Fire prevention week begins
A fire drill might be a distraction during a busy day, but Uniontown Fire Chief Myron Nypaver said practicing what to do when a fire breaks out has proven to be a life-saving exercise. National fire prevention week begins tomorrow and the Uniontown Fire Department will present fire safety programs to thousands of students in Uniontown schools, day care centers and senior citizens living in high-rise apartment buildings in the city beginning on Monday.
In what has become an annual effort, the department will spend fire prevention week helping schools and senior high-rise apartments practice fire drills and delivering fire safety and prevention tips.
Students will also have the opportunity to visit the central fire station on Beeson Boulevard to get an up-close look at the city’s fire trucks and firefighting equipment and take part in other activities.
The fire drills and safety advice provide invaluable lessons for the young and old, Nypaver said.
He said practicing fire drills and safety procedures saved the lives of senior citizens living at The Heritage on West Peter Street after a fire started in a third-floor hallway in February 2003.
“The people remembered what we talked about during safety meetings,” Nypaver said. “They knew what to do. That’s why we had no fatalities that night. They listened and they knew what to do.”
The five-story building did not have a water sprinkler system at the time of the fire, but one has been installed since then.
Nypaver said the building manager and tenants deserve credit for taking part in the safety programs.
He said the department used a $25,000 fire prevention grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to hire Kingfish to produce a DVD on senior citizen high-rise fire safety based on the fire at The Heritage. It will be aired on HSTV this week.
Senior apartments, day care centers and public and parochial schools in Uniontown will receive visits from firefighters next week. A program was held at one day care center on Friday.
Along with conducting fire drills and programs, firefighters will inspect fire alarms, make sure evacuation routes are clear and check on the storage of combustible materials.
Nypaver said many potential problems have been discovered and corrected over the years during the fire prevention week programs.
He said any group or organization interested in a free fire safety program should call the fire department.
While the programs cover alls sorts of fire hazards and safety tips, which stress the use and maintenance of smoke detectors, the theme of this year’s fire prevention week is kitchen fires.
The National Fire Protection Association is calling this year’s campaign “Watch what you Heat.”
Between 1999 and 2002, an average of 114,000 home fires connected to cooking equipment were reported each year in the United States, according to the NFPA.
Unattended cooking is the leading cause of cooking fires. Three out of every 10 home fires start in the kitchen, the most common place for fires in the home.
In 2004, there were 395,500 reported home fires resulting in 3,190 deaths, 13, 700 injuries and $5.8 million in direct property damage.
A home structure fire is reported every 70 seconds and someone dies from a home fire every 135 minutes, according to the NFPA.