Well, here we are in advance of Fire Prevention Week, fire
safety expert, Steve Kerber from the Fire Safety. Research
Institute is with us
to talk about the results of their annual fire safety.
Survey Steve good morning. Thanks for being with us
morning. Ellen,
so let’s talk a little bit about
why getting the word out to the public is so important about fire
safety.
Especially this time of year. So it’s Fire Prevention, Week
starts in
next week.
It’s the hundredth anniversary of fire prevention week
and we know that
people don’t commonly think about their fire safety. So
now is the time of year that we really want to get people doing that.
And
it’s
really, for the last 10 years.
We’ve seen a 30% increase in the number of people
that have died in fires in the United States.
That’s a trend that we absolutely need to turn around.
So we’re releasing a new video Series
this year
that really highlights what it’s
actually like to be in a fire
to encourage people to plan ahead because if you wait, until you actually
have an incident, it’s way too late.
What do you think it is? Steve, I mean
people not taking fire safety seriously enough.
That’s certainly a major component. The other is people don’t
understand how fast fire is
in a home fire. You can have as little as three minutes to get out
after a fire starts,
not after you know,
Notice it. But after the fire itself starts,
the other people of people don’t realize the danger of smoke.
Smoke is incredibly thick. It’s black, you can’t see
through it and it’s filled with toxic chemicals.
And really our survey shows that
people are not taking that seriously, people don’t think of
fire is going to happen to them.
And really, if they
do actually have an Escape Plan, they’re not practicing it.
So
the work that we’re doing at FS RI, we’re really trying to address the
world’s on
Saul fire safety, risks and emerging dangers
to provide people with those facts and the tools.
So they know what to do.
Oh my God,
I guess it goes without saying. But we have to say that’s why we’re here doing the reminder
practice makes perfect, right? I mean, if you do a safety plan one time,
I mean, what good does that do if we’re not on the regular, sort of, you know,
re familiarizing ourselves with the procedures at home?
You’re absolutely correct. We need people to be practicing those plans.
We need you to think about doing it during the day. Doing it at night. Particularly
when your families sleeping, that’s when you’re most vulnerable,
what other highlights came out of the survey, anything else that you think
we should mention.
And I think the other big one is people don’t understand the importance of closed doors.
The
simple closed or between you and a fire. Can buy you
absolutely valuable time
if you do have a fire. So we want people to close before you doze.
Put that barrier between
You and the fire before you actually have a fire in your home
and
people don’t realize that that’s something that’s
could. Absolutely save your life.
Overall, what do you think’s goin on? I mean, if we look at the numbers
of people dying in fires, if those are going up when
we’ve got, you know, better technology, we assume better
information. What’s the problem here?
Yeah, the problem is fire so fast
over 40 years ago, you had 17 minutes
to safely, get out of your home now because of synthetics open
floor plans,
new ignition sources, like lithium ion batteries.
People
have less than three minutes. So, the time is not
there.
So, we need people to have working smoke alarms on
every level of their home.
You want one
inside every bedroom and outside every sleeping area
and
that’s
Just absolutely critical people need as much warning
as possible, so that you’ve got as much time as possible to
safely get out. And really people need to
understand how to get out
plan a, if you can see your exit safely
exit, the building.
If you can’t see that exit, you got to go to plan B. You
got to get to another way out
and ultimately plan. See if you can’t get
out, you got to get a closed-door between you and the fire boy. Oh
Yeah, I can, I can see some experiments going on.
On where, you know, your blindfold, someone try to have them get out of their house.
Good luck, doing that. And three minutes under under duress,
I think that number is going to be something we take with us.
Steve, that’s 17 minutes years ago down to three right
now. That is very interesting and we want to spread the message, thank
you for sharing that with us,
and thanks for the work that you do at The Institute. Working folks. Go for
more information on that survey.
Absolutely, appreciate you. Please send everybody to close your door.
Dot-org.
Close your door
dot-org.
Yeah. Buy yourself some more time in the unlikely
event. We hope of a fire Steve Gerber. Thanks so much.