Articles Tagged with ''fire safety''

• Close windows, vents, doors, venetian blinds and heavy drapes. Remove lightweight curtains.
• Shut off gas at the meter. Turn off pilot lights.
• Open the fireplace damper. Close fireplace screens.

If you have a home fire today, you are more likely to die in it than you were in 1980, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). This startling fact is attributed to several factors, including the way homes are built and the contents in them.

Still-raging wildfires in California have already claimed eight lives and destroyed countless homes and other buildings – and they are likely to be followed by more fires, say the experts. Extreme heat and breezy conditions are forecast for the week ahead. That and the bone dry landscape make residents who’ve escaped the worst so far unable to breathe a sigh of relief – yet.

Battery energy storage and solar systems are revolutionizing the nation’s electrical infrastructure and creating a strong commercial and consumer interest, with the number of residential battery energy storage system (ESS) installs during the first quarter of 2018 increasing nine-fold over 2017 Q1 figures, according to PV Magazine. That number equaled totals from the previous three quarters.

Last October, more than 40 people lost their lives in a rash of Northern California wildfires that burned more than 245,000 acres. In December, wildfires near Los Angeles forced more than 230,000 people to evacuate their homes. Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Utah also experienced large fires in 2017. It may not be possible to prevent all wildfires, but it is possible to prepare for them and to mitigate their effects, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which is partnering with State Farm® to help people enhance their safety through the fifth annual national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day, on May 5, 2018.

A yellow cap left on during the manufacturing process is behind the recall that’s just been issued of more than 450,000 smoke alarms due to the risk of their not working in the event of a fire.

Across America, states vary widely in how promptly, or even if, they adopt the latest edition of NFPA 70: National Electrical Code® (NEC®). Not adhering to the latest edition can lead to serious shortfalls in electrical safety for citizens and a failure to protect first responders and workers from preventable dangers.

Two organizations dedicated to fire prevention have chosen a day on which a technology that can do just that will be the focus. The National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA) and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) have designated May 19, 2018 as Home Fire Sprinkler Day. Home fires claim the lives of seven people each day.

Although Crock-Pot objected to one of its products being used as the cause of a fatal, if fictional, home fire, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) says the episode of the NBC TV show “This is Us” depicting the blaze provides valuable lessons. In the highly-rated drama, a defective slow cooker sparks a fire in the kitchen of a home that quickly spreads to curtains and then to the rest of the house. The family members are trapped in second floor bedrooms.