Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 11, 1966, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press monday july 11, 1966 train your family to flee from fire by Jean Carper eur pod from Book stat alive by Jean Corva u im85 by Carper published by j. Company Lac. By Jean Carper second of a series your first impulse in fire should always be escape. Drill this course of action into your family s Heads until at the cry of they Are thoroughly conditioned like one of Pavlov s dogs to run. For an exit. In t everyone s first instinct to flee from a burning building unfortunately no. Children often make no attempt to escape at they lock. Themselves in hide under Beds and rugs waiting for some one to Rescue them. Even adults have refused to Fol Low firemen to safety and have had to be dragged out bodily. Other fire victims Don t try to get out because they sadly underestimate the kill ing Power and Speed of fire. The consequences can be tragic As this Case illustrates after unsuccessfully try ing to extinguish a smolder ing chair a housewife ran to a neighbor s for Aid the two women lugged the chair out of doors safely and. C o my lamented themselves on their Quick action. Later when the Mother went up stairs to awaken her two napping children she found them dead asphyxiated by the toxic fumes that had risen up the stairway. Moral no matter How insignificant a fire seems evacuate eve e by o n e immediately. Then decide whether to fight the Call the firemen or run. If two or three things can be taken care of at once without endangering lives so much the better. But remember your first responsibility is to spread the alarm to other occupants. Another important Rule to live once you Are out slay out. Never re enter a burning building for Odds Are heavily weighted against your escaping twice besides you Are Likely to be hysterical and to exer Cise foolish judgment. One Man dashed Back into a fiery House and returned of All his Toothbrush numerous people parents have died need in sly searching an empty House for loved ones who had already escaped. Let the p professional in trained. Perform the rescues it must be noted that there is an exception to the Rule that you. Should escape fire immediately. The Rule holds perfectly True for most places where you might encounter fire that is your own Home buildings of few storeys and those with Bandy fire escapes. But it would be utterly suicidal to dash Down Many flights of stairs or to get into a smoke filled elevator should Yon. Be caught in a fire in a High Rise apartment building hotel or office building. In such an event if you see smoke in the hallway or Stair Well your Only re course is to barricade your Stoi in a room and wait for Rescue. An amazing example of How you can save your life if you keep a Coq head was shown horrible wine Toff hotel fire in Atlanta Georgia while panicked occupants All around jumped from windows. To certain death on pavements below an army officer Aad his wife on the 12 floor stuffed water soaked towels round cracks in the door then the Moke became dense they dampened a mattress and up ended it against the door. Then they sat with their Heads close to a slightly opened bathroom window trying to get. Fresh air. When firemen broke in four hours later the couple was still very much alive although 119 other persons had perish e d trying to escape. The Best Way to. Survive your fire is to hear it before you see it. That is not As crazy As it sounds. Many. Homeowners following Industry s example Are in stalling automatic firs detection and alarm equip ment. Their real value comes at night when the sound of the alarm will Jolt you awake and Send you hurrying to safety Long before you would have awakened ordinarily if at All. The National fire Protection association in Ted states estimates that Cost of a system of Detec tors and alarms is roughly s200 and up for an average six room House. However the Price varies because the system must be Custon installed according to the layout of each House. An automatic fire alarm system is a but you. Should not look on it As a foolproof method of selecting fire. For it does not detect smoke. No company has yet devised a smoke Detector apparatus practicable for Homes although several Are experimenting with models. How much escape time you have depends on How fast your House Burns. Some buildings go up like match boxes others Burn More slowly. Obviously you can t change the Basic design of a House but a few fire considerations when re decorating and remodelling can greatly increase your chances of survival. Beware of Flash prone ceiling and Wall panels of pressed paperboard untreated fibreboard and Wood refinished with highly flammable lacquers. Fire can skip across a Wall of this material engulfing a whole room in Only a few seconds. Repainting rooms try fire retardant paint tests show that this paint ran dramatically r c e the rate of flame spread on Walls As much As 4.00 per cent and will sometimes Stop the fire dead in its tracks. Put obstacles in. Fire s path. Some modern houses Are designed with wide spaces that allow a gust flames to rip through a House like a Tornado. With out spoiling the spaciousness of your House you can at. Least see that doors Are installed in critical spots. There should be one at the top of the basement stairs one closing sleeping quarters from the rest the House and of. Course ones on every bedroom. Use flame retardant furnishings when possible. You can get draperies rugs curtains c u s h i o a s and pillows of fibreglass Nylon the dangers of fire How to. Dynel and other synthetic materials that Don t support flame but tend to melt instead. Heavy plastic coverings on furniture Are also slow to catch fire. You would be outraged to discover that your child s school did not hold fire drills yet fire is about 200 times More Likely to occur while your child is. At Home than at school. There Are Only nine school fires a Day As compared with in dwellings. But have you Ever staged a Home fire Drill have you Ever shown your child exactly where to go if fire strikes at Home recently in a Chicago suburb a family of seven including five children under the age of ten made a dramatic escape from their burning House. They were out in two minutes Flat after one of tile boys awoke in the night to find his bedroom on. Fire. Tie reason for the Swift family had held a Home fire Drill every month for the last five. Years. In planning a fire Drill follow these four Steps Call your family to Gether. Using a rough Dia Gram of your House map out an escape route and from every room. The secondary route is especially important in Case the primary blocked. Pay greatest attention to from bedrooms. Explain to everyone notify the fire department and How to test whether the bedroom door is Safe to open. Set a meeting place outside the House so no one win be tempted to go Back into a blazing Bouse Tor person who is already Safe. After completing the plans practise practise not once but until everyone has Bis Rale Down Pat. To be continued ski that ;