FIRE PREVENTION
Craig Babcock, Fire Official
(973) 983-2865
cbabcock@rockawaytownship.org
Causes of Home Fires
From National Fire Prevention Association 2009 data
(3) Candles were the third leading cause of home fire injuries – mostly from burning candles left unattended.
(2) Heating is the second cause of home fires, fire deaths, and fire injuries. Avoid furnace fires and furnace back-fires (oily smoke throughout your home). Have your furnace cleaned and serviced once a year. This is much cheaper and smells a lot better.
(1) Cooking is the #1 cause of home fires and injuries. Unattended cooking is by far the leading cause of kitchen fires. Keep a fire extinguisher by a kitchen exit and use it only on small fires, otherwise leave immediately and call 911. Note: all fires start as small fires.
Smoke & CO Detectors
Almost all U.S. homes have at least one smoke alarm, but two thirds of home fire deaths result from fires in homes without working smoke alarms. Test smoke alarms once a month and change the battery twice a year the same time you change your clock. Smoke detectors last 10 years. The date of manufacture is on the bottom, sometimes under the battery cover. CO detectors last 7 years. When they are near the end of their life span both make the same chirping sound they make when the battery is dying. If you think you have a cricket on your ceiling, check your detectors.
SMOKE DETECTOR COMPLIANCE APPLICATION
Residential Sprinklers
Only in the movies or on TV does every sprinkler activate when there is a fire or the bank robber is trying to escape. In 90% of fires with sprinkler systems only one head activates. Only the head(s) directly over the fire activate by the heat. 90% of fires are extinguished by one