WHAT TO DO DURING A FIRE DISASTER

Your response during a fire disaster depends on certain factors. These include the intensity of the fire, the presence of inflammable substances within the building. All steps given below must not be taken during a fire outbreak. It all depends on the circumstances you find yourself.

HIT THE EXIT (RUN FOR YOUR LIFE)

This should be the first step if the fire is intense or if the fire is getting close to explosive substances. There is no need trying to save anything. Your life is worth a lot more.

CALL EMERGENCY SERVICES

This should be the first step if the fire is still young. However, some people may prefer extinguishing the fire first. The later is okay if emergency services are unreliable in your area. However, if there are more than one persons in the building one person should call emergency services while the rest fight the fire with appropriate fire extinguishers.
Note that a young fire can mature in seconds. Remember that fire requires oxygen, heat and fuel. Oxygen is everywhere, while the fire is burning it generates heat, so to monitor the progress of a fire look at the path it may take and observe the type of fuel on its path.

PUSH THE FIRE ALARM BUTTON

This will alert the police and neighbours to take some sort of action.

EXTINGUISH THE FIRE

Do this only if the fire is still young.
Remember to use the fire extinguisher for the class of fire that you are fighting.

SALVAGE WHAT YOU CAN

This should be done if the fire is not responding to fire extinguishers. You may be tempted to continue on your futal attempt to extinguish the fire.But that is not advisable

PREPARING FOR A FIRE DISASTER

No one wants to think of a fire outbreaks in his/her house, but sometime fire disasters occur. How ready are you for a fire outbreak in your house. If you are not ready yet, here are some ideas to get yourself busy with.

PREPARE A FIRE RISK AUDIT

This is quite simple. Inspect your house and write down spots you consider as hotspots, that is spots were you think a fire disaster can begin from. You may even decide to give different ratings to different points in your house. An example of this ratings include, no risk, low risk, medium risk, high risk and very high risk spots.

Example of high risk spots in your house include:points near electrical sockets, cooking equipments, rubbish close to your house, etc. Examples of very high risk points include spaces near inflammable substances, your car park etc. All you require to prepare a fire risk audit are writing materials and time.

KEEP YOUR CREDENTIALS, MONEY AND OTHER VALUABLES IN A SECURED LOCATION

Your credentials, money and other valuables should be kept in secured locations like banks and post offices. This will save you the trouble of having your valuables burnt during a fire disaster. If your valuables must be kept in your house, keep them inside a fireproof box. A fireproof box can be recovered after a fire disaster.

Alternatively, keep your valuables all together in a file, a briefcase, a folder or any other suitable container. This container should be kept at a low risk or no risk point, depending on your fire audit, nearest to the exit. However, it must be said that this last option will fail if you are outside your house when the fire begins.

BUY A FIRE INSURANCE POLICY

A fire insurance policy will save you from losing everything you have worked for when a fire disaster occurs. Fire insurance policies come in different names depending on the insurance company, but no matter the name, the word “fire” will always be in the name.
These days fire insurance policies are very elaborate. Fire insurance policies depending on the insurance company may cover collapse, explosion, fire, hail, lightning, smoke, vandalism, weight of ice/snow and windstorm.

BUY FIREFIGHTING GADGETS

Firefighting gadgets can help you prevent a fire disaster. However, they can only help you if you buy them and install them. Fire extinguishers can be used to fight fire at its early stages. Determine the classes of fire possible in your house and buy the proper fire extinguisher. Smoke detectors will also detect any smoke and sound an alarm.Smoke detectors should be installed at risky points in the house.

SAVE THE PHONE NUMBERS OF EMERGENCY SERVICES.

This is not necessary if you have an emergency number in your area, or if SOS calls are possible. However, if you don’t have such numbers you should enquire for the phone numbers of the police, the fire service and medical personnel and store them in your phone.

KEEP YOUR HOUSE TIDY ALWAYS

The inside and the outside of your house must be kept tidy to reduce the speed at which a fire outbreak catches on, which will delay the fire and enable you save some of your property especially if the fire service comes on time. If your belongings are all clustered together, fire can easily move from one item to the next until everything is burnt.

HAVE A GOOD MENTAL PICTURE OF YOUR HOME

This is very important in situations were the fire breaks out while you are asleep. In such situations there may be low visibility in the house. A good mental picture of your home will help you identify the shortest and safest route out of your house.

BE FRIENDLY WITH YOUR NEIGHBOURS

Good neighbours can help you prevent a fire disaster, or even help you during a fire outbreak. Neighbours can be of assistance if you are not around when a fire outbreak started. They can help you in calling the fire service if a fire starts while you are away. They can also call your attention when they perceive the odour of burning fuel. Many fire disasters have been prevented by good neighbours. But remember, that it takes a good neighbour to have a good neighbour. So, be nice to your neighbours today, because you don’t know when you will need them.

PREVENTING A FIRE DISASTER

Fire outbreaks can be prevented if some basic precautions are taken. Three main elements are required for a fire to burn. These are fuel, oxygen and heat. Eliminating any of these elements will extinguish any fire. Some of the steps in preventing fire disasters are enumerated below.

FIND OUT THE CAUSES OF FIRE OUTBREAKS

Being knowledgeable about the causes of fire disasters will help in its prevention. In summary fire outbreaks are caused by carelessness, ignorance, arson and accidents.

ENSURE THAT HOUSE WIRING FOLLOWS LOCAL WIRING REGULATION

Non-compliance with local wiring regulation can cause fire disasters. Ensure that certified electrical engineers are employed to supervise your house wiring.
Before packing into a new house inspect the electrical wiring of the house and ensure they comply with local wiring regulation. If you are not qualified to do this invite a certified electrical engineer.

KEEP YOUR SURROUNDING FREE FROM RUBBISH

Fire requires oxygen, fuel and heat to burn. The atmosphere contains oxygen, your rubbish (like abandoned pieces of furniture, used paper, dried grasses and so on) is a fuel. The only element remaining for fire to start off is heat. Any naked flame thrown into such rubbish will ignite the rubbish. Decomposing wastes can also produce bio-fuels that can be easily ignited by the heat from the sun.

TURN OFF ALL ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES WHILE TRAVELING

This is necessary to prevent explosions during power surges, since you will not be around to handle any emergency. Although there are gadgets to help you in such situations, but these gadgets fail sometimes.

HANDLE FIRE WITH CARE

Respect fire the way you respect electricity. Do not use it carelessly. Do not take naked flames near volatile fuels, like petrol, cooking gas and the like. Do not throw away naked flames, like cigarette flames, without completely extinguishing them.

BEWARE OF INFLAMMABLE SUBSTANCES

Inflammable substances are volatile fuels like kerosene, petrol, cooking gas, some insecticides, diesel, some perfumes, some industrial chemicals and so much more. They can easily be ignited from any point that you smell their fumes. Do not use naked flames within such range.

Causes of fire outbreaks

Fire outbreaks and disasters are caused by many factors, some of which can be blamed on us and others beyond our control.

One of the causes of fire outbreaks/disasters is carelessness. This happens when fire is not taken seriously by the person handling it. Some careless behaviours that can cause fire outbreaks include:

1. Faulty electrical wiring, this is one of the main causes of fire disasters. Using thin cables for house wiring, in order to save cost, were thicker cables ought to be used can cause heating, which can ignite the insulation and spark off a fire disaster. Ensure that certified electrical engineers are employed to supervise your house wiring. In addition inspect the electrical wiring of your house and ensure that it is in good condition before packing in
2. Falling asleep while you are cooking can also cause a fire outbreak, as much as is possible avoid cooking when you are tired
3. Leaving rubbish and trees near your house. This is very important during the dry season or summer. A bush fire may mistake your house as part of the bush
4. Careless use of candles and other naked flames. Avoid the use of candles for illumination as much as is possible. Use candles only for your religious rituals or romantic dinners and turn them off afterwords
5. Irresponsible use of fireworks can also cause fire outbreaks. Fireworks should be aimed only at the skies. Aiming your fireworks to any other direction can cause a fire disaster. The fireworks might hit an inflammable substance and cause an explosion that will initiate a fire disaster
6. Pouring kerosene into the kerosene tank of your kerosene lamp while the kerosene lamp is lit. This may cause an explosion that can ignite a fire
7. Storage of fuel or other inflammable substance around the house or through the part were naked fire may pass
8. Smoking near inflammable substance

Another cause of fire disasters is ignorance. Poor awareness of what fire is and how it can be prevented has led to a lot of fire outbreak. Information about fire, how to prepare for fire disasters and how to prevent fire disasters can be found in many books on fire.

Fire requires fuel, oxygen and heat to burn. Elimination of any of these elements will extinguish any fire no matter how intense it is. A good knowledge of fire will enable you to know the possible fire risk areas in your house. It will also enable you to understand how to prepare for a fire disaster and how to prevent fire disasters. Being ignorant of firefighting gadgets will make you to ignore gadgets that can save your property during a fire outbreak. Ignorance will also make you to compromise with buying a fire insurance policy.

Arson is yet another cause of fire outbreaks. But, what is arson? Arson is defined as a malicious burning of the property of another. There must be damage incurred in the building and the damage must have been caused by a fire. Your house can be set on fire during a riot, strike or social unrest fire outbreaks due to arson are often beyond your control. However, your political and religious views can make your property a target for arsonist.

Accidents do occur sometimes. When all necessary precautions have been taken accidents can still occur. This is often beyond your control. Electrical sparks can occur, lightening and more can cause fire outbreaks. Knowing the causes of fire empowers you to prevent it.