Hear the beep where you sleep

When it comes to fire safety in one's home, the guiding principal is almost the same as that for a successful business - location, location and location.

Keeping that in mind, local fire departments want residents to remember this during the upcoming national Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 4 – 10: "Hear the beep where you sleep."

West Plains fire fighting organizations are joining with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to encourage people to make sure they have proper home smoke alarms installed in bedrooms and any other areas they may fall asleep in, along with making sure currently installed alarms are in good working order. According to a Spokane County Fire District 3 news release, half of home fire deaths occur in fires reported between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.

NFPA statistics indicate three of five deaths result from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. On the opposite end of the scale, having a working smoke alarm can cut the chance of dying in a fire by half.

Fire Prevention Week's campaign also urges people to install smoke alarms not only in bedrooms but also outside sleeping areas and on every level of a home, including the basement. Interconnection of smoke alarms is encouraged, along with testing alarms at least once a month and replacing all alarms when they reach 10 years old.

SCFD 3 Division Chief Debby Dobson said the district offers a fire detection program where district fire officials will come to a resident's home and install alarms where they sleep and on each level of a home. The program is paid for through grant funding and therefore free to residents, and utilized regionally by the city of Spokane along with fire districts 9 and 10. District 3 has already done 70 homes, Dobson said.

"We'd like to do 5,000 in the district," Dobson said. "Maybe not quite that many, but there's definitely a need out there."

Another message conveyed during Fire Prevention Week is making sure everyone in a home knows the sound of a smoke alarm and understands what to do when it goes off. Local fire departments will be visiting area schools to explain this message to Cheney and Medical Lake students.

Dobson said District 3 would be going to schools throughout the week, and Medical Lake firefighter Lt. Christina Jaeger said in an email that department will be doing public education at Hallett Elementary School. Airway Heights' assistant chief and public education officer Doug Bonstrom said their department regularly visit's Cheney School District's Sunset Elementary School to provide fire safety information to students in preschool and kindergarten through first grade.

Bonstrom said they use flash cards to illustrate fire safety, working smoke alarms so students can become acquainted with their sounds and talk about proper evacuation procedures, not only at home but also at school.

"You've got to get yourself trained to get out," he added.

District 3 is also planning several events over Fire Prevention Week. Station 35 at 1801 W. Gibbs Road is holding a chili feed Oct 8 while Station 31, district headquarters in Cheney on Presley Drive, is holding an open house Oct. 10.

The open house, which runs from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. will feature live fire, extrication and rappelling demonstrations, hands-on instruction on the use of fire extinguishers, kids' activities including fire truck tours, coloring activities and a scavenger hunt along with giving the public a chance to tour the district's recently completed training center.

Sign up for the smoke alarm installation program and information on how to "FireWise" a home will also be available.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].