Heaters can be dangerous if not used correctly. Eighty percent (80%) of all fire deaths occur in the home and heating equipment is a leading cause of home fires during the cool and cold weather months of the year. It trails only cooking equipment in home fires year-round. As we have the first extreme cold weather predictions of the winter season, the Smithtown Fire Department wants to remind everyone to heat your homes with care by following these safety tips!
The Smithtown Fire Department will hold its annual FIRE PREVENTION DAY on Sunday, October 19th from Noon to 3:00pm at Fire Headquarters – 100 Elm Avenue.
Their will be a wide array of great safety activities for children and adults. The rain or shine event will feature –
Fire and Rescue demonstrations.
Smoke House
Firehouse Tours
Meet the Chief
There will be free handouts and special patches for Girl and Boy Scout troops.
The Smithtown Fire Department recently received its first call of the fall season for a chimney fire. With the price of heating oil on the rise the number of residents who will use their fireplaces to generate added warmth this season will also be on the increase.
Jeff Bressler, Smithtown FD Public Information Officer warns us to not take a chimney for granted, “Homeowners should schedule a yearly inspection and cleaning of their chimney with a professional chimney sweep before using it at the start of the season.”
Chimney fires are fueled by excess creosote, or soot. Creosote is a product of incomplete combustion, it can take many forms; a sooty powder, a hard black glaze, a black tar-like substance or the appearance of burnt marshmallows. Creosote lines the chimney’s walls, this enables the heat venting in the chimney to ignite the creosote.
Depending on the condition of your chimney the fire can spread through your home through cracks in the chimney, or missing or loose mortar. A chimney fire is super-heated; the fire can spread through your house through radiant heat. It can easily spread to your rooftop.
Bressler gives these safety tips to avoid a chimney fire, “You can enjoy a worry free winter by have your chimney inspected and cleaned by a professional chimney sweep who can find blockages and cracks in your chimney that could result in poor venting, carbon monoxide poisoning or a chimney fire. Also burn well-seasoned hardwoods. Green wood builds up creosote faster. And install a chimney cap to prevent things from falling into your chimney and reducing ventilation.”
In anticipation of the tropical storm warning issued for Long Island the Smithtown Fire Department wants to make you aware of some important safety precautions to take immediately around your home -
Be sure trees and shrubs around your home are well trimmed.
Clear loose and clogged rain gutters and downspouts.
Bring items indoors that could cause damage to your home as a result of high winds such as lawn furniture, hanging plants, garbage cans etc.
Children and gasoline don’t mix. With the passage of the Children’s Gasoline Burn Prevention Act, an additional layer of fire safety and burn protection has been added for families across the country.
The Smithtown Fire Department is pleased that President George W. Bush signed the Act into law which requires portable gasoline containers manufactured for sale in the U.S. on or after January 17, 2009 to conform to child resistance safety requirements.
Gasoline containers will join containers with other flammable liquids, such as turpentine, charcoal lighter fluid, and torch fuel that are required to have child resistant closures. CPSC has jurisdiction over child resistant product packaging.
“Families who purchase gasoline cans with child resistant gas caps and who keep all flammable liquids out of the sight and reach of children are improving the safety of their homes,” said Smithtown Fire Departments Public Information Officer Jeff Bressler.
The Smithtown Fire Department recommends these safety tips for consumers storing flammable materials.
People are used to seeing news reports about home fires in Smithtown and our surrounding communities. They tell where and when the fire occurred, whether anyone was injured or killed, maybe the cause of the fire. Sometimes, a follow-up report tells about the status of victims, notes investigation findings, or describes the community’s response to the fire. These reports tell the story of one fire, in one particular home, at one particular time. Most people probably think, “That unfortunate family.” But they probably don’t think, “That could happen to me.” Or, “How can I prevent a fire in my home?”
Home fires, and the injuries and deaths that result, are not rare and isolated events. Home fires happen in communities all over the country, every day. They’re deadly, and they’re costly. And they can change the lives of families forever. But they’re not unavoidable. Home fires and fire deaths can be prevented.
For many, it’s “do it yourself” season for projects around the house. Unfortunately, the Smithtown Fire Department is dispatched to many calls where injuries result from over exuberant do it your selfers.
If you follow our tips, your home based projects with be accomplished in a safe and careful manner.
For most Americans, the Fourth of July celebration is a time for food, fun and fireworks, but in 2007 nearly 10,000 Americans were treated in emergency rooms for firework-related injuries. Just today on the National Mall, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported that 64 percent of these injuries occurred during the one month period surrounding the July 4th holiday. The Smithtown Fire Department has answered many calls over the years for injuries and property damage incurred by the use of illegal fireworks. Please follow our tips to stay save as we celebrate America.
When heavy rains and winds strike like the storm we had last week, an unfortunate outcome in many instances is downed power lines and wires. These can be some of the most dangerous calls the Smithtown Fire Department responds to.
Please follow these rules if you are outside and encounter downed wires -
Today’s Newsday featured a story about an 11 year old boy who drowned in his backyard pool in Brentwood. Hopefully, this will be the only tragedy of its kind this summer on Long Island, but statistics show this will most likely not be the case.
Smithtown backyards feature an abundance of in ground and above ground pools. As the pool season gets underway, please pay close attention to the following safety tips to keep your children safe.
During this week’s thunder storms lightning struck a home in Smithtown. Being in your house still has risk if it is thundering and lightning outside. Follow these tips to stay safe in your home during a storm.
As the weather warms up motorcyclists once again take to the road in earnest. Unfortunately, early in the season, the Smithtown Fire Department is called to answer motor vehicle accident and injury alarms involving motorcycles. Many accidents are caused by a car or truck driver who is not aware that there is even a motorcycle in range. Here are ten things all car and truck drivers should know about motorcycles.
The pictures from the Smithtown Fire Department propane drill, documented in a recent post, show vividly the consequences of barbeque mishaps.
Have an enjoyable time at the grill all season long by following these simple safety tips -
Children should not wear bike helmets when playing on equipment.
Parents should check for hot surfaces on playground equipment before allowing children to play on it.
Clothing strings, loose clothing, and stringed items placed around the neck can catch on playground equipment and strangle children.
CPSC in 1995 recalled these heavy molded plastic animal swings.
There should be no loose ropes on playground equipment. Loose ropes have caused strangulation and severe injuries.
The Department will offer more playground safety tips throughout the month.
Laundry equipment is often overlooked when addressing the issue of home fire safety. However, laundry appliances pose a serious fire risk because they involve electricity, and the combination of combustible clothing and extremely hot temperatures. The vast majority of laundry fires that the Smithtown Fire Department extinguishes are caused by dryers that are not cleaned properly.
The Smithtown Fire Department provides you with the following escape plan information in the event of a fire.
To escape a house on fire; first maintain working smoke detectors in your home, and second; have a plan in which to escape your home in case of fire.
EDITH is very important along with having working smoke detectors. Once a smoke detector goes off in your home, members of your household along with yourself should react, by using your preplanned escape route to exit safely from a fire.
The Smithtown Fire Department wants to inform you of the dangers of accidental poisoning. You can keep yourself and family members safer by being aware of potential hazards and observing these suggestions on ways to poison-proof your home. Try going through your home by bending down to a child’s level and looking at everything from their point of view.
The old saying “Don’t play with matches” has certainly withstood the test of time. Unfortunately the saying is all the more true when it comes to children.
What is Carbon Monoxide?
Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and toxic gas. It is produced as a by- product of combustion. (Combustion refers to a heat producing, chemical reaction between some substance and oxygen) Carbon monoxide is abbreviated as “CO”.
What produces Carbon Monoxide?
Carbon monoxide is produced by gas or oil home appliances and also fireplaces, wood burning stoves, and automobiles; through the exhaust.
Why is Carbon Monoxide dangerous?
Carbon monoxide is dangerous because it displaces oxygen in the body needed for life. If appliances are improperly vented, Carbon monoxide levels could build up and poison occupants. Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide poisoning, which are similar to the flu, are headache, dizziness, fatigue and nausea.Protect yourself and your family from the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning by:
1) Install a CO detector with an audible alarm near sleeping areas
2) Maintain and inspect gas fired home appliances for proper venting
3) Do NOT start an automobile in a closed attached garage
To receive additional fire safety information related to this or other topics, contact the Smithtown Fire Department’s office of Public Information and Fire Prevention at 265-1503.
When the Smithtown Fire Department responds to an emergency it is always all the more significant when a child is involved.
Many accidents are caused by the lack of use or misuse of a car safety seat.One of the most important jobs you have as a parent is keeping your child safe when riding in a vehicle. Each year thousands of young children are killed or injured in car crashes. Proper use of car safety seats helps keep children safe. But with so many different car safety seats on the market, it’s no wonder many parents find this overwhelming. The type of seat your child needs depends on several things including age, size, and type of vehicle.
The following statistics are the latest available from the National SAFE KIDS Campaign, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC)
:Injury and death rates:
Where and when:
Safety restraint statistics:
To provide you with the most current information possible the Smithtown Fire Department has an excellent booklet from the American Academy of Pediatrics titled: Car Safety Seats: A Guide for Families – 2008. The information can be obtained from the Fire Department, free of charge. To get your copy of the 32 page brochure please call the office of Public Information and Fire Safety at 265-1503 or e-mail Public Information Officer Jeff Bressler at jeff.bressler@smithtownfiredepartment.org.
