that vinyl siding melts. Hardiplank siding uses fire-resistant cement fiberboard ( www.jameshardie.com).
•Inspect the greenbelt around your home, and trim all trees to clear at least 5 feet above and around the home. Trees and plants should be in zones, not in a long row that could ignite their way to your home. The most dangerous plants to maintain near structures are acacia, cedar, cypress, eucalyptus, fir, juniper, pine, and pampas grass.
•Choose landscaping plants that are fire-resistant. Remove any foliage within 10 feet of a chimney outlet. Stack firewood at least 30 feet from structures. Remove flammable vegetation within 10 feet of any woodpile. Remove accumulation of leaves, needles, twigs, and all other combustible materials from the roof and rain gutters, and clean the roof and rain gutters regularly.
The Spokane Association of REALTORS® reminds readers that “your home is where your heart is.” Be safe this summer and never take fire safety for granted.