The March Field Fire Emergency Services Fire Prevention Division will hold its annual Fire Prevention Week from 10-14 October 2016. This year’s theme is “Don’t Wait Check the date! Replace Smoke Alarms every 10 Years”.

All March personnel are invited to visit the fire station, located at building 1290, for a tour of the station and emergency services vehicles, or to pick-up informational material. Please call Assistant Chief Harold Sterne at 655-5001 or Fire Inspector Robert Wichner at 655-3073 to schedule a visit. 

March Field Fire Emergency Services will be at the main gate on October 11 from 7 – 8:30 a.m. with Sparky to hand out informational materials. During the week we will also be at the Base Exchange and Commissary from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. on alternating days to pass out information. 

Please review the following information from the National Fire Prevention Association.

Smoke Alarms

• Install smoke alarms in every sleeping room and outside each separate sleeping area.

• Install alarms on every level of the home.

• Keep smoke alarms away from the kitchen to reduce false alarms. They should be at least 10 feet (three meters) from the stove.

• A smoke alarm should be on the ceiling or high on a wall.

• Smoke alarms should be interconnected. When one sounds, they all sound.

• People who are hard-of-hearing or deaf can use special alarms. These alarms have strobe lights and bed shakers.

• Test all smoke alarms at least once a month. Press the test button to be sure the alarm is working.

• Replace all smoke alarms when they are 10 years old.

• Smoke alarms are an important part of a home fire escape plan.

   

  Plan your escape

• Your ability to get out of your house during a fire depends on advanced warning from smoke alarms and advanced planning.

• Get everyone in your household together and make a home fire escape plan. Walk through your home and look for two ways out of every room.

• Make sure escape routes are clear of debris and doors and windows open easily. Windows with security bars or grills should have an emergency release device.

• Plan an outside meeting place where everyone will meet once they have escaped. A good meeting place is something permanent, like a tree, light pole, or mailbox a safe distance in front of the home.

• If there are infants, older adults, family members with mobility limitations or children who do not wake to the sound of the smoke alarm, make sure that someone is assigned to assist them in the event of an emergency.

• If the smoke alarm sounds, get outside and stay outside. Respond quickly – get up and go, remember to know two ways out of every room, get yourself outside quickly, and go to your outside meeting place with your family.

   

  96 percent of American homes have at least one smoke alarm. No smoke alarms were present or none operated in two out of five (41 percent) of the reported home fires between 2003-2006. Almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

   

  Every home fire escape plan is different, and every family should know who will - and who won't - awaken at the sound of the smoke alarm. Families should design an escape plan that assigns a grown-up who is easily awakened by the alarm to wake others, perhaps by yelling "FIRE," pounding on the wall or door, or blowing a whistle.

   

  The March Field Fire Emergency Services Fire Prevention Division is always available to answer any questions and provide fire prevention safety literature, and you can visit http://www.nfpa.org/ for more information on fire prevention.