Fairfax Fire Department Safety Tips

[Henry]

[HayesFXFD17]

Thank you Henry for getting this presentation onto the web site.

Just a reminder to everyone that Fire Safety Week begins October 4th and runs through October 10th.  This is a great time but to make sure your homes are "fire safe" before the winter months arrive.  Practice evacuation drills from your home know two ways out of every room and having a predetermined family meeting place so when the fire department arrives the first thing we can do is make sure everyone is accounted for.  Being able to know if everyone is out of the building changes the whole scope of how we operate on a fire scene.  Remember to change your carbon monoxide and smoke detector batteries!!!!!!!!!  The upcoming time change is a great opportunity to execute that task. 

On Saturday October 10th, from 10:00am to 12:00pm the Fairfax Fire Department is hosting a Fire Safety Day and Open House in coordination with Success By Six.  This is a great time for families with or without children to stop by have questions answered, receive free fire safety literature and children's activity books, view the equipment we have, participate in stop, drop and roll exercises, observe a simulated demonstration by members of the department and perhaps take that photo opportunity with your child in front of a fire engine. 

We look forward to seeing everyone there on Saturday the 10th.

Justin Hayes
Deputy Chief
Fairfax Fire Department

[special ED]

does the fire dept. have a meter to tell how much Co is in the blood? also did you know that Co is explosive if the right mixture of oxygen is present.

[HayesFXFD17]

Ed,

No we do not have a noninvasive pulse CO-oximeter which is what is used to measure the amount of CO in a persons blood.  The only fire department in the State of VT that I am personally aware of having this is Barre City.  Any testing for CO in the blood for our area is done in the hospital setting.  We treat based on symptoms and signs from the patients and any quantitative air monitoring results that we conduct within the home. 

And yes you are correct CO is extremely flammable in the right concentrations as it is a product of incomplete combustion. 

Great question and thank you. 

[Henry]

The House Fire where the Fairfax Woman was alerted to her house being on fire happened to be my daughter.  When she rebuilt, once again, she put quite a bit of money into smoke, fire & carbonmonoxide detectors & alarms.  Well worth it.  She also made sure in her upstairs bedroom to put in a sliding door with a small deck for a second exit.  She has doors on all four sides of her house.  It was a truly scary experience for her.  She also has her cell phone close by to call 911.  She has relived that experience many times and I believe is pretty well prepared for any emergency that might come up.

[mkr]

Great Job Justin on the presentation!  And my Dad is correct, I have learned that I was prepared before, but you can always do better.  Matter of fact Jordan came to my house the other night as I was having an issue with my detectors going off for no reason.  I have learned that the sensitivity of my new detectors means I need some canned air to make sure dust does not collect.  We are changing batteries this weekend and I bought the canned air to blow them out at the same time.  Fall is when I change the batteries every year now.  Don't wait for them to tell you the battery is low is also another important thing I have learned since the fire!

Thanks for all you do Fairfax Fire Department!  Much appreciated!!

Mary Kay Raymond

[7F24]

Nice job Justin.

[MikeF9]

Just want to let everyone who has pre-school kids know, that I will be reading a story about firefighting to the pre-schoolers this Thursday at 9:30 at the Fairfax Community Library. I will be in dress uniform, and I will have my turnout gear. As always, I try to have one of the mothers try my gear on, so they can see what is like to wear the gear. This year, there is a little exercise I want to try. So if anyone wants to see what I have up my sleeve, come along. And bring your pre-schooler.

[vtoutdoorguymb]

Bump...

[7F30]

Good job Justin.

[Chris Santee]

bump

[mkr]

Last month we used the canned air and changed all our batteries!  This is a great reminder