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Public Education
 Public
Fire education comes in many forms. These sites have written
information in them. However, the Fire Prevention Division
has several videos available to check out
for Raytown residents. These are free of
charge unless they are not returned or damaged. Replacement
cost is then billed.
Most
of the fire districts published materials are products of
the National Fire Safety Council. Their literature is
made possible by donations given from the Raytown area
business owners. The main target audience of the material is
elementary age children. The majority of this published materials are distributed to all Raytown School District's
elementary schools just prior to Fire Prevention week.
One of the products listed here is called
'After the Fire'. This has been published by the United States Fire
Administration. It outlines some of the considerations a person must
undertake
after a fire. When fire strikes, lives are suddenly turned around. Often, the
hardest part is knowing where to begin and who to contact.
Life
Saving Fire Facts
Each
year
more than 4,500 Americans die and more
than 30,000 are injured in fires, many of which could be prevented. Every year
for the past five years, over 100 firefighters have lost their lives while on
duty. Many of those were actually fighting fire or responding to fires.
Fire is Fast
There is little time. In less than 30
seconds a small flame can get completely out of control and turn into a major
fire. It only takes minutes for thick black smoke to fill a house. In minutes,
a house can be engulfed in flames. Most fires occur in the home when people
are asleep. If you wake up to a fire, you won't have time to grab valuables
because fire spreads too quickly and the smoke is too thick. There is only
time to escape.
Fire is Hot
Heat is more threatening than flames.
The heat from a residential fire defies description. A fire's heat alone can
kill. After just one minute, room temperatures in a fire can be 100 degrees at
floor level and rise to 600 degrees at eye level. In four minutes the
temperature at floor level is nearly 300 degrees and at ceiling level is above
1000 degrees. Inhaling this super hot air will instantly scorch your lungs and
windpipe. This heat can melt clothes to your skin. In five minutes a room can
get so hot that everything in it
ignites at once. This is called a flashover.
Fire is Dark
Despite what you see on TV or at the
movies, fire isn't bright, it's pitch black. In TV and movie situations, the
producers want you to be able to see the actors. The conditions are staged for
you. In reality, fire starts bright, but quickly produces black smoke and
complete darkness. If you wake up to a fire you may be blinded, disoriented,
and unable to find your way around the home you've lived in for years. You
literally cannot see your hand in front of your face.
Fire
is Deadly
Smoke and toxic gases kill more
people than flames do. Fire uses up the oxygen you need to breath and produces
toxic smoke and poisonous gases that kill within minutes. Breathing even small
amounts of smoke and gases can make you drowsy, disoriented, and short of
breath. Some of these fumes are odorless and colorless. They can lull you into
a deep sleep before the flames reach your door. You may not wake up in time to
escape.
Causes of Fires and Fire Deaths
Cooking is the leading
cause of home fires in the United States. Cooking fires often result from
unattended cooking and human error, rather than mechanical failure of stoves
or ovens.
Careless smoking is the
leading cause of fire deaths. Smoke alarms and smolder-resistant bedding and
upholstered furniture are significant fire deterrents.
Heating is the second
cause of residential fires and ties with arson as the second leading cause of
fire deaths. However, heating fires are a larger problem in single-family
homes than in apartments. Unlike apartments, the heating systems in
single-family homes are often not professionally maintained.
Arson is the third
leading cause of residential fires and the second leading cause of residential
fire deaths. In commercial properties, arson is the major cause of deaths,
injuries and dollar loss.
Who is Most at Risk?
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Senior
citizens and children under the age of five have the greatest risk of fire
death.
-
The
fire death risk among seniors is more than double the average population.
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The
fire death risk for children under age five is nearly double the risk of
the average population.
-
Children
under the age of 10 accounted for an estimated 18 percent of all fire
deaths in 1995.
-
Children
playing with fire start over 30 percent of the fires that kill young
children.
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Men die
or are injured in fires twice as often as women.
What Saves Lives?
A working
smoke alarm dramatically increases a person's chance of surviving a fire. Approximately 90 percent of U.S.
homes have at least one smoke alarm. However, these alarms are not always
properly maintained and as a result might not work in an emergency. There has
been a disturbing increase over the last ten years in the number of fires that
occur in homes with non-functioning alarms.
It is estimated that over 40 percent
of residential fires and three-fifths of residential fatalities occur in homes
with no smoke alarms.
Residential sprinklers have become more
cost effective for homes. Currently, they protect few homes.
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