Bristol, Tennessee

Fire Department

Fire Prevention & FireWISE Kids

Fire Prevention and Bristol Tennessee Fire Department

Contact
Jack Spurgeon, Jr. - Assistant Chief
Bunny Mutter - Secretary

Bristol Tennessee Fire Department Wants to Keep You Safe and Warm This Winter

As the temperature outside drops, families take to the indoors to keep safe and warm. What they may not realize is that turning up the heat can increase the risk of home heating fires.

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), nearly half of all home-heating fires occur during the winter months. The latest NFPA research shows that heating equipment was involved in 62,200 reported U.S. home structure fires in 2005, with associated losses of 670 civilian deaths, 1,550 civilian injuries, and $909 million in direct property damage.

"While these numbers are frightening, nearly all of these fires are preventable. We can reduce the number of home heating fires in our community by taking some simple precautions and using heating equipment properly."

Here are some simple home heating safety tips, so residents can help keep our community safe and warm this winter.

· Space heaters need space. Keep all things that can burn, such as paper, bedding or furniture, at least 3 feet away from heating equipment.

· Turn portable heaters off when you go to bed or leave the room.

· Plug power cords only into outlets with sufficient capacity and never into an extension cord.

· Inspect for cracked, frayed or broken plugs or loose connections. Replace before using.

· Have your chimney inspected each year and cleaned if necessary.

· Use a sturdy fireplace screen.

· Allow ashes to cool before disposing. Dispose of ashes in a metal container.

· Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of the home. For the best protection interconnect all smoke alarms throughout the home — when one sounds, they all sound. Test smoke alarms at least once a month.

· Install and maintain a carbon monoxide alarm in a central location outside each sleeping area.

· Never use an oven to heat your home.

· For fuel assistance, contact the National Fuel Funds Network at 1-202-824-0660.

"Practice Your Escape Plan"

According to the latest NFPA research, 3,030 people died in 2005 in home fires-that's roughly eight people every day. Being alerted to a fire and knowing what to do to escape from one are extremely important, yet only 23% of households have planned and practiced a home fire escape plan.

Are you prepared for a fire? Although it's difficult to prepare for the unexpected, reviewing the information below and taking action based on it to plan for a fire is strongly recommended...and don't forget to practice you escape plan during Fire Prevention Week!!

Install working smoke alarms on every level; and inside each bedroom and outside of each sleeping area
Develop a fire escape plan that identifies two ways out of each room and a family meeting place outside
Make sure your plan allows for any specific needs in your household. If everyone knows what to do, everyone can get out quickly
Practice your plan, at least twice a year
Some studies have shown that some children and adults may not awaken to the sound of a smoke alarm, they may need help waking up
If the smoke alarm sounds: Go to your closest exit, and if there is smoke on your way out, turn and use your second way out. If you must exit through smoke, get low and go under the smoke to your exit. Don't take time to pick up belongings; just get out and help others get out. Move fast but stay calm.

Fire Prevention Week is actively supported by fire departments across the country. For 85 years, fire departments have observed Fire Prevention Week, making it the longest running public health and safety observance on record.

Fire prevention efforts by local fire departments provide the community helpful tools to reduce property loss, personal injury, and death as a result of fire. The Bristol Tennessee Fire Department is proactive in the community, exploring all avenues to effectively educate the public on fire safety, and hopefully, serving as the catalyst to improve fire safety awareness. A few fire statistics provided by the National Fire Protection Association are listed below:

A fire department responded to a fire every 20 seconds.
One structure fire was reported every 62 seconds.
One home structure fire was reported every 83 seconds.
One civilian fire injury was reported every 29 minutes.
One civilian fire death occurred every 2 hours and 23 minutes.
One outside fire was reported every 39 seconds.
One vehicle fire was reported every 109 seconds.

Each year the Fire Prevention/Safety division of the Bristol Tennessee Fire Department assists several businesses, medical offices, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, churches, colleges, and schools in fire safety education, portable fire extinguisher training, and safe evacuation procedures. On average, we annually train about 300 individuals in the use of portable fire extinguishers, with approximately 170 of those participating in hands on training. Tragically, thousands of fires occur each year in on-campus and off-campus housing. We work with King College in educating their RA's about fire safety, the importance of early evacuation, and portable fire extinguisher use. Many of our department's personnel conduct departmental company training, in addition to teaching at the Northeast Regional Fire Academy; ensuring rookie firefighters receive the necessary training to become assets to their communities. We also actively participate in our public and private schools, ensuring that our students know how to assist their teachers, parents, and siblings in various types of emergency situations. We are intent upon the community knowing that any concern or emergency will be addressed quickly and adequately by the professional men and women of the Bristol Tennessee Fire Department.

Bristol Tennessee Fire Department is proud to announce the newest member of the Fire Prevention Team, Patches with his Pumper! Patches and Pumper is an interactive robot used to teach fire safety and prevention. To schedule an appearance by Patches and Pumper, please contact Assistant Chief Jack Spurgeon at 423-989-5701.

Bristol Tennessee Fire Department hosts a group of extraordinary young men and women between the ages of 14 and 21 in an Explorer Program. To learn more about this program please click on the following link:

Explorer Post

FireWISE Juvenile Firesetting Program

Purpose

The purpose of the FireWISE Kids Juvenile Firesetting Program is to assist the Bristol Tennessee Fire Department in providing fire safety education to youth that misuse fire. It is important to educate all children involved in a fire play or firesetting incident about the realities of fire, appropriate and responsible uses of fire and consequences of their actions. Educational intervention should be age appropriate and relevant to the child's life and firesetting incident. It is equally important to educate parents so that fire safety messages can be reinforced at home.

Overview

The Juvenile Firesetting Program offered through Bristol Tennessee Fire Department is a free program offered to the citizens of the community. Depending on the severity of the incident, the program can be completed in as little as six weeks or as long as fourteen weeks. The length of the course will also depend on how the juvenile was entered into the program. If the juvenile was court ordered to participate in the program, then it may take longer. We cannot do any intervention with a juvenile until the juvenile is charged through the court system and ordered to take the firesetting course.

In years past, intervention was only offered to juveniles. We have come to learn though, that most parents need to be taught fire prevention and fire safety as well. Therefore, it is required that at least one, if not both parents, attend the sessions with the juvenile. The entire family will learn the importance of fire safety in the home, how to properly perform an Exit Drill In The Home (EDITH), what you should and should not do when lighters and matches are found and other fire-related issues.

The first session is an interview where both the juvenile and parent(s) are asked questions pertaining to the incident. This will help the firefighters in determining what path of intervention to take. In some cases (rarely), a child may be referred to different agencies for further assistance, such as Mental Health. We can determine if a child has underlying problems that have pushed them into the fire play incident and these other agencies can help us to understand the needs of the child to better educate them.

For further information on this program, please contact Firefighter/Paramedic Joy Autin, Director of FireWISE Kids, at 423-989-5701.

Fire Safety Guide and Facts:

From the time a fire breaks out, a person has less than 4 minutes to escape.
Smoke can engulf a home in less than 10 minutes!
4 out of every 5 fire deaths are from home fires. Senior citizens and children are at higher risk.
Place smoke detectors in every bedroom, centrally located in hallways outside bedrooms, and one for each level of your home.
Smoke detectors shall be hardwired with battery back up in new dwellings and renovated areas that are accessible to be wired in.
Never install a smoke alarm in a kitchen, bathroom or garage where cooking fumes, steam, and exhaust fumes could set off false alarms or clog the alarm.
Replace batteries in your smoke detector on two important dates each year (time change, etc.).
Test your smoke alarm once a month.
Replace all smoke alarms every ten years.
Each home needs at least one fire extinguisher centrally located for access.
Consider additional extinguishers for the kitchen and garage.
Answer 'YES' to all of these questions before trying to fight a small fire:
*Is everyone out? Has the fire department been called?
*Is the fire small and contained in one area and not spreading?
*Is there an escape route clear of obstacles and to your back?
*Do you know how to use the extinguisher?
*Is the room clear of smoke?

Use the PASS word!
*Pull the pin.
*Aim the nozzle at the base of the fire. Stand 6-10 feet away.
*Squeeze the lever to discharge the agent.
*Sweep the spray from left to right until flames are extinguished.
Place your address numbers of home or business so that they are visible from the road; 4 inch is the minimum size.
Make sure you have a home fire escape plan that includes a meeting place outside.
Besides the fact that smoke makes it difficult to see, most home fires happen at night so practice your home fire escape plan at night, also.
Common causes of heating fires:
*Creosote build up in chimneys or lack of maintenance.
*Lack of space around portable heaters.
*Improperly installed woodstoves.
*Use of wrong fuels.
*32% of all deaths caused by home electrical systems are from faulty cords and plugs.
Arson is the second leading cause of residential fire deaths and accounts for 25% of all fires in the United States.
Tips to prevent arson:
*Eliminate potential fuels.
*Secure doors and windows.
*Install outdoor lighting.
*Install security systems.
*Maintain or remove overgrown shrubs.
*Immediately report any questionable activities.
Over 55% of all arrests for arson are juveniles and half of those are 4-9 years old.
Keep matches, lighters, and all flammables up and out of reach.
If your clothing is on fire, Stop where you are, Drop to the ground, and Roll back and forth to put the flames out.
One-fifth of all home fires in the United States start in the kitchen, and the leading cause of home cooking fires and injuries is unattended cooking.
Consider escape ladders for upstairs rooms.
Plan two ways to escape from every room in your home.
Practice your escape plan at least twice a year.
Once you are out, stay out!
If you must exit through smoke, crawl low under the smoke to exit.
If there is a closed door in your escape route, first check to see if it is warm to determine whether to open it.
If smoke, heat and flames block your exit routes, keep the door closed and call the fire department and tell them where you are.

More Safety Tips For Your Home and Office:

Do not stack papers on top of computer monitors; give heat-producing equipment room to breathe.
Do not allow furniture to pinch extension cords and do not plug extension cords into each other.
Make sure gasoline, paint thinner, and other flammable liquids are stored in proper containers outside your home.
If people smoke in your home, provide a large, deep non-tip ashtray and wet cigarette butts before throwing them away.

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