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Fire! Save Your Home
| Article
# : |
15304 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
8 / 1989 |
1,507 Words |
| Author
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Carolyn Hughes Crowley
Carolyn Hughes Crowley is a Washington, D.C. free-lancer who
frequently writes on health topics. |
Almost every American can count on being in a fire during his lifetime. The United States has the world's highest fire death rate. Fires cost the country $30 billion a year and result in more fatalities than all natural disasters combined.
Every day an average of 6,800 fires occur, including forest, brush, and structure fires. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), one-half of all structure fires in America occur in residences. Residential fires--most caused by cooking, heating, and cigarette smoking--are responsible for three-fourths of the nation's fire deaths per year, usually totaling 6 to 7,000, two-thirds of all fire-related injuries, and almost one-half of all property loss.
Here are suggestions to make your home safer.
Sprinklers and smoke detectors
Many homeowners think that the smell of smoke would wake them out of sleep. Wrong! Carbon monoxide in the smoke is known to paralyze and quickly asphyxiate before one can even detect the odor. A fire consumes oxygen in a room, making it hard to breathe, think clearly, and control muscles. The natural response is to gasp for breath and thus inhale more smoky fumes full of poisonous gases. Plastics, which make up 25 percent of all home and office structures, give off noxious gases when they burn. And more than 75 percent of those who perish in fires die not from flames, but from inhaling toxic substances in the smoke.
Quick detection of smoke and fumes is the most
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