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Marshals advise practicing house fire escape plan
More than 2,600 people in the United States were killed in a house fire in a five-year period, according to the National Fire Protection Association. The NFPA said almost $7 billion in property damages were caused during that same period. Local firefighters are urging more people to create an escape plan to increase safety and help saves lives.
TACOMA, Wash. - More than 2,600 people in the United States were killed in a house fire in a five-year period, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
The NFPA said almost $7 billion in property damages were caused during that same period. Local firefighters are urging more people to create an escape plan to increase safety and help saves lives.
FOX 13 News met exclusively with fire marshals in Pierce County to discuss safety measures after a woman’s home was damaged in a fire on June 5. No one was hurt, but the officials said the damage shows how toxic smoke and flammable gases can quickly fill the house. With the homeowner’s permission, the investigators used the incident as an educational opportunity on house fire safety.
"A small fire can cause so much devastation on the home," said Pierce County Fire Marshal Ken Rice.
Deputy fire marshal Cody Jenkins investigated the house fire. He said it started in the kitchen, sparked by items that were on the stove.
"Including some workbags, a tablet, some paper, some toiletry bags," said Jenkins. "She got ready to go to work, grabbed a couple things and left the house. Approximately four to five minutes later, she got a call from her security system that her smoke alarm has been activated, and asking if she wanted to send the fire department out. The stovetop had been accidentally turned on and heated up the bags."
By the time firefighters arrived, only the stove was up in flames. Firefighters said it was a relatively small fire, but it had a destructive impact.
"All the damage in the rest of the house is soot and smoke," said Jenkins.
More than 90% of the home was covered in thick soot. Investigators said some items would not be salvageable due to the toxic fumes from the soot.
Without the one working smoke detector in the house, investigators said the fire and flammable gases would have spread. One room, however, had a fighting chance.
"This door was shut at the time of the fire. We just have a little smoke staining across the top. And as we come inside, it’s like this is not even part of the same house," said Peter Wohrle, deputy fire marshal with Central Pierce Fire & Rescue. "Something simple as a closed hollow core, construction-grade door will make this area behind the shut door a completely livable space, when everything on the other side of the door is not."
Wohrle said closing a door to every room, even while sleeping, could help preserve the space and save lives.
"The atmosphere out there will be unlivable, all that smoke, all the gases and carbon monoxide, to the point where someone could take a few breaths and then they’re unconscious. In here, it’s going to be low enough to where you will have a headache, you might be nauseous, but you’re still functional. And you can survive in a room like this for a couple of hours while you’re waiting for firefighters, even with active fire going on just outside the room. It will be about 100 degrees. And the gases in here will be minimal," explained Wohrle.
Though the owner was not home during the fire, some people have been inside their homes during a fire. Fire marshals said homes need more smoke detectors installed.
"We recommend a smoke alarm in each bedroom, a smoke alarm in the hallway outside of sleeping spaces. And then also an additional smoke alarm on every level of the home," said Jenkins.
Should the alarm go off, fire marshals said staying low is the safest way to escape.
"The fire builds, all the hot heat gases go up, set the smoke alarm off, but our most breathable air and our lower temperatures are against the floor," said Wohrle. "We want to get low on the ground and crawl as fast as we can out of the building and then make sure to shut the doors behind us."
Rice said flames double in size every 30 seconds. This is reason why he suggests people need to know how to get to safety fast.
"It doesn’t take an extremely large fire to fill your house with poisonous and flammable gas. So, you only have a very short window to be able to get out of the house," said Rice. "Have an escape plan and practice it. You can have the greatest plan in the world, but if you’ve never executed that plan… So what we’ll tell families is maybe 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning activate the smoke detector, push the button. See how your family responds."
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Fire marshals encouraged people to practice the escape plan routinely, at least every quarter of the year. They urge people to never go back inside a burning building.
"Once you’ve made it out of that environment, you’re safe outside. Got plenty of clean air to breathe. Going back in, not only did that fire still progress and you’ve put more gas into that environment, you are now opening a door and allowing ventilation into the fire which could make the fire go into what we call flash over," said Rice. "We lose a lot of people that go back into the residence."