Richard Freelon said the alarm of a smoke detector isn’t always enough.
He once tested his family’s potential response with his own fire drill. The longtime Bruce fireman and Weyerhaeuser employee borrowed an air horn and one night opened the doors to his and his children’s bedrooms, stood in the middle of the hall and blew the horn.
“The children finally woke up and my wife slept through it,” Freelon said with a laugh.
He explained he always had a fire plan in place for his family, which he stressed is important for all to establish.
“I told them if you can’t go through the door because of the fire, go out the window. If it won’t open, take something in your room and break it out and we’ll all meet by the big pine tree in the backyard,” he said. “We did test that. The boys were happy to jump out the window, but the girls never did.”
Freelon urged the members of the Bruce Rotary Club to take the appropriate steps to protect their families and homes from the dangers of a fire.
“That smoke alarm can be your lifeline,” he said. “Make sure it’s somewhere and loud enough for everyone to hear it.”
He said batteries in a smoke detector should be changed at a minimum once a year.
“I recommend twice a year. Change them every time daylight savings time changes. That’s how I remember.”
Freelon said because he has gas appliances, he also has a carbon monoxide detector in his home.
“That’s a life saver also,” Freelon said. “It went off one time when I didn’t smell anything and the guy came out and found that I did have a leak.”
Freelon, a veteran of the Bruce Fire Department, spoke on the causes of most house fires such as overloaded electrical sockets and space heaters.
“Even though you have six sockets in a room, which may meet code, they can’t handle a lot of these space heaters that get plugged in to them,” Freelon said. “People will run those heaters night and day with those little thin extension cords. We’ve found many of those causing fires because the heaters are plugged in to these two-pronged cheap, Christmas tree light extension cords and they’ll melt and catch the room on fire.”
“Most of the older houses around here have 100 amp breaker boxes, even with the screw-in fuses,” he said, noting many add-on to their home through the years but don’t upgrade the electrical capabilities.
Freelon said be sure your furnace is cleaned out every year.
“You can have a million dollar house, I guarantee the dust isn’t welcome but will always make itself at home,” Freelon said. “Clean those furnaces before winter.”
Stove fires are another common cause, he said.
“We’ve seen it so many times, people are cooking and they go outside for a minute or lay down and a fire starts,” Freelon said.
He said if you do experience a fire on your stove, use flour, baking soda, salt to try and extinguish.
“Don’t use water. I’ve seen people attempt that and the water just scatters the grease and makes matters worse,” Freelon said. “Your best option is a fire extinguisher. Everyone should have an accessible fire extinguisher in their house.”
Cigarettes are another frequent cause of house fires. Freelon urged people, if you are going to smoke, be extra cautious in putting them out when done. Don’t just throw them in a trash can or carelessly set them down.
“In this day and time when you have a fire, it doesn’t take long to engulf everything,” Freelon said.
He suggested the materials used to make modern day furniture are much more flammable and quicker to combust than older furniture stuffed with cotton.
Freelon also encouraged everyone to be aware of their surroundings. He said the fire department has responded to fire calls to what was supposed to be abandoned houses, with no electricity connected, but some one ended up in the house.
Freelon concluded by telling a few stories of fire calls they’ve responded to, including a number of disasters starting from people attempting to burn debris or trash.
“Fire is not something to play around with,” he said.