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National Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 5-11

Oct 9, 2008

Local Red Cross Fire Response Up; 183 Families Aided Last Year

Biloxi, Wednesday, October 1, 2008 — Last year, the Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross aided 183 families through recovery after household fires.  That number 25% higher than it was in previous years.  To address the rising number of fires in our community, the Red Cross has distributed over 800 fire prevention kits to children ages 5-12 throughout Harrison, Hancock and Pearl River Counties.   The kit includes fire prevention coloring manuals, smoke alarms and first aid kits.  Red Cross volunteers began distributing the kits along with a fire prevention presentation to camps and schools in July.  The kits were supplied by a $10,000 grant from Home Depot.

The Chapter urges families to prepare for and take action to prevent home fires during National Fire Prevention Week—Practice Your Escape Plan, October 7-13. Home fires are not only the most common disaster that the Red Cross responds to but also the most preventable. "Preparing for a home fire doesn't require a lot of expensive equipment or training, and Fire Prevention Week is a great time to get started," said MS Gulf Coast Chapter Executive Director, Bill Brent. "In addition to having working smoke alarms on each level of your home, one of the easiest ways to prevent a tragedy is to develop and practice a home fire escape plan so that every family member knows how to escape quickly and safely."

The American Red Cross recommends the following when creating your family escape plan:

• Identify two ways to escape from every room in the home.
• Practice your escape plan at least twice a year.
• Select a safe location away from the home where your family can meet after escaping.
• Consider purchasing and storing escape ladders for rooms above ground level and make sure to learn how to use them.
• If you see smoke or fire in your first escape route, use your second way out.
• If you must exit through smoke, crawl low under the smoke.
• Before escaping through a closed door, feel the door before opening it. If it is warm, use your second escape route.
• If smoke, heat or flames block both of your exit routes, stay in the room with the door closed. Place a rolled towel underneath the door. Signal for help by waving a brightly colored cloth or shining a flashlight at the window. If there is a telephone in the room, call the fire department and let them know your exact location inside the home.
• Once you've escaped your home, stay out.

To contact the local Red Cross, call 228-896-4511, or visit www.redcross-msgc.com.  For more Red Cross fire safety and preparedness information visit www.redcross.org/homefires.

The American Red Cross helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Last year, almost a million volunteers and 35,000 employees helped victims of almost 75,000 disasters; taught lifesaving skills to millions; and helped U.S. service members separated from their families stay connected. Almost 4 million people gave blood through the Red Cross, the largest supplier of blood and blood products in the United States. The American Red Cross is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.
 

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