It seems that as the wintry weather settles into our part of the country, the incidence of house fires increase dramatically. Within the last couple of days, we have had at least five houses and one service station/convenience store burn to the ground. Fortunately, even though the residents may have lost their homes and contents, none were injured during those infernoes.
For the past few years, I have been a volunteer with the American Red Cross on their disaster action team and have gone out to those charred remains to provide assistance to the devastated families. Most times we haved placed them temporarily in an area motel and provided them assistance in replacing food and clothing. On occasion, they have escaped with only the clothes on their backs and we have provided them funds for replacement winter garments too.
On a persoanl side I will be the first to admit that, due to what I have seen and heard from the families while doing that function, I have become more aware of any unusual sounds within my own home during the winter months. Most times, the creaks and pops of our 95 year old abode are evident as the temperatures hover around or drop below zero. Or once, I felt it shudder against hurricane force winds on a cold January night. But what I fear more than anything else is that flame of destruction, which occurs all too often during the cover of night. It seems that fires can eminate from all kinds of electronic devices (let's not forget candles and fireplaces too). One fire the other night started with the timer used for the Christmas lighting, while another started at the fuse box. I consider myself fortunate that my family is aware of the procedures of what to do during a fire and how to get onto the front porch roof (conveniently located under our bedroom windows) should the need arise.
The question is, has anyone noticed an increase in fires in their areas during this cold blast? I would think that down south would be no less immune due to the recent cold snap than up north. Also, do you have an evacuation plan in case the flames of destruction visit your own little castle?
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Comments: 11
These folks were fortunate as they were able to get their animals and Christmas presents out of the house before it became too critical, but the fire effectively gutted the upstairs of the residence before the firefighters got it under control. Water and smoke damage pretty much finished the rest of the house.
So, make sure you have WORKING smoke detectors in your house. They can make the difference between life and death.