My Community Your Community
By Mary Ann Eicke


When I first began this column I wrote about the Hurricane Preparedness and High Rise Fire Safety Program that we were holding in the condos in our city. I promised you that I should share some of the tips that Fire Fighter Sorrell shared in the program for those of you who could not attend.Fire Safety:

• If a fire is in your unit and you must exit be sure to close the door when you leave your unit. Test doors before you open them. Kneel or crouch, reach up high and touch the door, the knob, the space between the door and its frame with the back of your hand. If the door is warm, don’t open it. If the door feels cool, open it carefully, and be ready to slam it shut if smoke or heat rushes in.
• If you have to escape through smoke, crawl low. Heat and smoke rise. Clean air will be 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters) above the floor.
• Count the doors between your living unit and the two nearest building exits. Know where your exits are prior to a fire. You may not be able to see the exit signs if the area is filled with smoke. You may have to escape a fire in the dark.
• NEVER use an elevator during a fire. Go directly to a stairwell that’s free of smoke and flames. The stairwells can be one of the safest area (providing they are free of smoke and flames), they should have fire safe doors. Be sure to close doors behind you. If you can not exit all the way down the stairs, try to get to a floor at least three floors below the fire. Never exit up or to the roof.
• Get to know you neighbors. Have all residents who are handicapped or that may require special assistance to register with the office. Be sure to inform the fire department if know of anyone trapped in the building. Do not go back inside, for any reason, until the firefighters tell you it is safe.
• In high-rises the fire fighters may only need to evacuate the floor the fire is on, as well as the two floors above and below the floor where the fire is.
  
  If you can not escape safely or if you are instructed to stay where you are, be calm and protect yourself.
• If possible, go to a room with an outside window and telephone, closing all doors between you and the fire.
• Use duct tape or stuff the cracks around the door with (moist if possible) towels, rags, or bedding and cover vents to keep the smoke out of the room.
• If there is a telephone in the room where you are trapped, call the fire department emergency number and tell them exactly where you are. Do this even if you can see the fire trucks from your window.
• Go to the window and wave a flashlight or a sheet or light colored cloth.
• If possible, open the window to allow fresh air in, but close it quickly if smoke from outside come in. Do not break the window.
  • Buy a fire extinguisher and know how to use it. You can purchase one for less than $20.00 and they will generally last up to 15 years. Check it yearly. Be sure to recharge it when needed or after each use.
  • Be patient, rescuing all the occupants of a high-rise building can take several hours.
  Your building should have a location for residents to meet is an evacuation is necessary. Do not meet in the lobby. The fire fighters will need to have access without interference. You will not want to be too close to the building If the fire gets too hot, the glass my blow out. You do not want to be injured from flying glass.

Be sure that your family has a plan, and location where you will all meet. I really enjoyed listening to Fire Fighter Sorrell tell us how he did fire drills with his children. Since most fires occur at night, he would have them practice getting out of bed, crawling to the door, feeling the door and instructed above, crawling all the way to finally exit of their home. Alternating exits if possible. Once they were able to do this successfully three times, he would blind fold them and repeat the exercise. Again after three successful drills, he would then blind fold them spin them around (since most people are disoriented when they wake up in a fire scenario) to insure their successful evacuation.

Are you interested in the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) training I mentioned in my last article. We still need participants. For more information call me at 305-470-9393. You can find information about the program at www.miamidade.gov/oem click the CERT hyper link or email cert@miamidade.gov.

What are you doing to make a difference in our community, or even our world. I would like to know. Write me at MAE Communications, Inc. 17150 Collins Ave PMB 177 Sunny Isles Beach, Fl 33160 or email me at maecomm@the-beach.net. I would love to share your story and encourage other to get involved. Remember is not just my community but it is YOUR community.

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