The Outlook, The Post, The Estacada News
Friday, September 13, 2013
A4
FALL HOME IMPROVEMENT
By RILEY STEVENSON
Pamplin Media Group
T
his winter prepare for
more than just freezing
temperatures and
Thanksgiving dinners.
Follow these safety precautions
to ensure your family and home
are ready in the event of an
emergency. Everyone from
grandma to Fido should be
equipped for and protected
from fires, power outages and
earthquakes.
Home fires: prevent, protect
and put out
Between 2010 and 2012, there
was a 10 percent increase in
fires according to a statewide
incident summary released by
the Oregon Office of the State
Fire Marshal. To prevent your
home from becoming another
statistic, follow these home im-
provement instructions provid-
ed by the American Red Cross
and take action.
First, make sure fire alarms
are installed on every level of
the home, both inside and out-
side sleeping areas. An estimat-
ed 65 percent of fires occur in
homes with no working smoke
alarms, so test the batteries
once a year.
To prevent a fire, the Ameri-
can Red Cross recommends
keeping items at least 3 feet
away from heat sources, placing
matches and lighters out of
reach of children and turning
portable heaters and electric ap-
pliances off when not in use.
“Many of the fires that we see
are related to people barbecu-
ing too close to their homes and
not disposing ashes properly,”
Kim Coxen, Gresham Fire Mar-
shal, said. “Barbecues should be
at least 10 feet away from any-
thing combustible, and put ash-
es in a metal container and put
water in it.”
In wooded areas, grass
should be kept green in order to
prevent a fire from spreading,
Coxen said.
If there is a fire, remember
the acronym PASS when using
a fire extinguisher (pull the pin
and point the nozzle away from
you, aim low, squeeze the level
slowly and sweep the nozzle
from side to side).
Only 26 percent of families
have developed an escape plan,
but everyone should know at
least two ways to escape from
every room in the house and
where to meet once outside.
Ladders also should be kept in
sleeping areas on the second or
third floors.
Power outages: lights out,
cool out
Whether it’s a snowpocalypse
or a squirrel, power boxes can
be damaged by things both
large and small, leaving thou-
sands of families each year
without electricity from five
minutes to several days. If you
find yourself in the dark, these
tips shed light on what needs to
be done until power can be re-
stored.
The American Red Cross rec-
ommends always keeping your
power company’s phone num-
ber and website handy for refer-
ence during an outage. Compa-
nies usually post details online
regarding power outages that
may indicate when electricity
will be restored and can offer
information over the telephone.
“Power outages (time peri-
ods) span,” Kelle Landavazo,
Gresham Community Engage-
ment Coordinator, said. “They
can be short term, in which the
best suggestion is to go through
the house and turn everything
off so you don’t have any surg-
es.”
Carbon monoxide alarms also
should be installed on every lev-
el of your home to provide
warning of high carbon monox-
ide levels that can lead to death.
If an outage lasts more than
two hours, which is typically
weather-related, you will need
one or more coolers and ice to
store any perishable foods for a
longer period of time. A digital
quick-response thermometer al-
so will come in handy to check
internal temperatures of food to
ensure they are cold enough to
use safely. Food should be cold-
er than 41 degrees Fahrenheit
to prevent bacterial growth, ac-
cording to the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration’s website.
Landavazo emphasizes com-
munication over food storage.
“People should be focused on
planning and how to communi-
cate,” Landavazo said. “A kit
isn’t going to get you very far
unless you know how to com-
municate in the event of a disas-
ter.”
Landavazo recommends ar-
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■
Tips on
bracing for
res, power
outages,
earthquakes
PREPARE
for
the
WORST
Above, Devan Driscoll-
Roach, 14, Portland,
works with her
grandparents Jewell and
Bill Roach to determine
where family members
would reunite if a
disaster left them
unable to get back
home.
Left, preparedness for
fire safety should
include having a working
smoke alarm on each
level of a home.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
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