Let's relearn fire safety tips the easy way this year

No matter how many seasons we've experience, it seems like we have to learn the same lessons every year.

It always takes a sunburn before we remember to apply sunscreen before heading outdoors when summertime arrives.

Later in the year, the welts on our arms and warnings about West Nile virus remind us it's time to find the mosquito repellant.

Let's hope we don't have to be reminded of the dangers of the seasons we're now entering, the most serious of which is home fires that occur because of unsafe wiring, cooking fires, faulty heating equipment, smoking, candles or other causes.

That's why we're observing Fire Prevention Week, with a special display on page seven in this edition.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, in 2013, U.S. fire departments responded to about 369,500 home structure fires, which caused 2,755 deaths, 12,200 civilian injuries and $7 billion in direct damage. That's an average of eight people killed by home fires every day in 2013.

Cooking equipment is the leading cause of home fire injuries, followed by heating equipment, but smoking materials are the leading cause of home fire deaths.

Most fatal fires kill only one or two people, but in 2013, 12 home fires killed five or more people, resulting in a total of 67 deaths.

During 2007-11, roughly one of every 320 households had a reported home fire per year.

Half of home fire deaths result from fires reported between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. when most people are asleep. Only one in four home fires were reported during these hours.

That's why McCook Fire Chief Marc Harpham emphasizes the importance of working smoke detectors, and notes that smoke detectors should be replaced after 10 years, regardless of whether or not they seem to be working. The technology has a limited working life and must be replaced to ensure protection.

It's important; working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in reported home fires in half. in 2007-11, three out of five home fire deaths were caused by fires in homes with no smoke alarms or working smoke alarms. Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in reported fires by half.

Two out of every five home fires started in the kitchen, and U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated annual average of 156,600 cooking-related fires between 2007-11, resulting in 400 civilian deaths, 5,080 civilian injuries and $853 million in direct damage.

Of those, two thirds started with ignition of food or other cooking materials, ranges for almost three of five fires and 16 percent from ovens.

Most years, heating equipment is the second leading cause of home fires, fire deaths and fire injuries, and smoking materials, often coupled with sleep and alcohol impairment, started an average of 17,900 home structure fires per year during 2007-11. Those fires caused an average of 580 deaths, 1,280 injures and $509 million in direct property damage per year.

So let's not relearn fire-safety lessons the hard way this year. Call your family together and plan escape routes and a gathering point, have your heating equipment and electrical system checked out, and be careful cooking and with smoking materials.

Check out the NFPA website at www.firepreventionweek.org