Hardening Your Home For Fire Season

Hardening Your Home

Flying embers destroy homes up to a mile from wildland areas. Prepare (harden) your home now before fire starts. Here are some of the things you can do to harden your home: Roof: The roof is the most vulnerable part of your home. Homes with wood or shingle roofs are at high risk of being destroyed during a wildfire. Build your roof or re-roof with materials such as composition, metal or tile. Block any spaces between roof decking and covering to prevent embers from catching. Vents: Vents on homes create openings for flying embers. Cover all vent openings with 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch metal mesh. Do not use fiberglass or plastic mesh because they can melt and burn. Protect vents in eaves or cornices with baffles to block embers. (Mesh is not enough.) Eaves and Soffits: Eaves and soffits should be protected with ignition-resistant* or non-combustible materials. Windows: Heat from a wildfire can cause windows to break even before the home ignites. This allows burning embers to enter and start fires inside. Single-paned and large windows are particularly vulnerable. Install dual-paned windows with one pane of tempered glass to reduce the chance of breakage in a fire. Consider limiting the size and number of windows that face large areas of vegetation. Walls: Wood products, such as boards, panels or shingles, are common siding materials. However, they are combustible and not good choices for fire-prone areas. Build or remodel your walls with ignition resistant* building materials, such as stucco, fiber cement, wall siding, fire retardant, treated wood, or other approved materials. Be sure to extend materials from the foundation to the roof. Decks: Surfaces within 10 feet of the building should be built with ignition-resistant*, non-combustible, or other approved materials. Ensure that all combustible items are removed from underneath your deck. Rain Gutters: Screen or enclose rain gutters to prevent accumulation of plant debris. Patio Cover: Use the same ignition resistance materials for patio coverings as a roof. Chimney: Cover your chimney and stovepipe outlets with a non-combustible screen. Use metal screen material with openings no smaller than 3/8 inch and no larger than 1/2 inch to prevent embers from escaping and igniting a fire. Garage: Have a fire extinguisher and tools such as a shovel, rake, bucket, and hoe available for fire emergencies. Install weather stripping around and under the garage door to prevent embers from blowing in. Store all combustible and flammable liquids away from ignition sources. Fences: Consider using ignition resistant or non-combustible fence materials to protect your home during a wildfire. Driveways and Access Roads: Driveways should be built and maintained in accordance with state and local codes to allow fire and emergency vehicles to reach your home. Consider maintaining access roads with a minimum of 10 feet of clearance on either side, allowing for two way traffic. Ensure that all gates open inward and are wide enough to accommodate emergency equipment. Trim trees and shrubs overhanging the road to allow emergency vehicles to pass. Address: Make sure your address is clearly visible from the road. Water Supply: Consider having multiple garden hoses that are long enough to reach all areas of your home and other structures on your property. If you have a pool or well, consider getting a pump. If you want to learn about a neat water roof system, Click HERE for Roof Savers Sprinklers.

Carbon Monoxide-This Silent Killer

Carbon Monoxide - The Silent Killer

Creeping silently through your home, there's a killer that gives no warning. This killer is carbon monoxide. An invisible and odorless gas, carbon monoxide (CO) is produced when burning any fuel, such as gasoline, propane, natural gas, oil, wood, or charcoal. It is a silent killer, which causes illness by decreasing the amount of oxygen present in the body.

Young children are especially vulnerable to the effects of carbon monoxide, because of their smaller bodies. Children process carbon monoxide differently than adults, may be more severely affected by it, and may show symptoms sooner.

You won't know that you have a carbon monoxide leak, without a working detector. If you burn any fuels for heat or cooking, be sure that you have a working carbon monoxide detector and deter this silent killer.

Follow some simple safety tips to help protect your family.

Top Tips for Preventing Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Know the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning. The most common symptoms include headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and confusion. In severe cases,the person may lose consciousness or die. CO poisoning can often be mistaken for other illnesses, such as the flu. Often, more than one person in the household will suffer symptoms at the same time. To decrease risk of CO poisoning the following tips are recommended: Install a CO alarm outside every sleeping area and on every level of your home. Place CO alarms at least 15 feet away from every fuel-burning appliance to reduce the number of nuisance alarms. Test alarms every month and replace them every five years. Make sure alarms can be heard when you test them and practice an escape plan with your entire family. Have all gas, oil or coal burning appliances inspected by a technician every year to ensure they are working correctly and are properly ventilated. Never use a stove for heating. Do not use a grill, generator or camping stove inside your home, garage or near a window. Never leave a car, SUV, or motorcycle engine running inside a garage, even if the garage door is open. CO can accumulate anywhere in or around your boat, so install a CO alarm on your motorboat. If your CO alarm goes off, follow these steps: Get everyone out of the house as quickly as possible into fresh air. Then call for help from a neighbor’s home or a cell phone outside of your home. If someone is experiencing CO poisoning symptoms, call 911 for medical attention. If no one is experiencing symptoms, call the fire department. They will let you know when it is safe to re-enter your home.

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