RICHMOND, Va. (WTVR) – Fire Prevention Week in Virginia runs October 7 through October 13. The theme of this year’s campaign is “Have 2 Ways Out.”
Safety officials want you to know what to do in case of a fire, have an escape plan, and have two ways out of every room.
Richmond Fire Lieutenant Robbie Hagaman and Hanover Fire Battalion Chief Willie Jones stopped by CBS 6 to talk about a recent fire at Randolph-Macon College, and discussed what possibly could have prevented it.
The City of Richmond’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services offers the following tips for protecting your family and home from fire:
• Stay in the kitchen while you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen even for a short period of time, turn off the stove.
• Keep anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment, like the furnace, fireplace, wood stove, or portable space heater.
• Have a three-foot “kid-free zone” around open fires and space heaters.
• Have a licensed electrician replace or repair damaged or loose electrical cords.
• If you smoke, smoke outside.
• Use deep, wide ashtrays on a sturdy table.
• Blow out all candles when you leave the room or go to bed. Avoid the use of candles in the bedroom and other areas where people may fall asleep.
• Install smoke alarms inside each bedroom, outside each sleeping area, and on every level of the home (including the basement).
• Interconnect all smoke alarms in the home so when one sounds, they all sound.
• Test smoke alarms every month and replace all smoke alarms every 10 years.
• Make sure everyone in your home knows how to respond if the smoke alarm sounds.
• Pull together everyone in your household and make a plan. Walk through your home and inspect all possible ways out. Households with children should consider drawing a floor plan of your home, marking two ways out of each room, including windows and doors.
