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As the time change approaches on Sunday, November 1, the Washington Township Fire Department wants to remind residents to make another change that could save their lives — changing the batteries in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors.

Communities nationwide witness tragic home fire deaths each year. Approximately every 3 hours a home fire death occurs somewhere in the nation and 80 percent of those occur in homes without working smoke alarms. Non-working smoke alarms rob residents of the protective benefits home fire safety devices were designed to provide. The most commonly cited cause of non-working smoke alarms: worn or missing batteries. Changing smoke alarm batteries at least once a year is one of the simplest, most effective ways to reduce these tragic deaths and injuries. In fact, working smoke alarms nearly cut in half the risk of dying in a home fire. Additionally, the International Association of Fire Chiefs recommends replacing your smoke alarms every ten years.

To save lives and prevent needless injuries in Washington Township and the city of Centerville, the Washington Township Fire Department has joined forces with Energizer and the International Association of Fire Chiefs for the 22nd year of the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery® campaign. The program urges all Americans to adopt a simple, lifesaving habit: changing smoke alarm and carbon monoxide detector batteries when changing clocks back to standard time each fall, this year on November 1. Americans are encouraged again to check the batteries during the spring time change on March 14, 2010.

“The peak time for home fire fatalities is between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. when most families are sleeping,” says Chief Bill Gaul. “Smoke alarm maintenance is a simple, effective way to reduce home fire deaths. Children and senior citizens are most at risk, and a working smoke alarm can give them the extra seconds they need to get out safely.”

In addition, Chief Gaul recommends residents use the “extra” hour they save from the time change to test smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors by pushing the test button, planning “two ways out” and practicing escape routes with the entire family. Families should also prepare a fire safety kit that includes working flashlights and fresh batteries. During the spring, communities should use the time change on March 14, 2010 as an opportunity check the batteries in emergency power kits.

Tragically, fire can kill selectively. Those most at risk include:

• Children — About 600 individuals under the age of 20 die each year in home fires. Children under age 5 are at twice the risk of dying in a home fire. Eighty percent of fatal home fire victims who were children were killed in homes without working smoke alarms.

• Seniors — Adults over age 75 are three times more likely to die in home fires than the rest of the population; those over 85 are 4.5 times more likely to die in a home fire. Many seniors are unable to escape quickly.

• Low-Income Households — Many low-income families are unable to afford batteries for their smoke alarms. These same households often rely on poorly installed, maintained or misused portable or area heating equipment — a main cause of fatal home fires.

For more information about fire safety, call the Washington Township Fire Department or the Change Your Clock Change Your Battery® hotline 314-727-5700, x108 or e-mail cyccyb@blickandstaff.com or call the International Association of Fire Chiefs at 703-273-0911 or email corporaterelations@iafc.org.

Join the Washington Township Firefighters Association on Sunday, August 9, 2009 for the 61st Annual Ice Cream Social.

163 Maple Avenue (Station 41) across from Stingley Elementary School. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Prizes will be awarded throughout the day! Look for raffle ticket sheets in your Washington Township Quarterly or download them.

Grand Prize: $500 cash
2nd Prize: $300 Kroger gift card
3rd Prize: Digital camera

Highlights:

• Miami Valley Hospital Careflight
• Kids can be firefighters for the day with special games
• Real firehouse cooked food, including BBQ Chicken, Burgers, Hotdogs, Corn on the Cob & more Fresh Ice Cream
• See your FIRE & EMS Personnel in action with demonstrations

In Ohio, only sparklers and novelty-type fireworks are legal for use by consumers.  Novelty fireworks do NOT include firecrackers, roman candles, or any other device that explodes or becomes airborne.

Firefighters recommend that the best way to enjoy fireworks displays is to attend an event coordinated by licensed personnel.  Let the professionals provide you with a celebration that you can enjoy while remaining safe. The Americana Fourth of July Festival will hold their annual fireworks display at Centerville High School on Saturday, July 4.  Stadium events will begin at 9 p.m.

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Resource: http://www.fireworksafety.com/injuries07.pdf

Sparklers, trick noisemakers & novelties are exempt under Ohio law. Other consumer fireworks may be sold to Ohio residents upon execution of a form agreeing to take the items out to the state within 48 hours, or to out-of state residents upon execution of a form agreeing to take the items out the state within 72 hours.

Washington Township Fire Department is hosting a blood drive on Friday, May 29, 2009 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will be held at fire headquarters, 8320 McEwen Road.

Register to give blood at most Community Blood Center blood drives or at any branch location May 18-30 to receive a Limited Edition Parrothead Party T-shirt (while supplies last).

You could win one of three pair of tickets to the SOLD OUT Jimmy Buffet concert in Cincinnati!

Required to donate: A photo ID with your full name. Please bring your donor identification card with you if you have one. Must be 16 years or older (16 yr. old donors must have a signed CBC parental consent form. Must weigh at least 110 pounds and be in generally good health. Schedule an appointment now!

Residents may notice discolored water during individual inspections and may wish to refrain from washing laundry or dishes until the water clears. A slight decrease in water pressure may also be present while water is flowing from a hydrant. The regular inspection and maintenance of fire hydrants is essential to ensure adequate water resources during fire and other related emergencies. Should a fire hydrant malfunction or become inaccessible, fire department operations may be hampered. Hydrant deficiencies are identified and corrected as a result of these inspections.

Inspections and maintenance activities routinely take place Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Persons who receive this notice are asked to pass the word to family, friends and neighbors living in the Centerville-Washington Township area.

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At 9:24 p.m. April 2 the fire department received a call for smoke in the home. Neighbors had witnessed lightning strike a television antenna on the roof. One resident of the building noted that the television shut off and that electronic equipment had been damaged.

When crews arrived at the building there was nothing showing from the outside, however, smoke was present inside the condo and also in the attic. Crews extinguished fire in one wall. They were unable to find additional heat anywhere in the unit or adjoining units when using a thermal-imaging camera.

Lewis Berger of 8834 Washington Village was displaced by the fire and smoke damage. He stayed with relatives overnight. No one was injured by the fire. It did not extend to other units within the building.
At 7:03 a.m. April 3 the department received another call for smoke coming from the roof of the same condo. Crews noted smoke from the attic area when they arrived.

Fire Marshal Mike Long stated, “this fire was in a completely different wall and below the area of the fire from last night. It appears that lightning is the cause of this fire. It may have branched off from the strike last night, but there is no charring between the wall affected last night and this fire this morning.” Long also said “the strike last night appears to have been in the coaxial cable from the television antenna, but the fire this morning is in the electrical circuit of the condo.”

Firefighters did a thorough search of all attached units and used thermal-imaging cameras to ensure that no other units were affected by the fire. Insulation was removed from the affected walls of the condo to make sure fire did not extend beyond the source of origin.

Damages to the building are estimated to be around $25.000. Content damages are estimated to be approximately $10,000.

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Recent research conducted on behalf of the Home Safety Council (HSC) and H2otStop reveals that, while more than 82 percent of Americans agree that there are actions they could take to reduce the risk of burns in their home, 44 percent say they haven’t done so because they don’t believe burns are a serious danger where they live. Help the HSC and H2otStop prevent burn injuries in the home by educating your community. Be sure to visit the “Bathroom” of MySafeHome.org for valuable information to protect against hot water burns.

You can also download the Home Safety Council document: [download]

Note: Product links in this post do not necessarily show endorsement of the product. They are provided for the readers’ personal research. No sponsorship is provided for this post.

Mounting concerns

Many of the recent fires in this community could have been less significant if the fire department had been called earlier. Over the past year a trend has been noticed. People are simply not calling the fire department soon enough. To be candid, people are trying to solve their fire problem without us. Or they are not responding to their smoke alarms soon enough. Or they are not aware that they have a problem.

Raising awareness, providing education

The Washington Township Fire Department has been providing education programs in this community since the 1970s. One area of reach is in the local school system. Children from preschool through high school are given safety education programs to help them reduce their own risks, to help them share proper information with their families, and to provide them with awareness of how to better plan for emergencies. These lessons teach more than fire safety; they cover risks from falling, the prevention of burns, head injury prevention, and a variety of other topics. However, one lesson is addressed multiple times: home fire escape planning.

Children are asked in these lessons if they have done a home fire escape drill with their families during the past year. Without fail only one or two in a class of twenty-five or more will answer that they have. Discussion on the subject shows that families:

• Don’t have [take] the time
• Don’t think it is an important issue
• Don’t know that they should
• Already feel safe ["It's not going to happen to us"]
• Think they “know” what they would do
• Don’t really care about that at the moment
• “Know” that the fire department will save them if they have a problem
• …and the list goes on

Proper planning

Each of the reasons given above can be easily addressed. Unfortunately, when a fire happens most people have found themselves in a situation they didn’t anticipate — often because they didn’t easily address one of the “excuses” given.

Planning a fire drill is simple enough. It can be taught with a few very simple phrases:

• Have a working smoke alarm
• Know two ways out of any room
• Stay low when there’s smoke or even when there’s not
• Gather at a meeting place outside so that no one wonders who is out
• Send someone to call for help [911 in this community] IMMEDIATELY

Where it fails

Remember the phrase above “they think they KNOW what they would do?” Often this is where this system fails. Because knowing what to do is not always the same as being ABLE to do it. Just because I know that I should push down the keys on a piano to make notes doesn’t mean I can play the piano.

Fire drill planning is only one step in the system to getting out safely. One must PRACTICE the plan a few times to be able to do it effectively. To say that you only have to go out a door or get to a window is easy enough. When there is smoke, heat, and poisonous gases in the house you will find yourself doing things you never even knew you would do.

A recent house fire placed a man and his wife in a very serious situation. She did not know to get low near the floor. She began to move through the house after alerting her husband to the fire. She was looking for a family member that may or may not have been home at the time. The result? She found herself in an extremely smoke filled environment. She was coughing, she was having trouble seeing and she was very disoriented. Only when she found a familiar landmark in the house (a desk) did she know where she was and which was she should go to get out. The husband had worked himself outside, but he re-entered the home to try to find his wife and to retrieve property that he felt was important.

Three steadfast rules

1. Always leave as soon as you hear the smoke alarm.
2. NEVER go back in a house that has fire inside
3. Call the fire department immediately

Of the many fires that happened this past year, all of them would have been less severe, there would have been less damage and loss, and the families would have been safer had they simply called as soon as they knew there was a problem.

Don’t go it alone

One of the misconceptions often seen is that “we can take care of it.” People often think that their fire concern is a small concern. They believe that they can handle the situation without “raising a fuss.” Fire department members often hear the phrases “we didn’t want to bother you” or “we didn’t want all the trucks out front.”

Consider this: When is smoke too much smoke? When is fire too much fire? It’s an easy answer: when it is out of control. When is it out of control? When one finds themselves in a situation where they can no longer deal with the problem alone. Remember, we don’t know you have the problem until you call us. When you call us after it is already out of control, the damage is done. We could have and should have been there to keep it from getting that bad.

You are not alone. You have a local fire department that has the tools, resources, and training to help you when there is a problem. Even a small problem. Know your plan. Practice your plan. Don’t wait until you have a problem to figure out how to deal with that problem.

Get Low. Get Out. Call Fast.

Learn more

The Home Safety Council and the National Fire Protection Association have great materials to help you plan and practice your home fire drill. Visit their sites to get them. And, if your child comes home from school and says “the firefighter told me that we should have a fire drill” then DO it. Again. And Again.

A resident was cooking when the fire happened. He attempted to use a fire extinguisher on the fire. There was no phone service when the resident attempted to call 9-1-1. He exited the building and called 9-1-1 from his cell phone. All occupants of the building are out safely; not everyone was home at the time of the fire. Six of the eight units in the building are affected by the fire. At least four units have extensive damage. A damage estimate is not yet known. Several residents in the damaged building do not carry renters insurance.

Two firefighters were transported to the hospital for injuries sustained during firefighting. A Kettering firefighter received injuries when falling on ice in front of the apartment. A Washington Township firefighter was treated for exhaustion. During firefighting operations a water main break beneath the adjacent parking lot resulted in reduced water pressure. Crews were able to relay water from other sources to continue firefighting operations.

Several agencies assisted during this fire, including the Kettering, Bellbrook, Miamisburg, Moraine, Miami Township, Sugarcreek Township and Clearcreek Township Fire Departments. The Centerville Police Department and the Kettering Police Department assisted with traffic and occupant safety issues. The Miami Valley Communications Council provided a mobile broadcast unit as a command post for the fire and police operations. This unit has on-board facilities to monitor several views of the area while firefighting takes place. Box 21 and the Montgomery Special Unit were on hand to assist with water and refreshments for the crews that were on scene for an extended time.

Questions about the displaced residents and efforts to assist them can be directed to apartment management: Connor and Murphy Properties, Villager Apartments, 6300 Fireside Drive, Centerville OH 45459 (937) 433-3213.

The Washington Township Fire Department reminds everyone to regularly practice fire drills. Remain low under smoke and leave quickly. Call 9-1-1 immediately after leaving the home. Never re-enter a burning building to retrieve personal belongings or to attempt rescue of additional persons or pets. Firefighters have equipment to enter a smoky and hazardous environment. The more quickly you exit and contact the fire department, the more quickly they can arrive to minimize danger and to reduce property loss.

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Released by: Richard Palmer – Public Information Officer, Washington Township Fire Department, (937) 433-3083