Sep
30
Where to volunteer for SoCal firestorm help? I have fire safety training, and a room for fire evacuees?
Filed Under Fire Safety | 1 Comment
simplyshayna asked:
The firestorms here in SOCAL are mindblowing and heartbreaking. I want to help…cut firebreaks, cook, serve, do something besides sit around and watch the devestation on tv and hear the reports that there aren’t enough people to fight this thing. I also have an extra room in my apartment for fire evacuees and or fire personel.
anyone know where I can go to volunteer my help?
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The firestorms here in SOCAL are mindblowing and heartbreaking. I want to help…cut firebreaks, cook, serve, do something besides sit around and watch the devestation on tv and hear the reports that there aren’t enough people to fight this thing. I also have an extra room in my apartment for fire evacuees and or fire personel.
anyone know where I can go to volunteer my help?
Powered by Yahoo Answers
Sep
19
When Wildfires Create a Need for Board Up in Colorado Springs
Filed Under Wildfire Protection | Comments Off
Eddie Frank asked:
There is never a time when services for board up in Colorado Springs can sit back and relax. That is because there is always a threat of wildfires in and around this green and beautiful city. Aside from the usual board up situations, wildfires could create problems at any time.
One of the problems is that the area surrounding Colorado Springs is so aesthetically pleasing; people want to live in its natural setting. When they do this, though, they face a higher danger of wildfires reaching their homes. Being nearer to nature may mean that they will need board up Colorado Springs services at some time.
It does not take much to start a wildfire, either. A campfire can emit a spark that reaches an area of slightly dry grass. This can start a wildfire that can encompass many acres. With little or no notice, people rush from their homes to escape the flames that are coming upon them. They are not thinking of board up Colorado Springs services at the time it happens, but after it is all over, they may need to call one of these companies.
Often, a homeowner will have notice of wildfires in the area. When this happens, they might set up sprinklers on top of their roof to keep it from burning. With the roof wet, it is protected to a point. However, the sides of the house may still be vulnerable. Then board up Colorado Springs may be called for afterwards.
People sometimes do not know all the tricks of protecting their homes in the case of wildfires. For example, flimsy curtains can spread fire quickly. If homeowners do not know to take them down, the curtains can provide easy-burning material to carry the fire into the house. Board up Colorado Springs services will be needed when everything is over.
Sometimes, no matter what precautions a homeowner takes, they will eventually end up calling out board up Colorado Springs services. The wildfires can burn too hot and cover too much area. It might be impossible to protect the home completely.
However, with the sprinklers going on the roof, all doors and windows firmly shut, and flammable furniture moved to the center of rooms, the overall integrity of the structure may be maintained. Board up Colorado Springs companies can come out and protect it from weather and wildlife.
If your home is in a woodland area away from the city, you may feel that you do not need board up Colorado Springs services to protect your property from vandals and thieves. The truth is that there is crime everywhere now. People who go out to the woods to camp are not necessarily happy-go-lucky family groups. Some are malicious invaders. You will want to secure your home with board up Colorado Springs services.
You may go your whole life without the need of a board up Colorado Springs company. No wildfire may ever reach your home. However, it is nice to know that there are services available should you ever have an emergency.
Mike
There is never a time when services for board up in Colorado Springs can sit back and relax. That is because there is always a threat of wildfires in and around this green and beautiful city. Aside from the usual board up situations, wildfires could create problems at any time.
One of the problems is that the area surrounding Colorado Springs is so aesthetically pleasing; people want to live in its natural setting. When they do this, though, they face a higher danger of wildfires reaching their homes. Being nearer to nature may mean that they will need board up Colorado Springs services at some time.
It does not take much to start a wildfire, either. A campfire can emit a spark that reaches an area of slightly dry grass. This can start a wildfire that can encompass many acres. With little or no notice, people rush from their homes to escape the flames that are coming upon them. They are not thinking of board up Colorado Springs services at the time it happens, but after it is all over, they may need to call one of these companies.
Often, a homeowner will have notice of wildfires in the area. When this happens, they might set up sprinklers on top of their roof to keep it from burning. With the roof wet, it is protected to a point. However, the sides of the house may still be vulnerable. Then board up Colorado Springs may be called for afterwards.
People sometimes do not know all the tricks of protecting their homes in the case of wildfires. For example, flimsy curtains can spread fire quickly. If homeowners do not know to take them down, the curtains can provide easy-burning material to carry the fire into the house. Board up Colorado Springs services will be needed when everything is over.
Sometimes, no matter what precautions a homeowner takes, they will eventually end up calling out board up Colorado Springs services. The wildfires can burn too hot and cover too much area. It might be impossible to protect the home completely.
However, with the sprinklers going on the roof, all doors and windows firmly shut, and flammable furniture moved to the center of rooms, the overall integrity of the structure may be maintained. Board up Colorado Springs companies can come out and protect it from weather and wildlife.
If your home is in a woodland area away from the city, you may feel that you do not need board up Colorado Springs services to protect your property from vandals and thieves. The truth is that there is crime everywhere now. People who go out to the woods to camp are not necessarily happy-go-lucky family groups. Some are malicious invaders. You will want to secure your home with board up Colorado Springs services.
You may go your whole life without the need of a board up Colorado Springs company. No wildfire may ever reach your home. However, it is nice to know that there are services available should you ever have an emergency.
Mike
Sep
18
Wildfire Preparedness: the Five Aspects of Readiness
Filed Under Wildfire Protection | Comments Off
Paul Purcell asked:
A classic 70’s tune gives us the lyrics, “She ran calling ‘Wildfire’…..” Then a love song, but today, possibly the beginnings of an action / adventure / horror movie. With rainfall low, and temperatures and winds high, the wildfires we’re currently battling across the country are heavily taxing our first responder assets. More fires will surely follow if these conditions continue.
First responder assets aside, these fires have affected local civilians. Thousands have evacuated, and many find nothing but charred vacant lots when they return. What are some innovative ways civilians can protect themselves, their property, and actually help firefighters in the process?
At the household level, most of us have smoke detectors. That’s good, because in a house fire, as in a wildfire, where there’s smoke, there’s F.L.A.M.E.:
Family – Something as massive as a wildfire will affect your whole family. Prepare them now.
Landscaping – Simple and subtle steps can make your property much more fire resistant.
Awareness – In an emergency, time is crucial. Stay aware of the threat and get the warnings early.
Moisture – Some say you fight fire with fire. We say you fight fire with water.
Evacuation – Even after taking all the other steps, a wildfire is something best avoided.
Family
A prepared and involved family is far more able to handle any type of disaster than those who wait for last-minute instruction. Therefore, one of the best things you can do for your family is to prepare them for one of the most common and least forgiving enemies; fire.
1. Take the family on a fire-safety tour through the house. Locate dangers such as overloaded electrical outlets and safety items such as extinguishers and escape routes.
2. In emergencies, redundancy is our friend. You should have more than one smoke detector, fire extinguisher, and escape route from rooms or the house. Hint: If you’re a heavy sleeper, buy a “baby monitor.” Put the transmitter near the farthest smoke detector and the receiver in your bedroom.
3. Make sure everyone in the family knows how to use a fire extinguisher, and how to call 911.
4. Have regular fire drills. Let each family member have a turn being the one who discovers the fire and who has to warn others. On at least every other drill, have everyone evacuate blind-folded on their hands and knees (while exercising due safety) to mimic the realistic conditions of a fire evacuation.
5. Revisit every family emergency plan with the whole family during wildfire season and certainly if one is in your area and possibly heading your way.
Landscaping
Though tragedies usually take the lead in newscasts, stories still abound of how some homeowners managed to protect their properties from wildfire by simple and subtle changes with their landscaping and home. Take these steps now, since in a fire, time is of the essence.
1. Your main landscaping consideration is to remove any dead, dry vegetation, whether on the ground or in your trees, that could transfer fire to your house. Since this aspect of wildfire preparedness has been adequately covered by others, here are a few good outside sources:
General wildfire landscaping tips: http://www.firewise.org/resources/files/wildfr2.pdf .
Florida wildfire landscaping pointers: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR07600.pdf .
More on landscaping during wildfire season: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR04700.pdf.
Fire-resistant plants: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/emergency/pubs/wildfire_resistant.pdf.
2. Be ready to seal your house before evacuating. Create covers for any opening on your home such as attic vents (roof turbines can be covered with metal trash cans), crawlspace openings, etc. Gather your material (such as plywood) and cut, paint, and label (where it goes) each cover now, keeping them stored on your property for immediate use. Put a couple of hooks over each opening you might cover and drill corresponding holes in the plywood covers. The hooks will hold the cover in place while you drill in the screws. This allows one person to do the job and frees up others to perform other necessary tasks. Hint: Also make covers for your windows (including garage door windows) just as if you lived in a hurricane zone.
3. Create a “fire tool box” and include everything needed to prep your house in advance of a wildfire. Store extra garden hoses, water sprinklers, “Y” connectors for extra hoses, wrenches to turn off your gas, rolls of heavy-duty aluminum foil (to cover the openings you didn’t make covers for), machetes and gloves for last minute brush clearing, etc. Store extra tools because you won’t have time to replace tools that might have been broken or lost.
4. Make sure first responders can see your home’s address. Put your house number on your mailbox, near your front door, and painted on the curb by your driveway.
Awareness
A common theme in all our publications and presentations is the fact that in an emergency, our most crucial asset is time (see our other articles at www.disasterprep101.com). The two key elements of time in a wildfire are one, to have as much done in advance as possible, and two, get as early a warning as possible.
1. Don’t wait for a wildfire to approach to start your landscaping. Perform that now and keep your property as fire-retardant as you can.
2. Don’t wait for the smell of smoke to warn you a fire is on its way. If fire conditions are right, monitor news channels and listen for community warnings.
3. Learn to recognize your community warnings. Does your community have a reverse 911 system? Sirens? Will the local TV or radio station broadcast the alert? If your community doesn’t have any of these systems, why not start them in your neighborhood? At the very least, have a phone tree.
4. Buy an NOAA Weather Alert Radio since they’re being incorporated into the overall Emergency Alert System. You should also know who your local Ham Radio operators are. See http://www.arrl.org.
Moisture
Water is the king of firefighting and fire suppression substances. The best protection for your property lies in your ability to keep a “dome” of moisture in one form or another all over and around your home.
1. One publication under “landscaping” above lists beneficial plants that hold their moisture well. Regardless of the types of plant life in your yard, keep them well hydrated (while following watering ordinances).
2. When setting up your sprinklers, give your yard adequate spray coverage, especially over areas that might worsen the fire such as an above-ground propane tank or wooden deck attached to your house. The best sprinkler for surface areas is the professional directional type rather than the small garden variety that only sprays a weak pattern over a small area. Your garden store rep can help.
3. Put sprinklers on your roof, being sure to anchor them in place since the high winds generated in some wildfire wind storms can blow them off the roof.
4. If you have an in-ground sprinkler system, great! It will give you even water coverage over the grounds and provide a good foundation for the comprehensive water system you’ll need. To your in-ground system add separate “fire” lines that feed water to sprinklers that either spray directly against your house, or outward from your yard to cover vegetation surrounding your property. Too, have a sprinkler line permanently installed on your roof to save you the time of manually putting sprinklers up there. Also, install an additional input valve to allow water from a secondary source like a water pump drawing from your swimming pool.
5. If you have a pool, pond, well, or creek, you have a reservoir that should be put to good use so you don’t draw off the municipal water firefighters need to prevent fire from nearing your property in the first place. It’s a simple matter to keep a gas-powered generator (which self-reliant families should have) and a water pump (such as a pressure-washer), and use the two to draw water from your pool and feed it to your sprinklers. If you have a well with an electric pump, hook your generator to the pump to keep it running should local power fail. Exercise caution when setting up your generator so it doesn’t start its own fire.
6. A final consideration with sprinklers is position. Cover the outer perimeter of your yard, spray against the outer walls and roof of your house, and cover the crowns of your trees if possible. Also, consider outward-pointing sprinklers anchored to an elevated position such as an upper floor deck or porch, or your roof.
Evacuation
We strongly recommend evacuation, even if you’ve taken all the above steps and feel they might work. It’s best that you be pre-prepped and ready to leave at a moment’s notice since time is our most valuable asset. The more ready you are in advance, the more time you have.
1. All your landscaping steps should be taken care of now and maintained, especially during fire season.
2. In wildfire-prone areas, and especially during wildfire season, keep your bugout kits and vehicle ready at all times (with fuel tanks topped off). Hint: With your documents, keep the non-emergency numbers for local authorities so you can call to find out when it’s safe to return.
3. Perform last-minute landscaping ONLY if time allows, since you’ll want extra time to perform the household shutdown steps. However, don’t do anything until you’ve loaded your car with provisions and have nothing left to load but people and pets (in their carriers and/or ready to go).
4. Inside the house do the following:
Move all flammables (such as furniture and curtains) away from windows making sure each is closed and latched. Lower and close any metallic blinds.
Leave your fireplace damper open, and close the fireplace protective cover.
Close all interior doors but don’t lock them.
Turn off your heat/AC system, and cover any window air-conditioners or floor heater vents with aluminum foil and duct tape inside and out.
Turn off all gas coming into the house whether from underground line or above-ground tank.
Turn on inside and outside lights so your property is visible in heavy smoke. Firefighters may need to use it as a beacon.
5. To protect the valuables you don’t have room for in your evacuation vehicle, consider these:
For waterproof valuables, put them in a bathtub, storage tub, or trashcan you’ve filled with water. (Notice we didn’t recommend your pool, since you should be using it to feed your sprinklers.)
Large valuables such as antique furniture, etc. should be carried into the center of the house on the lowest floor (the same place you’d go in a tornado).
Major appliances, such as your oven, fridge, freezer, dishwasher, clothes washer, and dryer, tend not to be consumed by flame or crushed by debris and thereby offer a protected storage location for other valuables. Hint: Disposable diapers are surprisingly flame resistant, and might be useful as wraps for some items stored in an appliance.
6. Lock up the house, leave a note on the door telling authorities you’ve evacuated, check with neighbors to make sure they’re on their way to safety, hop in your vehicle, and leave. Hint: If the area is getting smoky, listen to your radio for road closure information, turn your headlights on low, and set your climate controls to “re-circulate” so as not to draw in smoke from outside the vehicle.
Naturally, this is an article that could go for a few dozen more pages since it’s such an important topic and certainly one where we could offer extensive detail. For now, this will have to do. Will the above information make you fireproof and prevent any damage to your property? No. But it’s very likely to help, especially if you take these steps now. Taking these measures also helps firefighters since any time a wildfire is delayed or a home protected, you take one more item off the shoulders of first responders. Prep now, stay safe, and remember that preparedness is not only a social responsibility; it’s your only true protection.
Harold
A classic 70’s tune gives us the lyrics, “She ran calling ‘Wildfire’…..” Then a love song, but today, possibly the beginnings of an action / adventure / horror movie. With rainfall low, and temperatures and winds high, the wildfires we’re currently battling across the country are heavily taxing our first responder assets. More fires will surely follow if these conditions continue.
First responder assets aside, these fires have affected local civilians. Thousands have evacuated, and many find nothing but charred vacant lots when they return. What are some innovative ways civilians can protect themselves, their property, and actually help firefighters in the process?
At the household level, most of us have smoke detectors. That’s good, because in a house fire, as in a wildfire, where there’s smoke, there’s F.L.A.M.E.:
Family – Something as massive as a wildfire will affect your whole family. Prepare them now.
Landscaping – Simple and subtle steps can make your property much more fire resistant.
Awareness – In an emergency, time is crucial. Stay aware of the threat and get the warnings early.
Moisture – Some say you fight fire with fire. We say you fight fire with water.
Evacuation – Even after taking all the other steps, a wildfire is something best avoided.
Family
A prepared and involved family is far more able to handle any type of disaster than those who wait for last-minute instruction. Therefore, one of the best things you can do for your family is to prepare them for one of the most common and least forgiving enemies; fire.
1. Take the family on a fire-safety tour through the house. Locate dangers such as overloaded electrical outlets and safety items such as extinguishers and escape routes.
2. In emergencies, redundancy is our friend. You should have more than one smoke detector, fire extinguisher, and escape route from rooms or the house. Hint: If you’re a heavy sleeper, buy a “baby monitor.” Put the transmitter near the farthest smoke detector and the receiver in your bedroom.
3. Make sure everyone in the family knows how to use a fire extinguisher, and how to call 911.
4. Have regular fire drills. Let each family member have a turn being the one who discovers the fire and who has to warn others. On at least every other drill, have everyone evacuate blind-folded on their hands and knees (while exercising due safety) to mimic the realistic conditions of a fire evacuation.
5. Revisit every family emergency plan with the whole family during wildfire season and certainly if one is in your area and possibly heading your way.
Landscaping
Though tragedies usually take the lead in newscasts, stories still abound of how some homeowners managed to protect their properties from wildfire by simple and subtle changes with their landscaping and home. Take these steps now, since in a fire, time is of the essence.
1. Your main landscaping consideration is to remove any dead, dry vegetation, whether on the ground or in your trees, that could transfer fire to your house. Since this aspect of wildfire preparedness has been adequately covered by others, here are a few good outside sources:
General wildfire landscaping tips: http://www.firewise.org/resources/files/wildfr2.pdf .
Florida wildfire landscaping pointers: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR07600.pdf .
More on landscaping during wildfire season: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FR/FR04700.pdf.
Fire-resistant plants: http://web1.msue.msu.edu/emergency/pubs/wildfire_resistant.pdf.
2. Be ready to seal your house before evacuating. Create covers for any opening on your home such as attic vents (roof turbines can be covered with metal trash cans), crawlspace openings, etc. Gather your material (such as plywood) and cut, paint, and label (where it goes) each cover now, keeping them stored on your property for immediate use. Put a couple of hooks over each opening you might cover and drill corresponding holes in the plywood covers. The hooks will hold the cover in place while you drill in the screws. This allows one person to do the job and frees up others to perform other necessary tasks. Hint: Also make covers for your windows (including garage door windows) just as if you lived in a hurricane zone.
3. Create a “fire tool box” and include everything needed to prep your house in advance of a wildfire. Store extra garden hoses, water sprinklers, “Y” connectors for extra hoses, wrenches to turn off your gas, rolls of heavy-duty aluminum foil (to cover the openings you didn’t make covers for), machetes and gloves for last minute brush clearing, etc. Store extra tools because you won’t have time to replace tools that might have been broken or lost.
4. Make sure first responders can see your home’s address. Put your house number on your mailbox, near your front door, and painted on the curb by your driveway.
Awareness
A common theme in all our publications and presentations is the fact that in an emergency, our most crucial asset is time (see our other articles at www.disasterprep101.com). The two key elements of time in a wildfire are one, to have as much done in advance as possible, and two, get as early a warning as possible.
1. Don’t wait for a wildfire to approach to start your landscaping. Perform that now and keep your property as fire-retardant as you can.
2. Don’t wait for the smell of smoke to warn you a fire is on its way. If fire conditions are right, monitor news channels and listen for community warnings.
3. Learn to recognize your community warnings. Does your community have a reverse 911 system? Sirens? Will the local TV or radio station broadcast the alert? If your community doesn’t have any of these systems, why not start them in your neighborhood? At the very least, have a phone tree.
4. Buy an NOAA Weather Alert Radio since they’re being incorporated into the overall Emergency Alert System. You should also know who your local Ham Radio operators are. See http://www.arrl.org.
Moisture
Water is the king of firefighting and fire suppression substances. The best protection for your property lies in your ability to keep a “dome” of moisture in one form or another all over and around your home.
1. One publication under “landscaping” above lists beneficial plants that hold their moisture well. Regardless of the types of plant life in your yard, keep them well hydrated (while following watering ordinances).
2. When setting up your sprinklers, give your yard adequate spray coverage, especially over areas that might worsen the fire such as an above-ground propane tank or wooden deck attached to your house. The best sprinkler for surface areas is the professional directional type rather than the small garden variety that only sprays a weak pattern over a small area. Your garden store rep can help.
3. Put sprinklers on your roof, being sure to anchor them in place since the high winds generated in some wildfire wind storms can blow them off the roof.
4. If you have an in-ground sprinkler system, great! It will give you even water coverage over the grounds and provide a good foundation for the comprehensive water system you’ll need. To your in-ground system add separate “fire” lines that feed water to sprinklers that either spray directly against your house, or outward from your yard to cover vegetation surrounding your property. Too, have a sprinkler line permanently installed on your roof to save you the time of manually putting sprinklers up there. Also, install an additional input valve to allow water from a secondary source like a water pump drawing from your swimming pool.
5. If you have a pool, pond, well, or creek, you have a reservoir that should be put to good use so you don’t draw off the municipal water firefighters need to prevent fire from nearing your property in the first place. It’s a simple matter to keep a gas-powered generator (which self-reliant families should have) and a water pump (such as a pressure-washer), and use the two to draw water from your pool and feed it to your sprinklers. If you have a well with an electric pump, hook your generator to the pump to keep it running should local power fail. Exercise caution when setting up your generator so it doesn’t start its own fire.
6. A final consideration with sprinklers is position. Cover the outer perimeter of your yard, spray against the outer walls and roof of your house, and cover the crowns of your trees if possible. Also, consider outward-pointing sprinklers anchored to an elevated position such as an upper floor deck or porch, or your roof.
Evacuation
We strongly recommend evacuation, even if you’ve taken all the above steps and feel they might work. It’s best that you be pre-prepped and ready to leave at a moment’s notice since time is our most valuable asset. The more ready you are in advance, the more time you have.
1. All your landscaping steps should be taken care of now and maintained, especially during fire season.
2. In wildfire-prone areas, and especially during wildfire season, keep your bugout kits and vehicle ready at all times (with fuel tanks topped off). Hint: With your documents, keep the non-emergency numbers for local authorities so you can call to find out when it’s safe to return.
3. Perform last-minute landscaping ONLY if time allows, since you’ll want extra time to perform the household shutdown steps. However, don’t do anything until you’ve loaded your car with provisions and have nothing left to load but people and pets (in their carriers and/or ready to go).
4. Inside the house do the following:
Move all flammables (such as furniture and curtains) away from windows making sure each is closed and latched. Lower and close any metallic blinds.
Leave your fireplace damper open, and close the fireplace protective cover.
Close all interior doors but don’t lock them.
Turn off your heat/AC system, and cover any window air-conditioners or floor heater vents with aluminum foil and duct tape inside and out.
Turn off all gas coming into the house whether from underground line or above-ground tank.
Turn on inside and outside lights so your property is visible in heavy smoke. Firefighters may need to use it as a beacon.
5. To protect the valuables you don’t have room for in your evacuation vehicle, consider these:
For waterproof valuables, put them in a bathtub, storage tub, or trashcan you’ve filled with water. (Notice we didn’t recommend your pool, since you should be using it to feed your sprinklers.)
Large valuables such as antique furniture, etc. should be carried into the center of the house on the lowest floor (the same place you’d go in a tornado).
Major appliances, such as your oven, fridge, freezer, dishwasher, clothes washer, and dryer, tend not to be consumed by flame or crushed by debris and thereby offer a protected storage location for other valuables. Hint: Disposable diapers are surprisingly flame resistant, and might be useful as wraps for some items stored in an appliance.
6. Lock up the house, leave a note on the door telling authorities you’ve evacuated, check with neighbors to make sure they’re on their way to safety, hop in your vehicle, and leave. Hint: If the area is getting smoky, listen to your radio for road closure information, turn your headlights on low, and set your climate controls to “re-circulate” so as not to draw in smoke from outside the vehicle.
Naturally, this is an article that could go for a few dozen more pages since it’s such an important topic and certainly one where we could offer extensive detail. For now, this will have to do. Will the above information make you fireproof and prevent any damage to your property? No. But it’s very likely to help, especially if you take these steps now. Taking these measures also helps firefighters since any time a wildfire is delayed or a home protected, you take one more item off the shoulders of first responders. Prep now, stay safe, and remember that preparedness is not only a social responsibility; it’s your only true protection.
Harold
Sep
9
is it a crime when someone tampers with a fire safety system that is in place to save and protect lives?
Filed Under Fire Safety | 6 Comments
jacobsdtu asked:
i operate a juvenile facility that house 32 juveniles. The facility has a fire control system linked to the sprinkler system. Several juvenile has activated the sprinkler causing panic in the dormitory and flooding the facility. are ther any legal actions that can be taken and would this be considered a crimminal act.
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i operate a juvenile facility that house 32 juveniles. The facility has a fire control system linked to the sprinkler system. Several juvenile has activated the sprinkler causing panic in the dormitory and flooding the facility. are ther any legal actions that can be taken and would this be considered a crimminal act.
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Sep
4
fire safety?
Filed Under Fire Safety | 3 Comments
twiztedjuggalette666 asked:
I need a 1 paragraph explanation of each kind of fire ( Firework, house, barbeque, campfire). How to put out the fire, How to prevent, The cause of the fire should be in each paragraph. If you put idk or stuff like that I will report you… Please help.
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I need a 1 paragraph explanation of each kind of fire ( Firework, house, barbeque, campfire). How to put out the fire, How to prevent, The cause of the fire should be in each paragraph. If you put idk or stuff like that I will report you… Please help.
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Sep
3
I need to find a song that I can base a rap about Chemical Change and Reactions, and Fire and Fire safety on?
Filed Under Fire Safety | 1 Comment
metal asked:
I have to do this for class. The chapter we are rapping about is on Chemical Reactions.
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I have to do this for class. The chapter we are rapping about is on Chemical Reactions.
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Sep
1
Losing a Home to the Wildfires in California
Filed Under Wildfire Protection | Comments Off
Beth & Lee McCain asked:
We lost our homes in the wildfires of 2003 in Lake Arrowhead. It was a time that we just didn’t think we would ever get over. So to see homes burning once again in Lake Arrowhead and San Diego was a déjà vu.
At the time, it was heart wrenching to see everything we had go up in smoke. There was nothing left in the ashes, absolutely nothing, except for a jar of pennies my son was saving but we couldn’t tell that they were pennies, as they had all melted into one big heap of copper.
From where all the houses had burned, it looked like a nuclear war had come through. The fire randomly picked and chose which homes to take. Three hundred homes in our neighborhood had burned to the ground yet one house across the street made it completely unscathed, and a few yards up the road a lone wooden playhouse had been spared.
We lost everything. Our thirteen year old family cat, Baby Ruth, perished in the fire. All of our physical memories like photos of ancestors, my great grandma’s rocking chair, a violin that had been played by my husband’s great great grandfather; all of it gone. Yet in spite of all the destruction, we felt very thankful. Our family was intact.
We lived next door to my parents who had a cute little mother-in-law house. Our daughter could walk to Grandma’s every day with it being only twenty yards away. Our homes were deep in the woods of Cedar Glen and even deeper in the stands of trees that were dying from the bark beetle. The unforgiving pest, which had already ravaged forests from Colorado to Alaska, beetle had been attacking Lake Arrowhead and its surrounding communities for years. The result of its ravenous consumption was millions of trees standing like matchsticks ready to fuel a fire unlike anyone could have ever imagined.
In mid October 2003, Lee and I were scheduled for a number of lectures in the Midwest. We decided to take my mom and our then four year old daughter with us to the Colorado dates. Dad and our three teenagers stayed at home.
On our way back from Colorado, our teenage daughter reached us by cell telling us there was a fire up on the mountain. She was concerned. From the tightness in her voice, we knew this was real. The “Big One” everyone on the mountain had feared for so long had arrived.
Lake Arrowhead and the surrounding mountain communities had just two escape routes, and they were inadequate in the best of circumstances. Lee called some colleagues at the newspaper and some friends we knew at the fire department. They related the seriousness of the situation. There were fires everywhere, and some were threatening Big Bear and Cedar Glen.
Evacuation was still voluntary, but the firefighters said it would be wise to get out now. We called our kids and Dad and told them to meet us at the bottom of the mountain at a local hotel for the night. No one expected the houses to burn. We assumed we’d be back in our house within a few days. We left food out for Baby Ruth since she was nowhere to be seen, and we commenced our waiting out the fire.
One of the problems when there is a fire is that there are rarely accurate news reports. One report will swear that all the local businesses are totally wiped out, and then moments later another reporter on another channel will be standing right in front of them depicting them as perfectly fine. We didn’t get accurate news. The only news that was real was of true videos capturing neighborhoods that burned. We actually saw our homes burning on the television news. We knew at that moment that we were officially without a home.
It took over a week for the fire to be extinguished before we were able to return home. When you lose your home to fire, there is something inside of you that insists you have to see the remains.
When we turned onto our block, we couldn’t even tell where one block ended and the next one began. The fire had taken our roads, our cars, and our animals. It had eaten everything and left nothing. The ashes were still warm after a week. It was a moonscape.
While we were there, a woman approached, asking if this had been our home. We nodded but just couldn’t speak. She said she owned a rental in Lake Arrowhead and wondered if we would like to live there until we figured out what we were going to do. Amazing. An angel (and many more angels) would come to our aid that day. When we arrived at the rental home, someone we didn’t even know had already gone from neighborhood to neighborhood asking if they would be willing to clean out their garages and give us anything we might need. That evening a huge moving van pulled up full of new everything: clothes, dishes, bedding, beds, more than we could have ever needed. Phone calls came from people with gift cards to grocery stores and clothing stores. It was truly incredible, the kindness that was offered us.
FEMA was a gem. Right after the fire they met us at a restaurant parking lot to fill out all the paperwork required to put money in our hands as soon as possible. We expected maybe a week’s worth of rent, or maybe some grocery money, but FEMA set us up with funds for everything we lost and additional living money for six months. Again, the kindness and the help was overwhelming.
It can be hard to look at the bright side when something like a fire uproots one’s life, but by concentrating on all the good and kindness offered from strangers, and by concentrating on what you do have and what you can rebuild, will reduce some of the sting.
A house is just a thing, possessions are replaceable, and our memories are something we brought with us and we can keep. The wildfires could never steal those from us.
Four years later we have seen firsthand that even out of the darkest time, or impossible situation, that good can still peek through and take the day. We had always wanted to live in Oregon and the 2003 fire gave us the freedom to do that. We are so grateful for our lives and especially grateful for all the people who helped us through such a trying experience.
To those of you who may have lost a home in the wildfires in California, life will get better. It may be hard to believe or understand right now, but in a few years you will see and appreciate the fact that you have made it through. You will appreciate your family all the more and will always hold a special place in your heart for the kindness exhibited by all the volunteers who helped you through this trying time. And one day, when you return to look at the place where your house once stood, in addition to the new signs of life and regrowth sprouting from the ground, you will have the memories that will keep you in good stead. Life always regenerates itself.
Jennifer
We lost our homes in the wildfires of 2003 in Lake Arrowhead. It was a time that we just didn’t think we would ever get over. So to see homes burning once again in Lake Arrowhead and San Diego was a déjà vu.
At the time, it was heart wrenching to see everything we had go up in smoke. There was nothing left in the ashes, absolutely nothing, except for a jar of pennies my son was saving but we couldn’t tell that they were pennies, as they had all melted into one big heap of copper.
From where all the houses had burned, it looked like a nuclear war had come through. The fire randomly picked and chose which homes to take. Three hundred homes in our neighborhood had burned to the ground yet one house across the street made it completely unscathed, and a few yards up the road a lone wooden playhouse had been spared.
We lost everything. Our thirteen year old family cat, Baby Ruth, perished in the fire. All of our physical memories like photos of ancestors, my great grandma’s rocking chair, a violin that had been played by my husband’s great great grandfather; all of it gone. Yet in spite of all the destruction, we felt very thankful. Our family was intact.
We lived next door to my parents who had a cute little mother-in-law house. Our daughter could walk to Grandma’s every day with it being only twenty yards away. Our homes were deep in the woods of Cedar Glen and even deeper in the stands of trees that were dying from the bark beetle. The unforgiving pest, which had already ravaged forests from Colorado to Alaska, beetle had been attacking Lake Arrowhead and its surrounding communities for years. The result of its ravenous consumption was millions of trees standing like matchsticks ready to fuel a fire unlike anyone could have ever imagined.
In mid October 2003, Lee and I were scheduled for a number of lectures in the Midwest. We decided to take my mom and our then four year old daughter with us to the Colorado dates. Dad and our three teenagers stayed at home.
On our way back from Colorado, our teenage daughter reached us by cell telling us there was a fire up on the mountain. She was concerned. From the tightness in her voice, we knew this was real. The “Big One” everyone on the mountain had feared for so long had arrived.
Lake Arrowhead and the surrounding mountain communities had just two escape routes, and they were inadequate in the best of circumstances. Lee called some colleagues at the newspaper and some friends we knew at the fire department. They related the seriousness of the situation. There were fires everywhere, and some were threatening Big Bear and Cedar Glen.
Evacuation was still voluntary, but the firefighters said it would be wise to get out now. We called our kids and Dad and told them to meet us at the bottom of the mountain at a local hotel for the night. No one expected the houses to burn. We assumed we’d be back in our house within a few days. We left food out for Baby Ruth since she was nowhere to be seen, and we commenced our waiting out the fire.
One of the problems when there is a fire is that there are rarely accurate news reports. One report will swear that all the local businesses are totally wiped out, and then moments later another reporter on another channel will be standing right in front of them depicting them as perfectly fine. We didn’t get accurate news. The only news that was real was of true videos capturing neighborhoods that burned. We actually saw our homes burning on the television news. We knew at that moment that we were officially without a home.
It took over a week for the fire to be extinguished before we were able to return home. When you lose your home to fire, there is something inside of you that insists you have to see the remains.
When we turned onto our block, we couldn’t even tell where one block ended and the next one began. The fire had taken our roads, our cars, and our animals. It had eaten everything and left nothing. The ashes were still warm after a week. It was a moonscape.
While we were there, a woman approached, asking if this had been our home. We nodded but just couldn’t speak. She said she owned a rental in Lake Arrowhead and wondered if we would like to live there until we figured out what we were going to do. Amazing. An angel (and many more angels) would come to our aid that day. When we arrived at the rental home, someone we didn’t even know had already gone from neighborhood to neighborhood asking if they would be willing to clean out their garages and give us anything we might need. That evening a huge moving van pulled up full of new everything: clothes, dishes, bedding, beds, more than we could have ever needed. Phone calls came from people with gift cards to grocery stores and clothing stores. It was truly incredible, the kindness that was offered us.
FEMA was a gem. Right after the fire they met us at a restaurant parking lot to fill out all the paperwork required to put money in our hands as soon as possible. We expected maybe a week’s worth of rent, or maybe some grocery money, but FEMA set us up with funds for everything we lost and additional living money for six months. Again, the kindness and the help was overwhelming.
It can be hard to look at the bright side when something like a fire uproots one’s life, but by concentrating on all the good and kindness offered from strangers, and by concentrating on what you do have and what you can rebuild, will reduce some of the sting.
A house is just a thing, possessions are replaceable, and our memories are something we brought with us and we can keep. The wildfires could never steal those from us.
Four years later we have seen firsthand that even out of the darkest time, or impossible situation, that good can still peek through and take the day. We had always wanted to live in Oregon and the 2003 fire gave us the freedom to do that. We are so grateful for our lives and especially grateful for all the people who helped us through such a trying experience.
To those of you who may have lost a home in the wildfires in California, life will get better. It may be hard to believe or understand right now, but in a few years you will see and appreciate the fact that you have made it through. You will appreciate your family all the more and will always hold a special place in your heart for the kindness exhibited by all the volunteers who helped you through this trying time. And one day, when you return to look at the place where your house once stood, in addition to the new signs of life and regrowth sprouting from the ground, you will have the memories that will keep you in good stead. Life always regenerates itself.
Jennifer