Home safety on fire chief’s mind

By John D. Taylor

With heating season thrust upon us by the latest polar vortex, and the holidays just around the corner, now is a good time to be thinking about fire safety in the home.

How long do you think you might have in the event of a fire to get out of your home? And what would you do, how would your family react in the event of a fire?

According to American Red Cross spokesperson Anne Marie Borrego, research shows most people believe they have about five minutes to escape a fire in the home. However, the real figure is only two minutes, a scant 120 seconds, especially in modern constructions. Along with this, the Red Cross is urging families to have a fire escape plan, and to practice this escape plan, Borrego said.

Crosby Fire Chief Travis Running agrees.

I thought it was three minutes, he said, but with new construction, it could be two.

Running said he has seen examples of this with how older homes burn vs. newer homes: Newer homes go up in flames much more quickly than older homes, he said.

Running has seen studies where in older homes, with older furnishings, the amount of time people had to escape a fire was about 12 minutes. In newer homes, that time shrinks down to two or three minutes at most, he said.

New homes with new furnishings burn 10 times faster than older homes with older furnishings, he said. New products are like a big torch.

Running believes construction techniques and materials are to blame: Modern furniture, for example, is often made with pressboard which is glued together to form a solid board, then sheathed with a veneer of wood or other materials, glued to the board. This furniture has more adhesives, which causes furnishings to burn faster, and produce noxious fumes, Running said.

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Home safety on fire chief’s mind