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A Look At Winter Fire Safety With Fire Chief Tom Hooker

photo by Mike Cameron Pittsford Fire Chief Tom Hooker shows an old smoke alarm from “days gone by” and the latest in smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Firefighters across the country urge families and businesses to use the maintain these life saving devices as a key component in an overall fire safety strategy.

Tuesday January 20, 2009

By Mike Cameron

    It’s always a good day for our readers when we can sit down and discuss winter fire safety issues with Pittsford Vermont Fire Chief Tom Hooker.  

    As head of the Pittsford Vermont Volunteer Fire Department, Hooker manages a close knit group of dedicated, unpaid, professional firefighters in a small but growing community.

    “Much of what we can do involves common sensed but it’s still very important because fire safety becomes a matter of surviving or becoming a victim.

    We as firefighters, for example, enjoy teaching fire safety to little kids because most of them learn very quickly and retain the material remarkably well.  They also bring their new found knowledge home to share with their parents.

    We’ve had classes for children in kindergarten and many of the same kids remembered that same information five years later in the sixth grade.” he explained.

    Then Chief Hooker told this reporter something that was both enlightening and chilling.  I urge you to read this next paragraph carefully because it could save your life and the lives of your loved ones.

    “What most people don’t realize is that being overcome by smoke in a bedroom setting for example, causes the sleeping person to progress deeper and deeper into their sleep.

    The smoke can take our life while we sleep before we have any chance of survival unless we are able to wake up. That’s where smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors play such a vital role in giving us that critical opportunity to wake up and get out of the house alive,” Chief Hooker explained.

      Today’s technology has produced a wide range of exotic, chemically based materials that can produce fatal smoke and fumes when they burn.  Much of this technology is in our homes today in the form of furniture, floor covering, electronics and the like.

   For those who burn wood  the cold weather we have recently experienced would facilitate a clean well drafted burn, if and it’s a big if; if your stove and pipes and chimney are free of creosote.

   If we get a strong warming trend and it is likely that we will at some point before long, folks will most likely damp down their fires.  This creates a “Catch 22.” as the Chief explains.
“When that happens people will tend to damp the fires down thus lowering the burning efficiency of the stoves and furnaces.  This can cause a build up of creosote which is a by product of the wood burning process.  Creosote  deposits can build up on the inside of chimneys and cause a clog.”

   Hooker explained further that “when the fires are reset to burn hotter as the colder weather returns after a thaw, the creosote can ignite causing a chimney fire.   

   Chimneys should be cleaned at least once a year in homes that burn wood and twice a year is even better to prevent creosote from building up.  

    It is also important to remember that creosote expansion inside the chimney makes it a tighter fit near wood supports and trim and over time can actually lower the kindling temperature of the wood from burning season to burning season.

   Have a firefighter look at your wood burning or coal burning set up. they are very co-operative and with their training they can help you to maintain a safe set up. Oil burning furnaces should also be cleaned and checked once a year by a qualified service technician.

   Smoke Detectors and Carbon Monoxide Detectors are proven life savers and yet we who want to be protected will find ways to not employ them correctly.  

   Replacing the batteries at least once a year is vital. Twice a year is  better.  Clean them out with a duster to remove dirt and bugs.

   Chief Hooker makes his points about these important life savers in very direct and down to earth language.  

   “Smoke Detectors and CO2 detectors help to save lives. Some work with a battery and some can be hard wired in groups.  When one detects a trouble spot they all go off.  There are also detectors that combine both smoke and CO2 detection,” he explained.  

   Visit an authorized smoke detector dealer, ask questions and let them know where you plan to use the units.

    We also asked the chief how to exit from a house that is on fire.

    “Practice the escape as a family.  This is important.  Have a meeting place that everyone knows about outside the house.  A mailbox at the end of the driveway, a tree, a place everyone if familiar with. When you are making your escape stay low to the floor, crawl if need be because the better air is near the floor ”

    Once everyone is outside do not go back into the house for any reason.  This is a very critical safety rule to remember as Hooker explains further.  “ When the occupants use an escape plan correctly, we as fire fighters can determine more accurately where people are when we arrive on  scene.  Is everyone out or not?  We have the equipment and the training to find people still inside including the use of thermal imaging technology after we account for those who have followed an escape plan.  Not knowing where people are creates  dangerous problems.  When people go back into a burning house on their own their chances of  ever coming back out on their own are not good.

   It’s important for people to remember that human lives can not be replaced,  just about everything else can be.” Winter presents many opportunities for fires to become fatal here in Vermont but we can increase our chances for survival dramatically by being Fire Safety Smart.  Simple common sense planning and precautions can give us the edge we will need at the critical moment we need it.

    Chief Tom Hooker knows from experience that such plans work and save lives.  “This time of year we encourage everyone to use smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishes, safety ladders, and emergency travel kits in their vehicles. It is not a good idea to use your gas grill in the garage as some folks do this time of year and it is also important to talk about fire safety as a family and with family members who might be elderly seniors living alone.”  

   One question we all need to consider is this.  If a fire should start in our home late at night after everyone is sound asleep, will we be able to wake up in time and instinctively know what to do next without hesitation?”

   The Chief adds a final couple of important notes.   “Wood pellets have become a very popular energy option here in Vermont.  They burn very efficiently and produce a very fine ash.  Remove any wood burning ash from the house and away from any structures in a metal container. Ash stored on a porch has caused homes to burn to the ground.  The ash can be a threat even after several days.  Some pellet burning stoves are vented low to the ground.  Making sure that the vent is not obstructed by snow  or other obstructions is very important.”

   “There are two types of smoke detectors and both serve a specific purpose.  “The photo-electric smoke detector is more efficient at detecting a smoldering fire that takes longer to fully develop where as an ionization type detector is more efficient at detecting a faster moving blaze.  Having both types in your home is a good idea for better over all protection.  It is suggested that units that are 10-years old be replaced.

   Hard wired units with a battery back up is also a wise investment.  There are also combination smoke and CO2-detectors available. Remember if you have questions or concerns about fire safety contact a local firefighter and they will be more than happy to help you and your family.

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