To help promote fire safety, the Shore Update again this year is teaming up with the Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department (KIVFD) to bring an interactive fire safety trailer to our Shore Kids event on April 29. You and your family can learn what it is like to survive in fire-like conditions, complete with theatrical smoke to simulate the experience.
The trailer has been called a fire safety trailer, a smoke house, and more appropriately, the Life Safety Trailer, obtained through a FEMA Fire Prevention Grant. Using theatrical smoke to simulate fire conditions, it teaches children and adults to not panic and to escape by crawling low below the smoke. The trailer features a door that warms up, simulating one that is heated by a fire on the other side, and demonstrations of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. The trailer setup like a kitchen, teaching kitchen safety such as turning pan handles inward, and a child’s bedroom.
In addition to all of the fire safety features, the trailer is equipped with what is called a FEMA Weather Smart System, capable of assisting with the delivery of all types of public safety education. This allows KIVFD to train the community in preparedness and response to severe weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes. The system can simulate the sounds of hurricane winds, the “freight train” sound of a tornado, power failures, lightning and other effects.
There are some basic precautions families can take in case there is a fire. First and foremost, families should think about how to prevent fires in their homes. Visit the FEMA web site https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/fief/up_in_smoke_home_checklist.pdf to learn about the steps you can take to help fireproof your home. FEMA and Red Cross both have sites explaining what to do in the event there is a fire in your home. Don’t think it could never happen to you. Learn basic fire safety steps including when to call 911, know your address, ensure your smoke alarms are working, and have and practice an escape plan.
One thing most people don’t know when it comes to home fires is that sleeping with your bedroom door closed can save your life. The simple phrase “close before you doze” is a reminder to sleep with your bedroom door closed. Doing this helps to significantly slow the spread of fire and smoke into your bedroom, giving you more time to escape. You can learn more at https://closeyourdoor.org/.
Sprinkler systems are another home safety feature that are often surrounded by common myths or misconceptions. Residential sprinklers are not like what happens on TV. A birthday cake is not going to set them off and not all the sprinklers go off at once. In the average residential fire, a single sprinkler head activates when the temperature at the ceiling exceeds 165°F. That single sprinkler head flows at about 13 gallons of water per minute. In contrast, the average fire hose flows at least 150 gallons per minute. Visit www.homefiresprinkler.org to learn more about home fire sprinklers.
The Queen Anne’s County public safety educators use the trailer to provide potentially lifesaving information to our community. To experience the smoke house and learn more about fire and weather-related safety precautions, come out to the Shore Kids Connection on April 29th and to the annual Kent Island VFD Public Safety Day and Open House.
To learn more about KIVFD, you can go to their website at www.kifvd.org. If you want to experience a simulated fire and to learn about fire safety, be sure to come to the Shore Update Shore Kids Connection on April 29th at Kent Island High School. We will be there from 11am to 2pm along with the KIVFD Life Safety Trailer. Learn more about our Shore Kids event at www.shoreupdate.com.