Firefighters urge safety as winter approaches
(Photo by MARY MALONE) With daylight saving time having ended Sunday, the crew from Selkirk Fire, Rescue and EMS is reminding people to change the batteries in their smoke detectors if they didn’t already when they changed their clocks, among other cold weather safety reminders, such as chimney cleaning.
SANDPOINT — Selkirk Fire, Rescue and EMS crews were busy throughout the month of October, talking to local elementary students about fire safety and giving tours of the fire stations.
October was Fire Prevention Month, and Selkirk engineer Clint Frank said they have made their rounds through the elementary schools in the Lake Pend Oreille School District, reaching about 1,000 kids.
“It is an outreach program that we have had for well over 10 years,” Frank said. “It just gives a simple message to the kids — know two ways out of every room, stay low and go, and really important is to have a working smoke alarm.”
Each year, the Selkirk crew uses the time change as daylight saving time comes to an end to remind people to replace the batteries in their smoke detectors, and check the batteries once a month, Frank said. It is an imperative, life-saving measure, he said, to ensure smoke detectors are present and working at all times.
“I have been in fires where the outcomes haven’t been good, either injury or fatality,” Frank said. “Ninety percent of the time you are going to find that’s it because of no smoke alarms or non-working smoke alarms in a residence. So those are injuries and fatalities that could be prevented if people take proper safety precautions ahead of time.”
In addition to working smoke detectors and the other precautions the fire crews have been talking to the kids about, Frank said it is also important to have a family plan in case of an emergency, with a meeting place outside the home in case everyone can’t get out the same exit.
Also, with the weather growing ever colder, chimney cleaning is a high priority as well, he said, because a chimney fire can turn into a structure fire “quicker than most people think.” Frank said this is especially true for people who live in outlying areas where response time by emergency personnel is longer.
Frank said anyone with a chimney should have it cleaned by a certified chimney sweep. For those who are able, there are chimney sweeps available for people to borrow at Fire Station 1, located at 1123 Lake St., Sandpoint. They also have smoke detectors available at no charge for anyone who needs one. Anyone who is elderly or disabled and is unable to check or replace their smoke detector is encouraged to call 208-263-3502 and Selkirk crews will help out.
The final reminder for local and visiting residents, Frank said, is that open burning started on Oct. 20 and runs through May 10. Slash piles are a common occurrence this time of year, and with a high volume of calls recently regarding the burning, Frank said people should only call 911 if it is threatening a structure or clearly out of control.
“We would rather keep crews in place to deal with true 911 emergencies so that they are available and ready,” Frank said.
Anyone burning a slash pile is encouraged to take precautions — burn clean, make sure there is defensible space around the slash pile, and have water, a rake and shovel close by.
Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.