Community Emergency Response Team: Fire Safety Tips that May Save Your Life + How to Use a Fire Extinguisher

Snow Wang

(This article was written by a student in Woodinville High School’s Emergency CERT class, taught by Danna Kapacinskas in the E Building.)

Home fires are one of the most common disasters in the United States. While preventable, they happen without warning, and are started in various ways, usually cooking or electricity. Not all fires are the same, so it’s important to know how you can protect yourself and those you love. This article will cover many basic survival tips as well as how to use a fire extinguisher.

1. Know your escape routes ahead of time. Create a fire escape plan for your home with your family. Practice and update it once every 6 months or so. Know the type of house you live in-is it a 2-story single family? A mobile home? A high-rise apartment with over 20 floors? A low-rise apartment downtown? Knowing this can help you prepare.
   Use three different plans:

1. Leave the building through the nearest door (primary).

2. Leave the building through a window, if door escapes are not possible (secondary).

3. If both door escapes and window escapes are blocked, seek shelter behind a closed door of a room as far away from the fire as possible, and call the fire department. Tell them exactly where you are in the building. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR, as it will allow smoke and ash to enter your hiding place and also feed oxygen to the fire.

1. Keep a disaster supply kit. This kit should include (but is NOT limited to) water to drink, food to eat, clothes, a working cell phone with its charger, copies of identity documents/birth certificates, and medication.

2. Do NOT use “electrical octopuses” that are attached to your wall. Those are a big cause of electrical fires, which cannot be extinguished by water.

3. Make sure all electrical cords DO NOT run under carpets. A cord under a carpet can cause an electrical fire.

4. Make sure your sleepwear is NOT flammable. Much sleepwear, particularly children’s pajamas, are now made from flammable materials. Check the label before you purchase to ensure that the sleepwear isn’t flammable.

5. Never use your stove to heat your home. Stoves are the #1 cause of fires at home.

6. Make sure the fireplace is EXTINGUISHED COMPLETELY before you leave the room. Unextinguished fireplaces frequently cause fires.

7. DO NOT place Christmas trees near sources of electricity or heat. Both natural and artificial Christmas trees are very flammable and a lot of holiday-time house fires are a result of a Christmas tree catching fire.

• Artificial Christmas trees are made from synthetic materials like plastic, which burn very fast and hot.

• Natural Christmas trees are almost always pine trees, which have very flammable wood and branches.

• Because of this, NEVER place a Christmas tree near the fireplace when it’s on, even though it looks cozy and traditional.

1. Sleep with your bedroom door CLOSED. Firefighters highly recommend the rule, “CLOSE before you doze”. Those who sleep with a door open are much more likely to die in a house fire because they breathe in the dangerous gas released by the fire (most fire deaths are not from burns, but actually from inhaling dangerous gasses). A closed door will block the gas from entering your room at night. Also, an opened door will feed more free oxygen to the fire, increasing its temperature and speed. Remember to ALWAYS close doors when you evacuate the building due to fires.You may sleep with the door locked, but when evacuating the building due to a fire, never lock the doors because firefighters need to access these areas.

2. Make sure that smoke alarms are installed on every floor of your home, and in every bedroom. Check them every 6 months to make sure they are working properly.

3. DO NOT EVER use a fireplace to heat or light your home when it’s NOT necessary. Use heating to heat your home.

4. Never play with matches or lighters! 

5. Never play with dangerous chemicals! Many chemicals are flammable and can even combust at temperatures as low as 60 degrees.

6. When you camp, make sure that you fully extinguish the campfire before snuggling into your tent or cabin. This can save your life and even prevent entire forest fires.

7. If you catch fire, STOP DROP AND ROLL.

8. Shut off your heaters once the room temperature reaches 75 degrees Fahrenheit. If anything gets far too hot, it can suddenly combust.

9. Learn how to use a fire extinguisher. Buy an ABC type extinguisher for your home. Check it every six months and replace expired extinguishers.

10. If after a fire you suspect arson, please call the police department as well as the fire department. Any possible arsonist or arson incident must be reported to the police right away, as international law in all countries designates it to be a violent crime.

For more tips or information, please ask your local fire department.

How to Use a Fire Extinguisher:

Note: You are NOT a professional firefighter. NOT even CERT students or members are firefighters. Typical individuals and CERT members should never attempt to extinguish a fire larger than approximately 2 ft x 2 ft x 2.25 ft (use a school student’s desk as a reference). Fires larger than that are too large for people who are not firefighters to handle. If you see anything like that, run away immediately and call the fire department.

1. Access scene safety. Your own safety always matters most. Know the following:

1. Can I escape if I attempt to extinguish the fire but end up unsuccessful?

2. Do I have the right type of extinguisher?

3. Do I have any other necessary equipment, such as a N95 mask to protect from the dangerous gas?

4. Is the extinguisher working?

5. Is the extinguisher big enough for the fire?

6. Is the area safe from other threats, such as falling debris?

7. If your answer to any of these six questions is “No”, DO NOT FIGHT THE FIRE. Leave right away!

1. Make sure you have a buddy. You are supposed to be focused only on the fire. This means YOUR safety counts on another person watching everything else. Your buddy can be any human who understands what’s going on – a parent, older sibling, friend, classmate, or teacher, for example. NEVER use a person who does not understand the situation as your buddy.

2. PULL the pin out.

3. TEST the extinguisher before you use it! Test it quickly, NO more than 0.5 seconds. You need to confirm that the extinguisher works before you use it. If it doesn’t work, RUN AWAY. Do not attempt to get a new extinguisher. Call the fire department. Yell “TEST!” before you test, and your buddy must reply “TEST!” back. 

4. If it works, yell, “READY” and squat down. You must squat down in case of fire balls. Your buddy must reply, “READY!” before you yell, “GOING IN!” and start to approach the fire. Your buddy must yell “GOING IN!” too. AIM THE EXTINGUISHER’S DISCHARGE AT THE BASE OF THE FIRE.

5. You must look only at the fire. Your buddy must look everywhere EXCEPT the fire to keep you safe.

6. Squeeze the lever to discharge the extinguishing agent. Aim at the base of the fire at all times. Make sure the fire can be extinguished WITHIN 5 seconds.

7. Sway left and right for 5 times, in 5 seconds.

8. If the fire is NOT extinguished within 5 seconds, LEAVE immediately. DO NOT turn your back on the fire. Your buddy must help you leave safely. Call the fire department once you are safe.

9. If the fire is extinguished within 5 seconds, yell “OVERHAUL!” and your buddy must repeat. Overhaul means checking for embers or small specks of fire that are not extinguished, and then putting them out. Even a tiny ember can restart the fire. You must make sure EVERY part of the fire has been extinguished, and that the fire remains extinguished permanently.

10. Yell “BACKING OUT!” and your buddy should repeat. They should drag you out, because your eyes must stay focused on where the fire was. NEVER turn your back against the fire.

11. Always call the fire department after you extinguish a fire — even if it’s overhauled. They need to come check for extra embers that have not been put out.

MAKE SURE that when you buy your fire extinguisher, keep 2 N95 masks with it — one for you and your buddy. The dangerous gas released by flames is a leading cause of death when fighting fires.
There are many more safety tips than these. This is a simple list to get you started. Sites like https://closeyourdoor.org/ (Close Before You Doze’s official campaign website) can help.