you have a potential disaster on your hands. Heed the following tips to make sure your kids stay safe: • Keep anything with a possible open flame out of the reach of kids, including lighters, matches, and candles. • Most of the fires in this category are caused by kids under the age of ten who play with matches and lighters. Even if you remove or securely stow away fire sources, it seems as if kids still find ways to play with fire. Most often, they know it’s bad, so they will play with fire in their rooms or closets. Be sure to check on your kids regularly (especially if doors are closed and they are being extra quiet), know how many lighters or match boxes are in the house and where they are, and have a family discussion if you find melted toys or burned spots on clothing. • The best thing you can do is to teach your children about fire and fire safety. Teach them the human escape plan, the sound of the smoke alarm, and even how to use fire as a tool. When they get old enough, let them help with the fire pit in your backyard or with burning the brush in the fall (if legal in your area, of course). Taking the mystery out of fire is a good way to decrease a child’s curiosity. Flammable liquids, including gasoline, cleaning agents, paints, adhesives, etc. Vapors can ignite from high temperatures or small sparks from static electricity or other sources. Don’t store flammables in the house near a heating source, but rather outside of the house in a cool, well-ventilated area. Christmas trees and holiday decorations account for hundreds of house fires each year. It’s easy to enjoy how nice everything looks without realizing its potential hazard. • Christmas trees are the worst offender in this category. Real trees need lots of watering, so keep it in a stand that can hold two to three liters of water and top it off daily. A dry tree with lights that can get hot when left on too long can be a deadly combination. • Keep the tree away from heat sources, including radiators, fireplaces, space heaters, etc. • Keep lit candles at least 12 inches away from a Christmas tree.
• If using an artificial tree, make sure it’s flame retardant. • Ensure that your decorations don’t interfere with your fire escape plan. Do not block windows or doorways, if possible. • Don’t leave holiday lights on unattended—both on the tree and outside the house. This is a toughie, as we all like to come home to a beautifully-lit house. So, if nothing else, limit them to only a few hours if you’re away. Don’t leave them on overnight or while you’re away for multiple days. • Check your holiday lights before putting them on the tree or the house. Be sure there are no frays or broken bulbs that could have an exposed element. • Don’t overload your outlets. As much as your inner being wants to light up the whole world like Clark Griswold, don’t do it! He’s lucky his power outage didn’t turn into a more serious problem. Clothes dryers can be fire catalysts. Being that lint is a fantastic fire starter, it makes sense that an ill-maintained dryer can pose a serious fire threat. • While not common these days, refrain from using a dryer that doesn’t have a lint filter. • Clean the lint filter after each load and clean lint from around the drum, and around the lint filter housing. • At least once a year, check the air exhaust pipe at the exterior of the home to ensure there is no blockage. While the dryer is running, you should feel (and smell) the fresh laundry air coming out. • Don’t leave the dyer on overnight or while you’re away from the house. • Don’t overload the dryer, as it can lead to an excess of lint. Many of these tips are common sense, and yet when we have other things on our mind (especially at dinnertime or around the holidays) we can lose track of these basic precautions. You can never play it too safe with fire prevention. The most valuable things in the world—our families and home—depend on it! n As always, the Upper St. Clair Volunteer Fire Department is ready to help and to answer your questions concerning fire safety. For nonemergency questions, call 412-835-0660.
Get Ready for Santa’s Visit
Santa stops for a friendly visit
Once again, members of the USC Volunteer Fire Department will be escorting a very special visitor around Upper St. Clair Township. Santa Claus is coming to town on Saturday, December 8! Check the USC VFD website at uscvfd.org for a schedule of the approximate time Santa and his sleigh will be on your street. As always, Santa will have helpers from the fire department to answer any questions or concerns that you might have. Contact Santa Central at 412-835-3339 if you need more information. Take pictures of your friendly neighborhood Santa visit and send them (high resolution photos of at least 1MB each) to usctoday@uscsd.k12.pa.us, listing “Santa visit” in the subject line. Place your name in the body of the email to identify from whom they’ve come. Your photos might appear in a future edition of UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY! n Santa and his helpers
Winter 2018
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