General Chat

A really useful thread Liz and greatly appreciated. AL

Would like to keep this nudged for a while to make sure everyone sees it and takes note. Liz

If anyone has learned anything from this thread, then I am glad I posted it, we don't want to hear of any tragedies on here. Please all try to spread the word to your friends and neighbours too, if you teach your children, tell them to talk to their friends as well. Just chatting to someone about these points might turn out to be a life saver later on. Stay safe all of you, and thanks everyone for your input especially Ron. Liz

Thankyou for this thread Liz it has certainly made me think, Cazxxxxxxx

another thing. not sure if this is like it all over the country, but is in west yorkshire. If you are over a certain age, the firebrigade will replcae your old chip pan with a deep fat fryer, and if an electric blanket is over 20 years old they will replace that with a new one too. There are also smoke alarms in which the battery lasts for 10 years.... However, check your smoke alarm once a week, as the advert says, if your battery doesn't work, you don;t have a smoke alarm. Push the button, not your luck!

I agree with all the points that Ron has made my husband is an ex subofficer in the firebrigade and one of the things that used to upset him most and atill does is when young children are trapped in a blazing house His nickname was the gentle giant because he once rescued at tiny baby form a house fire and gave her cardiac massage with his thumb She grew up to be a fine young lady and came to his retirement party to say thankyou we are now elderly but have a smoke alarm fitted it always goes off when i am grilling sausauge or pork chops and the window at the top of the stairs is a tilt and turn so in event of fire we would be able to get out onto the carport roof bren

Double Galzing in Fire Situations. It will melt once the temperature gets high enough, however, if the temperature is high enough to melt UPVC then you would not be able to enter that room anyway. A smoke alarm correctly fitted will detect that fire long before the glazing bars melt. By the way a smoke alarm should be fitted at least 12 inches away from any wall. I have seen dozens of melted smoke alarms, they will melt in a severe fire but that will be long after they have given out their warning, I'm not saying that it was so in Suzannes case but a lot of the smoke alarms that I have seen melted did not have a battery in them anyway. Now back to double glazing, the main problem with double glazing is not the fact that it melts in a severe fire but in the early stages of fire it might be your only way out of the building, it's quite possible that the window is not designed to open and you will have to break the glazing to get out, here lies the problem. If you hit a double glazed window with a solid object the chances are that the object will bounce off the glass and not break it, this is caused by the gap in between the glass panes, it acts as a cushion, the glass bends rather breaks because of this, if you have to break double glazing hit the glass pane in the corner, not in the middle, the glass is held more rigidly in the corners and will break when struck. I believe you can by a little hammer type thingy, the type you see on coaches, for home use. Ron www*genealogyprinters*com

Suzanne That must have been a terrifying ordeal. You are right. Fire can be so quick. Some will have read my recent threads about a school fire. The whole place was gutted in no time. Preliminary thoughts are that the cause was electrical, in the roof space. It is good to have these informative threads. It makes us think about our own precautions and escape routes but like you say, we just have to get out- and stay out. Gwyn

nudging so others can see this

purple, fire takes hold quicker than anyone thinks.xx

Suzanne, that sounds awful and I am glad you all escaped, but from what you say, the fire must have been burning fiercely before you knew about it for damage like that to happen, i.e. smoke alarms to melt. I still think it is important to talk about the guidelines, as mostly I would think people are aware before things get to this stage. It might also make youngsters aware of the dangers of being trapped and maybe then they are less likely to play with matches etc. Liz

i really dont want to put a damper on this thread, but if your house was burning down,you wouldnt have time to think of any of the above things,the only thing on your mind would be to get your selves and your children out any way you could,my house burnt down two wks before xmas 1996 and yes we did have smoke alarms(they melted)my self,hubby and four children (the youngest only 4) got out the back door(the front door was plastic it also melted) you know weve all got lovely plastic windows now, well in cases of fire they are death traps,everything melts even the handles,so making it imposable to escape,my tip would be that when your thinking of having your old plastic windows changed think about hardwood instead of plastic,yes its a bit dearer but it could safe your lives one day.xxx

If this thread helps everyone stay safe, and be more aware of things to do and not to do, then I am glad I put it up. Please read it through thoroughly as others have added things I didn't. Liz

Liz As a registered child minder I had to have a fire policy and proceedure in place. So all my family know what to do in case of a fire, I have a whistle and practise a mini drill with the kids every so often. Smoke alarms the lot. You got to haven't you. But glad you put the thread up, gives other peeps ideas on what to do. Sad news on Hayley's friend. Very sad. catherine xx

nudge xx

I had no idea they would come out to inspect and help us and now i know i shall call them.

We have an escape route in this house and when the children were younger we used to have dummy runs. We are moving soon and the house is a totally different lay out. Didn't know the fire service came out to check houses, so shall have that done in new house. Excellent thread. M.

Laddo went on a trip yesterday and one of the displays was from the fire brigade they had a blow up house and smoke came out of the windows. They also had to go round and laddo told his TA to turn on the light switch it went BANG Think they learn more from events like that as its fun but with a serious message. Laddo doesn't remember things easily but he told us all about it last night so must of captured his attention.

Great thread. The fire service came to my daughters school and did a run through with them and they all did a fire plan. It was a great idea as she took all the info home.

As a retired Fire Station Officer with 30 years service I can say that most of the comments said so far are good advice. The devastation I saw over my career was unbelievable, everybody thinks it won't happen to them but unfortunatley it always happens to somebody. To summarise. Get your local fire station to come and do a home inspection, it's free, give them a call. Make a fire plan, escape routes being number one priority. Close all downstairs doors at night. Have a smoke alarm on the landing and in the hallway, your fire service will provide them free, they even fit them for you. In the event of fire, get out, stay out, get the fire brigade out. If the fire is downstairs and you are trapped, get everybody into one room, at the front of the house if possible, that makes it easier for the fire service to get a ladder up to you. A normal interior door will hold back fire for 30 minutes, if the smoke comes under or round the door edges, block it with sheets or other similar material. Open the front bedroom window and scream your head off to attract attention, get somebody to call out the fire brigade. Never jump from an upstairs window, in the unlikely event that the flames are upon you, hang from the window sill and drop. The Fire Services Act. lays down attendance times that you may have to wait for a fire engine. All built up residential areas usually get one fire engine in 5 minutes and 2 in 10 minutes. If you are in a rural area it can be up to 20 minutes. Be safe. And make sure you are insured. Ron www*genealogyprinters*com