UHFD urges residents to make fire safety a priority

The University Heights Fire Department offers safety tips online, at www.universityheights.com/departments/fire.

The University Heights Fire Department (UHFD) is urging residents to make 2021 a healthier and more fire-safe year.

The U.S. Fire Administration reports 83 percent of all fire deaths in the U.S. happen in homes. These preventable fires result in more than three-quarters of all fire deaths, and thousands of injuries.

The UHPD offers the following fire-safety suggestions:

Make sure that your home is protected by working smoke alarms. Smoke alarms can wake you up if there’s a fire. “Half of all home fire deaths happen at night, when people are sleeping,” said UH Fire Chief Robert Perko. “Install one on every level of your home, in every bedroom and outside all sleeping areas.”

Have a plan. Make sure that everyone in your home knows how to get outside and where to meet if the smoke alarm sounds.

Install alarms on every level. You need a working smoke alarm on every level of your home, including the basement. Interconnected smoke alarms provide the best protection because when one sounds, they all sound.

Test your alarms. Having a smoke alarm with a dead or missing battery is the same as having no smoke alarm at all. Test all of your smoke alarms to make sure that they are working. Replace smoke alarms when they are 10 years old, or if they don’t make a sound when you test them.

Be safe in the kitchen. Cooking is the main cause of home fires and home fire injuries. While you’re preparing meals, remember to make safety the first ingredient. Stay in the kitchen when you are cooking at high temperatures; for example, frying, broiling or boiling. Fires start when the heat gets too high. If you see any smoke, or the grease starts to boil, turn the burner off.

Mike Cook

Mike Cook is the communications and civic engagement coordinator for University Heights.

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Volume 14, Issue 2, Posted 11:23 AM, 01.28.2021