It’s a long way from LA to Chicago, but the world is small if you have friends or relatives in Southern California, or if you simply have empathy for people under duress.
Ben DeAnda, community risk reduction manager for the Naperville Fire Department, said, “To lose everything in a fire is like losing a loved one. It’s devastating.”
Rich, poor, famous, infamous. Fire doesn’t care who you are or what your stuff means to you. Having something so violent rip you from your normal can leave a person feeling lost, even violated.
If you’re as horrified as I am by these catastrophic fires, there are two things you can do right now: help those in need and shore up your own fire and emergency safety plan.
True, wildfires aren’t common in these parts but every year thousands of homes across the Midwest catch fire, often with devastating effects.
In 2022, according to that year’s fire loss study from the National Fire Protection Agency, more than 380,000 of the 1.5 million fires that firefighters responded to in America occurred in residential structures and accounted for an estimated 2,760 deaths, agency data showed.
According to FEMA, Illinois reported 246,990 fires to the National Fire Incident Reporting System from 2015 to 2019. Twenty-six percent of those were residential, most were in the Chicago metropolitan area and most started in the kitchen.
Two-thirds of home cooking fires start with “the ignition of food or other cooking materials,” according to the NFPA, with 29% of those blazes starting with unattended equipment.
If a cooking fire starts in your home, the NFPA advises, get out, close the door behind you and call 911 or emergency services. If you decide to fight the fire, be sure others are out and that you also have a way out. When cooking, the agency states, always keep a lid nearby. If a grease fire ignites, use the lid to to smother it and turn off the stovetop. Leave the pan covered until it is completely cooled. For an oven fire, turn off the heat and keep the door closed.
The NFPA also reminds people that batteries for smoke alarms should be replaced according to manufacturer recommendations; conventional batteries should be replaced at least yearly. If an alarm chirps, indicating that the battery is low, it should be replaced right away. All smoke alarms, including hard-wired alarms and alarms that use 10-year batteries, should be replaced when they are 10 years old, or sooner if they do not respond properly when tested, according to the agency.
“Smoke alarms are only effective if occupants leave the building when the alarms sound,” the agency states. Make sure children are “familiar with the sound of a properly operating smoke alarm and follow a practiced escape plan that emphasizes two exits from any location, as well as a designated meeting place once they have left the structure.”
Practicing basic fire prevention principles as well as escape plans, might prevent many fires and deaths, the NFPA states.
DeAnda said fire suppression blankets can be a handy tool but not at the expense of a fire extinguisher. “The blankets require a person to get close to the fire,” he said. An extinguisher has a greater range but should be kept in a handy spot.
“It’s not helpful if the homeowner has to go looking for it,” he said.
Having a go bag at the ready is always a good idea, DeAnda said. It should contain your personal necessities, such as medicines, diapers and documents.
As a rule of thumb, he said, keep meds and other essentials, such as phones and chargers, in one spot so you can easily throw them into the bag if you need to go.
DeAnda also said it’s a good idea to take pictures of your property for insurance purposes. If your house burns to the ground, you can show officials what you lost.
“Trying to remember everything under duress is hard,” he said.
If you can afford one, get a fire-proof box for important documents, such as social security cards, mortgage papers, insurance forms, birth certificates, passports, old photos that are precious, and anything that has to do with banking.
It’s always advisable to have a plan on where family will meet if your house catches on fire, DeAnda said.
The city of Naperville, DeAnda said, and many other towns have a temporary lock-box program for people recovering from surgery. The box, which fits over a door jamb, contains a homeowner’s key that is only accessible by the fire department.
“We give you a box temporarily until you’re able to get around,” he said. But people can also buy a box to have permanently, he said.
Among the heart-wrenching videos to come out of the California fires were those of people searching for lost pets.
DeAnda said you should include pets in your escape plan. Keep their necessities together, in a spot where they can be reached in a hurry.
The NFPA has a pet evacuation checklist you can download. Among the items to keep handy, or perhaps in a pet go-bag, are leashes, collars, phone numbers of vets and pet-friendly hotels, as well as pet food, a bowl and photos of your pet.
If you live in an area prone to wildfires, take simple steps to protect your home from embers and radiant heat. At FIREWISE.org, you’ll find tips for keeping roofs and property clear of debris that could catch fire.
You can find lots more tips at www.nfpa.org.
One more thing: Here’s a life hack that I recently learned, courtesy of our family’s attorney. After you designate your powers of attorney for health care and property, take pictures of the signed documents and send them to your chosen representatives, to be kept in a special POA photo file on their phones. Should an emergency arise and you become unable to make decisions, they’ll have quick and easy access to the forms.
Stay safe.
Donna Vickroy is an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist who worked for the Daily Southtown for 38 years. She can be reached at donnavickroy4@gmail.com.
