| October is the National Fire Prevention month and fire departments all across the country are conducting fire prevention classes promoting the use of smoke detectors in your homes and businesses.
House fires happen to other people, not you right? If you think this can’t happen to you or someone you know guess again. There is no better example of this than a recent early Sunday morning fire in an apartment building in Saranac Lake. This is at least the fourth such fire call in recent years where smoke detectors and integrated fire alarm systems played a key role in helping save lives and property in Saranac Lake.
The first fire that comes to mind was at the Prescott House on Franklin Ave in Saranac Lake in May of 2011, a tenant heard a smoke alarm going off in a neighboring apartment, smelled smoke and alerted the fire department. One person had to be rescued from inside the burning apartment by firefighters. Firefighters credit the presence of smoke alarms, early detection and quick action by a neighboring tenant who notified the fire department in helping save this person’s life.
Just a few months later in July of 2011 a fire alarm-sprinkler system was also credited in helping to save a person’s life in a commercial building on Main Street in Saranac Lake. SLVFD responded to an alarm activation and discovered a kitchen fire in a 3rd floor apartment. One tenant was also rescued by firefighters from that apartment as well.
In October of 2013 another such example of how important early detection can be was during an apartment fire on the 5th floor of an 11 story high rise complex in Saranac Lake. Firefighters quickly suppressed the fire and rescued one person from the apartment, who later died from their injuries, however numerous others residents on all 11 floors had to be safely evacuated.
Most recently Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department responded to an alarm activation on Sunday October 4, at 9 River Street in Saranac Lake at 5:55 AM. Saranac Lake village paid drivers and volunteers responded with two trucks, Engine 141 and Ladder 144. Upon investigation firefighters quickly discovered an apartment on the 2nd floor of the 9 unit apartment building filled with heavy thick smoke and a working fire. It was originally reported to firefighters by a neighboring tenant that the person who lived in the apartment was away for the weekend. The fire was located in a kitchen just inside and adjacent to the entrance door to the apartment. Upon discovery, firefighters immediately utilized a fire extinguisher that was on the premises to initially suppress and slow down the fire spread. This helped contain the fire to the kitchen area and allowed valuable time for additional help to arrive. A 1 ¾ inch firehose attack line off of Engine 141 was stretched out up the stairs to the entrance door of the apartment. Two SLVFD firefighters entered the apartment locating a fire in the kitchen that had spread from the stove top to the kitchen cabinets, ceiling and walls. With the help of a thermal imaging camera firefighters we able to see that a burner on the kitchen stove was on indicating to them that someone was most likely still in the smoke filled apartment. The two firefighters immediately initiated a search of the apartment in zero visibility conditions. Firefighters searched the kitchen then continued down the main hallway past the kitchen door, first searching a bedroom and eventually coming to the living room. They quickly located an unresponsive person on the couch in the living room of the apartment. Firefighters were able to wake the person who was lethargic and confused, most likely from the effects of exposure to smoke inhalation. Because the fire was near the only entrance to the apartment, firefighters quickly evacuated the person out a door immediately off the living rooming onto a large outside balcony/porch located on the front of the apartment building until the person could be safely removed. If it were not for the presence of smoke detectors and alarm system this fire would absolutely have had a much worse outcome. Firefighters credit the early detection of the fire by smoke detectors and early notification to the fire department by the alarm system with helping save this person’s life.
The number one cause of death related to fires is smoke inhalation. An estimated 50%-80% of fire deaths are the result of smoke inhalation injuries rather than burns. Smoke caused by a fire is an asphyxiant that takes away the atmosphere’s oxygen and replaces it with dangerous chemicals such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen cyanide. A person exposed to smoke in a building that is on fire will experience smoke inhalation symptoms almost instantaneously, the most common of which are coughing, breathing difficulties, hoarseness, headache, upset stomach, vomiting, sleepiness, confusion, and dark colored spit and saliva. Often smoke incapacitates so quickly that people are overcome and can’t make it to an otherwise accessible exit. The synthetic materials commonplace in today’s homes produce especially dangerous substances. As a fire grows inside a building, it will often consume most of the available oxygen, slowing the burning process. This “incomplete combustion” results in toxic gases.
These are just a few examples of where early detection of a fire by smoke detectors and quick notification to the fire department made the difference between life and death. October is fire prevention month and all of us here at the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department are sharing these stories with you to stress the importance of how smoke detectors, sprinkler systems and integrated fire alarm systems in your homes, apartments and businesses due in fact save lives.
Please make sure your smoke detectors are working properly, test your smoke detectors on a monthly basis, change smoke detector batteries twice a year, have an evacuation plan and practice it. When a fire alarm sounds in your home, apartment building or office do not ignore it and evacuate immediately. For further information about fire prevention please contact your local fire department.
Facts on smoke inhalation were taken from NFPA and webmd website. |
