National Fire Prevention Week is October 9-15, 2011. This year the NFPA’s official theme for Fire Prevention Week is “Protect Your Family From Fire”. As per the NFPA, this year’s campaign is all about keeping you, your family, and your community safer from fire.

Associated Fire Protection encourages everyone to take some time during Fire Prevention Week to review what you know about fire safety and to educate yourself on how to keep yourself, your family and your community safe.

Associated Fire Protection employees are always available to answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to contact us at 973-684-4500 or visit us online at www.associatedfire.com to send us an email with any questions you may have.

Visit our online store and take advantage of special sales on fire protection and home safety products.

National Fire Prevention Week is October 3-9th, 2010. This year the NFPA’s official theme for Fire Prevention week is “Smoke Alarms: A Sound You Can Live With!” As per NFPA, “This year’s campaign is designed to educate people about the importance of smoke alarms and encourage everyone to take the steps necessary to update and maintain their home smoke alarm protection.”

Associated Fire Protection has dedicated this issue of The Detector to fire prevention in the home.  We encourage everyone to take some time during Fire Prevention Week to change the batteries/check the operation of the smoke detectors in your home or apartment.  In addition please discuss your fire escape plan with all the members of your household. 

If you have any questions, please give us at 973-684-7250.  To take advantage of specials on smoke alarms and various home safety products visit our online store, or visit our retail store located at 100 Jackson Street, Paterson NJ 07501.

• Each year nearly 3,000 people die in U.S home fires. 
• A fire department responded to a home fire every 81 seconds. 
• Unattended cooking continues to be the leading cause of home fires and home fire injuries.
• Heating equipment fires accounted for 16% of all reported home fires (second behind cooking) and 21% of home fire deaths.

Smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a reported fire in half.

Many people may believe that their home is adequately protected if they have at least one smoke alarm in the home. However, smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the home (including the basement), outside each sleeping area, and inside each bedroom. Larger homes may need additional smoke alarms.

Interconnection of smoke alarms or a fire alarm system is highly recommended; when one smoke alarm sounds, they all do. (This is particularly important in larger or multi-story homes, where the sound from distant smoke alarms may be reduced to the point that it may not be loud enough to provide proper warning, especially for sleeping individuals.) A licensed electrician can install hard-wired multiple-station alarms. Wireless alarms, which manufacturers have more recently begun producing, can be installed by the homeowner.

Test stand-alone smoke alarms at least monthly by pushing the test button. If an alarm “chirps,” warning the battery is low, replace the battery right away. All smoke alarms, including alarms that use 10-year batteries and those that are hard-wired alarms, should be replaced when they’re 10 years old (or sooner) if they do not respond properly when tested.  In more than half of the reported home fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate even though the fire was large enough, batteries were missing or disconnected. Nuisance alarms were the leading reason for disconnected alarms. Never remove or disable a smoke alarm.

Download NFPA’s free smoke alarm safety checklist (PDF) to test your knowledge about your home’s smoke alarms.

Need to know more about smoke alarms?

Information provided by NFPA and “Check Your Smoke Alarm Facts” by Mike Hazel.

The rule amends the retrofit requriements of the State’s Uniform Fire Code (N.J.A. C5:70-4.7), which previously had allowed nursing homes constructed of non-combustible materials to be exempt from the sprinkler system requirment. These type structures, however, still pose the risk of fatal fire due to combustible building contents.

There were two fatal nursing home fires in 2003: one in Hartford, Connecticut in which 16 residents died and one in Nashville, Tennesse resulting in 15 deaths. Both of these homes were constructed of non-combustible materials and did not have sprinkler systems.

Analysis by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) of data from 1994-1998 shows that there were 10.8 deaths per 1,000 fires in nursing homes without sprinklers versus 1.9 deaths per 1,000 fires when automatic suppression systems were present. in July, 2004, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on nursing home fire safety. This report was prepared in response to the fatal fires mentioned above. The GAO report begins its findings by pointing out that “sprinklers are considered to be the single most effective fire protection feature” and that “there has never been a multiple-death fire in a fully sprinklered nursing home.”

For more information on the new nursing home sprinkler requirements contact Associated Fire Protection at sales@associatedfire.com or call us at 866-812-3473