Bolivar FD Offers Fire Safety Advice to Schools

Chief Lynn Price of the Bolivar Fire Department recently spoke to Bolivar Central and Middleton High School students on the importance of fire safety. Outlining a variety of topics, he covered every aspect of fire prevention in the home and how to survive a fire if the unimaginable may occur.
The Bolivar Fire Department installs smoke detectors to anyone’s home throughout the county at no cost because working smoke detectors reduce a person’s chance of death in a fire by half. While most deaths due to fire occur at night when people are sleeping, nearly 900 lives per year could be saved if every home had working smoke detectors.
In the United States, there are more homes with no working smoke detectors than there are homes without any smoke detectors at all. 73% of smoke detector failures are due to missing, disconnected, or dead batteries. Nuisance alarms are the most common reason for deliberately disconnecting batteries, but disconnecting your batteries, for any reason, is ill-advised. You can increase your chance of survival by following these tips: smoke detectors should be installed on every level of your home, change your batteries twice a year during daylight savings time, keep your detectors clean and free of dust, and replace the entire detector unit at least every ten years.
Chief Price reminded students that firefighters, police, and EMS service workers are your friends. They’re all here to do a critical job and protect you from things that can cause you harm. This job requires them to drop what they’re doing and rush to any emergency they’re sent to encounter. Eighteen percent of firefighter deaths occur while en route to calls so it’s important to never waste valuable manpower and resources on false alarms when they could be desperately needed at a real emergency.
The Tennessee State Fire Marshal’s Office and the City of Bolivar Fire Department want citizens to remember three simple words, “Close the Door!”. “A door is one of the best pieces of firefighting and life-saving equipment in a home,” said Deputy Commissioner Gary West. “If you leave a room that is on fire, closing the door behind you can be the best decision you make.” Closing the door reduces fire growth and spread, limits damage to your home, and could possibly save lives. A closed door hinders flames and smoke from spreading to other rooms and can help deprive a fire of the oxygen it needs to grow. You should always sleep with your bedroom door closed if possible. This prohibits a fire outside your door from getting the necessary oxygen it needs to spread into your bedroom. If you can see smoke in the house, stay low to the ground as you make your way to the exit.

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