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Home My WebLink About2010 - Couplings Fall Newsletter Ullllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll�lliuu °°'°'11 �'°°111'°'1""""'°'111'1'°' Y 1 .�� IU��UUUUUI��IiIiUiDU4�1Ui�U000i�UIi�UUll6ll� 1u�HUUUOu C 0 N T FN G TH E C 0,IIII M U! l"I ""' "' W III' °" l T INH F I IIS E ID E P"A R wT I WE }T' ��I�II�I;;;IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII III 'I�� IIII VIII IIII VIII III IIII VIII IIS IIS Photography by Michael Ferguson, Photo Impressions Gallery G i �9tMVY �, I, n �J This summer, we wanted to get a picture of our fire apparatus all together in one place. There are many fire departments that do this regularly, but with one as busy as Livonia, we rarely have all apparatus available and not on emergency calls. Such was the dilemma facing Senior Fire Inspector Earl Fesler. He pitched an idea to Fire Chief Shadd Whitehead to get all the apparatus together near City Hall, and have the crews respond to incidents on reserve apparatus while the picture was taken. After losing several trucks for incidents before the plan got started, it started to come together. Those stations that could got their trucks washed and waxed for the occasion. Those that came straight from emergencies and drove to City Hall got help from those firefighters already there making the trucks shine. The final result lies before you, and will adorn our fire headquarters building for a long time to come. We hope you like it! II uuuuuuuuu� Illlllllllllllllllllq uuuoiuuu IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII E Of BWhitehead i sir .Shadd Wh0 . . y itehead ; U>�i,'t�Yt � Here it is Hot off the....Internet. We sincerely hope that you find the information within the pages of "Couplings" both informative and educational. Putting the issues up on the webpage is Did you know that 65 percent of in accordance with the city's home fire deaths happen in homes direction of "going green", as with no smoke alarms at all, or no well. I am sure that I can speak 1E smoke alarms that work? When for all of Livonia's firefighter/ there is a fire, smoke spreads fast paramedics when I tell you that it and you need smoke alarms to is truly a pleasure to serve you. give you time to get out safely. Having working smoke alarms in your home can save lives. 1111111 1111111youIIIPp1111111 IIIIIII 1111111 °"""""'°II IIIIIIII IIIIIII °°°°° 1111111 °°°°° IIIIIII IIIIIII J You can visit your Livonia Firefighters to keep up with what we are doing more frequently by visiting us at the city website at www.ci.livonia.mi.us, then going to the fire department link. You can also see what we are up to at www.livoniafirefighters.com. Stop by and check us out! In case of an Emergency Dial 9 11 IIIIIIIIIIIIII °"""""' 1111111 IIIIIII °°°°° Safety 1111111 IIIIIIIa S"'t a tIIt tIIII By Tom Kiurski Years ago in college, I took a statistics class and actually enjoyed it. Since I don't use that information regularly, I forgot much of what once learned. The United States Fire Administration has workers W. who are experts in figuring statistics, who do all the calculations and put the information on their website for others to use. Statistics can tell us a lot about fire safety, so this article will take a look at p keeping us safer with statistical information. o, The first statistic we will look it that that the United States ranks � � r fourth in fire deaths among the 25 developed countries for which statistics are available. This tells us that we, as a country, do not have fire safety at the top of our priority list. If you feel you have an average level of knowledge and safety features in your home, keep in mind where the average of the fourth worst must put you---with plenty of room for improvement! Four out of five U.S. fire deaths occur in the home. This tells us that the place that we feel most comfortable is one of the least fire safe places to be. Make your home safer by installing and maintaining plenty of smoke alarms, develop and practice a home fire escape plan with your family and practice it twice a year. Walk through your home and look for ways to be more fire safe, like moving accumulated articles from around the furnace and heaters, not overloading electrical outlets and using and storing candles safely. Most victims of fires die from smoke inhalation and not from burns. Many groups that I talk to about fire safety feel that they may not need smoke alarms in their homes since they are "light sleepers". Make no mistake, carbon monoxide is present in all smoke, and it works by making us sleepy and disoriented before it finally kills if we fail to leave the area. You must have carbon monoxide alarms along with smoke alarms in your home to have full protection. Many fire victims die in rooms that are remote from the fire or by having malfunctioning gas appliances due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Fires started by lighted tobacco products (mainly cigarettes) are the leading cause of home fire deaths. If you or anyone in your family smokes, take it outside. If you must smoke inside, have plenty of large, sturdy ashtrays and don't empty them until they are cool. Make it a rule to never smoke in bed or while taking medication that may make you sleepy. Cooking equipment is the leading cause of home fires, so make sure you take fire safety in the kitchen seriously. Do not cook and allow yourself to become distracted, stay in the kitchen while cooking and keep small children occupied while you are cook. The kitchen is a great place for a fire extinguisher if you know how to use one. In addition, keep the lid to the pan you are cooking in handy where you can quickly grab it and cover the pan if an unwanted fire breaks out. Never put water on a grease or oil fire. Children under the age of five constitute a group at a high risk for fire-related injuries and death. Make sure they do not have matches and lighters where they can reach them, and include an adult caring for them in case of fire. Many times these youngsters cannot climb out of a crib or open a window on their own to escape a fire. There you have it —fire statistics and some tips on helping to avoid becoming a fire statistics. If you follow the advice in this article, you will be ahead of the curve on fire safety. uumuu a Safety u II II umu u m uumuu mlllli By Tom Kiurski The rustle of leaves under your feet, the autumn chill in the air, and decorations being put out that look like skeletons, witches and various grimaces on the faces of jack-o'lanterns remind me of my favorite time of year and the celebration of Halloween. While the trick-or-treating that we have become accustomed to didn't really take off until the 1930's, many children love to dress up in costume and collect treats on the evening of October 31. The least we, as adults, can do is to make sure they are safe while doing it. If you are expecting to invite children to your door, start by cleaning up your yard, so children won't trip over hoses, branches or slippery leaves. Put unused tools away and make sure your house lights will light the way for children to come to your house. If you must drive on Halloween, use extra caution, especially in neighborhoods where children have their minds on treats more than on watching for cars. Turn house lights on to welcome children, and do not ask them into your home. Vim' r , Candles look nice when controlled, but the risks may be too great. Consider a trip to your local Halloween store to check out the many options for lighting pumpkins. , � They have small strobe lights, color- changing lights and I even lit up a 4� v �� r r uiiuuumuim iu a ii r jack-o'lantern with a glow stick last year and it looked great! If you have children who will be trick- or-treating on Halloween, try their costumes on well before Halloween so that you can add reflective tape, take up hems and make sure there is plenty of makeup for the big night. Makeup is recommended for the face over masks due to the peripheral visibility limitations of putting a mask on. Costumes should be plainly marked as flame- resistant or flame-retardant, and it shouldn't drag on the ground. Have children practice the "Stop, Drop and Roll" procedure in case their clothing and/or costume catches fire. Just because you may not use candles to light your jack-o'lanterns doesn't mean that your neighbors do not. Children should only travel in familiar areas and along an established route with a group of friends. Flashlights, glow sticks and reflective trim are a must, and a cell phone may be useful for children who are old enough to have them. Small children should always be accompanied by an adult and make sure they have their name and address pinned somewhere onto their clothing in case they do get separated from the group. I am a huge fan of cell phones during Halloween. It allows parents to let kids go out with friends as long as they know they are close and who they are with. Make sure cell phone batteries are fully charged, and that you are pre-programmed into the cell phone for one-button calling. Give your children a meal before they head out for the evening. A full stomach will make children less likely to grab treats until they can get home and have an adult inspect them prior to consumption. Any unwrapped candy or food items should be discarded. Don't give candy to pets, and any unwanted candy will certainly be welcomed at your nearest fire station! uumi 1111111 1111111 1111111 1111111 rw. IIIIIIIu 11111M1111111es1 ' 1111111 IIIIIII °°°° IIIIIII ' '"' kllllllllY � Y SO,eKids �;y Oys uumm I �L�cc,r � .� � �,N r�,,., �..,f�..i r:' and ��✓l'„�, ., w ', � �� Choose safe toys. • Ensure that children play with age-appropriate toys, as indicated by safety labels. Consider the child's interests and skill level, and look for quality design and construction. • Consider purchasing a small parts tester to determine whether or not small toys and objects in your home may present a choking hazard to young children. Inspect all toys regularly for potential hazards. • Check regularly for damage that could create small pieces that are choking hazards. Make any necessary repairs immediately, or discard damaged toys out of children's reach. Watch for toys that can become hazards. • Young children should never play with toys with strings, straps or cords longer than 7 inches, which can accidentally strangle them. • Electrical toys are a potential burn hazard. Children under age 8 should not use toys with elec- trical plugs or batteries. • Don't let children under age 8 blow up balloons. Use Mylar balloons instead of latex balloons. If you must use latex balloons, store them out of reach of children, and deflate and discard bal- loons and balloon pieces of use. Ensure that toys are used in a safe environment. • Riding toys should not be used near stairs, traffic or swimming pools. Riding to related deaths can occur when a child falls from a toy or rides a toy into a body of water. VI, • Always supervise children at play. Play is even more valuable when adults become involved and interact with children rather �p;'�l% than supervising from a distance. Ouiiiiii By Tom Kiurski It was a cold afternoon on December 1 of 1958, when a fire broke out in the basement of the Our Lady of the Angels school in Chicago. The building had been built decades earlier, with numerous additions built over the years. The school felt that the very few fire extinguishers that were necessary should be mounted high enough so that only teachers would be able to access them, and not any of the 1,600 students who ranged from Kindergarten through 8t" grade. The extinguishers were mounted 7 feet off the floor. The single fire escape was only accessible through the main hallway, the only fire alarm within the building was mounted above the doorway of the principal's office, with strict orders that no one but the principal can touch it. There were no sprinklers, no automatic fire alarm, no smoke or heat detectors, no fire resistive stairwell and no fire safe doors. The woodwork was highly polished with flammable polish, as were the tile floors. The fire burned undetected for some time, gradually filling the stairwell and main hall with hot gases and toxic smoke. The highly polished wooden staircase and floors caught fire, bursting into flames, sending the smoke, heat and fire throughout the stairwell and into the main building. The stairwell from the basement went up to the first and second floor, and was the only access to the second floor of the school. Once the students and teachers on the second floor realized that there was a fire in the hallway, the only way out was impossible to pass. The THE CHICAGO, AMERICANconditions quickly worsened due to the open hallways and fuel load in the building. The doors and windows of ............ ...... the classrooms would quickly give way to the advancing Chicago Mourns fire, which had burned unchecked for approximately 30 minutes. The classroom windows were 25 feet from the ground, and below them was the concrete playground. 4 Some attempted the jump, some were pushed by others waiting to jump and still others stayed in the classrooms. 5, 1,01 w Firefighters arrived and found intense fire conditions due to the delayed alarm and the wrong address given by the i Rall 37111 1., first caller. Once on scene, a seven foot locked gate had to be broken down to access the second floor wing. All the Oil firefighters could do is begin an initial hoseline attack and 0/10 ........... set ladders up to the second floor for rescue operations. While an estimated 160 second floor school children were T-1 saved by the efforts of the brave firefighters that day, gg/ tragedy was the order of the day. All told, 92 children and I RwL 3 nuns perished in the blaze, bringing the death toll to a staggering 95. 00 ON/', 60 uuuuuuuuuu This past summer, your Livonia firefighters were out in the city doing some training sessions. Some of the ones we spent a bit of time at were homes scheduled for demolition on Orangelawn, just west of Farmington, Melvin, just 1 just south of Seven Mile and on Brentwood, j 1 north of Seven Mile Road. ' r We practiced some ventilation holes on Orangelawn and Melvin. Ventilation is �r��t �"� ,, ✓�,�,,��, ,' � ��, 1 , performed by firefighters when we need to remove heat, smoke and toxic gases from a structure. This allows us a bit more time to find victims, as some of the hazardous products are moved from the floor up and outside. Many people ask us why we cut holes in the roof of a ' r burning building, so now you have an answer. On Brentwood, we found a very clean home. r'" �� VuuuuuulV" m We took our smoke machine inside the same type that Hollywood movies use when they 1 want to give the appearance of smoke) to l decrease visibility to zero. We then had the r °1 crews, wearing their full protective equipment and air tanks, search the main floor and upstairs for the rescue mannequin. The mannequin had many nice places to hide, and was found in the upstairs bedroom, and on the first floor he was � E & CU 19�^� � �„� I��',�� u�p�� ^ in a closet back porch and bathroom tub. When the weather breaks and we have our nice Livonia weather, you can often find your firefighter/paramedics outside training to serve IN '�u' you better! s� ahe flashlight when 'x-t treating and wear reflectiverr,l , r tape on yourHalloween1 `� - costume so d r,ivers can IVB \ ' _�•� /��//L ��1 ZZ��iiia:� Z�� _r■1 Frj f k r a r It T 1% oil a I i� MF -