Fire Safety Begins At Home

FIRE SAFETY BEGINS AT HOME
Guest opinion submitted by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo
The terrifying image of a house on fire is difficult to forget: residents fleeing from their home; exhausted firefighters putting themselves in harm's way to battle the blaze; and a lifetime of memories reduced to charred and smoking remains. A fire's greatest tragedy, a life or lives lost, changes family and friends irrevocably. As a member of the Congressional Fire Caucus, I strongly support fire safety legislation to better protect lives and property of Idahoans. While there is no single prescription for fire safety, through participation in the caucus, I have become better educated about fire and safety issues that affect communities in our State. Did you know that in Idaho the chance of having a fire in your home, regardless of where you live, is greater than the chance of being in a car crash? The most recent statistics show that Idaho had 1,462 residential fires in 2002. These fires caused 46 injuries, eight deaths, and $15.6 million in damages. While many people remember to wear their seat belt, they often don't remember to test their smoke alarms and practice an emergency evacuation plan. While many Idaho homes have smoke alarms, too many are not in working condition due to dead or missing batteries. In fact, nearly 50 percent of all the Idaho homes that had fires did not have working smoke alarms. Few of us realize how easily-and how quickly-fire can destroy our homes and take the lives of those we love. Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of a home, tested monthly and replaced every ten years. Working smoke alarms can greatly reduce your chance of dying in a fire. People who live beyond the city limits are twice as likely to die in a fire as those who live in mid-sized cities or suburban areas. The misuse of wood stoves, portable space heaters and kerosene heaters is an especially common risk in rural homes. If you live at the point where homes meet combustible vegetation, you can better protect lives and property by removing debris such as dead limbs and leaves, regularly cutting your grass, and creating defensible space by thinning trees and brush around your home. Safety tips available on the United States Fire Administration website may help prevent you from becoming a fire casualty. You can visit the website at www.usfa.fema.gov. Reducing the loss of life and property caused by fire remains a significant challenge for all of us. I ask Idahoans to do a few simple things: install and maintain smoke alarms and plan an escape route. As your Senator, I will continue to promote legislation to reduce the threat of fire to our communities, improve the safety of our firefighters and address the risks that Idahoans face from devastating house fires.