Fire Update

Royal Oak Fire Department- Acting Assistant Chief, Rick Wiegand

248-246-3800

For the week:  OCTOBER 16, 2011 – OCTOBER 22, 2011

4,667 total runs in 2011

5,470 total runs in 2010

TIP OF THE MONTH :  Install Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Detectors / Alarms

Smoke and Carbon Monoxide DETECTORS can alert you to danger in your home in time for you to escape, even if you are sleeping. To wake up and survive a nighttime fire, you must have working detectors!

You should install detectors in the following areas:

· Detectors outside each sleeping area (a common hallway, for example).

· Detectors on each level of your home if more than one story. (including the basement).

· An additional detector in each bedroom, as you should sleep with your door closed.

Placement of detectors is very important. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and use these guidelines to help you.

· Mount on the ceiling at least six inches from the wall or on a wall between six and twelve inches from the ceiling, but keep detectors about six inches away from the corner where the ceiling and wall meet (the corner is a "dead air space" where the detector won't be in the path of smoke travel).

· For high pitched or "cathedral" ceilings, mount the detectors three feet from the highest point.

· Avoid placement in the path of ceiling fans, air conditioning or heater vents.

· Make certain smoke detectors are UL listed.

· Smoke detectors should be replaced every 10 years.

· When replacing smoke detectors, replace them with a lithium battery smoke detector.
(a lithium battery will last the life of the detector.)

Test detectors once a month, following the manufacturer's directions, and replace batteries once a year, or whenever a detector "chirps" or "beeps" to signal low battery power. A good time to replace your smoke detector batteries is when you reset your clocks for daylight savings time. Never "borrow" a detector's battery for another use - a disabled detector can't save your life.

Make sure children know what an alarm is. Children must know:

· Alarms warn them of danger.

· Get out of the house immediately when they hear the sound of the alarm.

· Smoke and Carbon Monoxide detectors are not toys and should not be played with.

Show your child how important these dangers are by testing your alarms every month.

Fires: This week___2__Total for the year__84____

This week we were dispatched to two homes filled with smoke. In both incidents they were kitchen fires related to unattended stoves. The first incident our investigation found a kitchen towel on a burner and the second a pan of burnt food. In both cases the smoke detectors alerted the residents and we were able to respond quickly and limit the homes to smoke damage. Over the years we have had fires that were not detected early and turned into serious fires that had done significant damage to kitchens and sometimes the entire house.

EMS Runs:  This week___76__ Total for the year__3140__

Car Fires:  This week____0_____

Hazardous Conditions: This week__6___Total for the Year__316___

Other Runs:  This week___23__Total for the year__1126___

Mutual Aid Responses:

Birmingham

Mutual Aid Received   This week__1___   This year__21_

Mutual Aid Given          This week__0___   This year __3__

Ferndale

Mutual Aid Received   This week__0          This Year__17____

Mutual Aid Given         This week__ 1__     This Year__36____

Madison Hts.

Mutual Aid Received   This week___0__       This Year___21____

Mutual Aid Given         This week___1__      This Year___22____

Automatic Aid Given   This week___0__       This Year____1_____

Southfield

Mutual Aid Received   This week___0__ __ This Year____0_____

Mutual Aid Given         This week___0______This Year____1_____

West Bloomfield

Mutual Aid Received   This week ___0_____  This Year ____0_____

Mutual Aid Given         This week ___0_____  This Year ____1_____