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To provide
those services, either proactive or emergency, necessary to protect
and enhance the quality of life for the residents and visitors
to Plainfield Charter Township.
Executive Summary
Fire
Fires can be furious
and deadly. Each year, more than 600 children ages 14 and under die,
and nearly 47,000 are injured, in fires. Despite a dramatic 56 percent
decline in the fire death rate since 1988, fires remain a leading
cause of unintentional injury-related death among children in the
United States.
But there are time-tested
ways to prevent fire-related injuries. Simply installing smoke alarms
on every level of your home and in every sleeping area, for instance,
cuts the chances of dying in a home fire in half. Keeping matches,
lighters and other heat sources out of children's reach can help
eliminate child-play fires - the leading cause of fire-related death
for children 5 and under.
Preparation and
education are key elements of preventing fire tragedies. Planning
and practicing a fire escape route with your family, and talking
to your children about what to expect in a fire, are simple steps
anyone can take. A prepared child is more likely to escape unharmed.
Why Kids Are at
Risk
Picture a fire
from a child's point of view: smoke and flames suddenly sweep through
his room. It is dark, hot, loud and scary. A large stranger comes
in, wearing equipment that makes him look like a monster or an alien
- or worse. Children's first instincts are often to hide from things
that frighten them. But in the case of a fire, those instincts can
be deadly.
Kids are at grave
risk of injury and death from residential fires because they have
less control of their environment than adults and limited ability
to react appropriately. More than 40 percent of residential fire-related
deaths among children ages 9 and under occur when the child is attempting
to escape, is unable to act or is acting irrationally. Although an
escape plan may help to reduce these deaths, only 26 percent of households
have developed and practiced a plan.
The youngest children
are at greatest risk. Kids ages 5 and under are more than twice as
likely to die in a fire as the rest of the population. More than
half of the children in this age group who die are asleep at the
time of the fire, and another one-third of them are too young to
react appropriately.
Older kids are
often at risk due to their own curiosity. Studies indicate that an
estimated 38 percent of children ages 6 to 14 have played with fire
at least once. Child-play home fires tend to begin in a bedroom where
children are left alone. Nearly 80 percent of these are started by
children playing with matches or lighters. Boys are nearly twice
as likely as girls to play with fire.
Other Risk Factors
- Children in
homes without working smoke alarms are at the greatest risk. Households
without working smoke alarms are approximately two and a half times
more likely to have a fire in their homes.
- Home cooking
equipment is the leading cause of residential fires and fire-related
injuries. However, residential fires caused by smoking materials
(i.e. cigarettes) are the leading cause of fire-related death,
accounting for nearly 23 percent of all fatalities.
- Home fires and
fire-related deaths are more likely to occur during the cold weather
months, December through February, when there is a significant
rise in the use of portable or area heating equipment such as fireplaces,
space heaters and wood stoves.
- Children living
in rural areas have a dramatically higher risk of dying in a residential
fire. Death rates in rural communities are more than two times
higher than in large cities, and more than three times higher than
in large towns and small cities.
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