vernonia rural fire protection district
october19
2017
15
Vernonia Rural Fire Protection District
Time To Close The Door on Fast-Moving Home Fires
A simple behavior change could save lives
By Robert Schattschneider
As consumers we have come to
demand speed. We order a book on Am-
azon and it’s delivered to our front porch
that afternoon. Order your dark roast on
an app and it’s waiting for you at the cof-
fee shop. But speed is also killing people
in their homes.
The pace in which a fire races
through a home has increased at a dead-
ly rate. Today, a person has about three
minutes from the start of a fire to escape
a house fire. That’s a far cry from 40
years ago when you had about 17 min-
utes.
The materials used to build and
furnish our homes have changed. Natu-
ral materials were used in the past, but
now synthetics are more common and
they burn faster. Add to that the open
floor plans common in today’s homes
and it presents the perfect storm for a
quick escalation of a fire. Research tells
us that heat and speed of growth have
both increased.
The results have been devastat-
ing.
The National Fire Protection As-
sociation estimates that fire departments
across the U.S. respond to an average of
357,000 residential fires annually. That
has led to an average of 2,470 civilian
deaths and 12,890 civilian injuries each
year.
Lexi King survived a house fire,
aided by a simple habit. Her family
wasn’t as lucky.
Lexi liked to sleep with her bed-
room door closed. Her brother’s door
was always open. When an overnight
fire destroyed their Texas house she was
the only one to survive. Her brother and
parents died in the fire.
“What I had was a closed door.
I had oxygen. I had time to collect my
thoughts. I had time to prepare myself,”
said King. “There literally is not a day
that has gone by that I haven’t thought of
them and their beauty that they brought.”
UL Firefighter Safety Research
Institute (FSRI) found that rooms with
closed doors during a fire had average
temperatures of less than 100 degrees
and 100 ppm of carbon monoxide, com-
pared to 1,000+ degrees and over 10,000
ppm of carbon monoxide in the open-
door rooms.
Each day fire departments
across the nation respond to a variety of
calls, some more easily controlled than
others. Often, residents have escaped
themselves prior to their arrival. Some-
times they haven’t and residents are
trapped. That’s why we are leading
a campaign across the community to
change a simple behavior. In part-
nership with UL FSRI we are pro-
moting “Close Before You Doze”
to encourage every family to make
sure they close all of their doors –
bedrooms, bathrooms, basement – at
night to starve the fire of the oxygen
it requires to grow and to give you
more time to escape the fire.
There is a recipe to increase
your chances of survival in a fast-mov-
ing house fire.
• Make sure your smoke and CO alarms
are in working condition. Install smoke
alarms in every sleeping room and out-
side each separate sleeping area. In-
stall alarms on every level of the home.
Smoke alarms should be interconnected.
When one sounds, they all sound. Test
them monthly.
• Close your doors at night.
• If a fire hits and you can get out of a
burning structure, get out and close
doors behind you as you exit. If you
can’t, put a closed door between you and
the fire to buy yourself valuable time.
Open Burning With Permit
Under Oregon law, ORS 478.960,
citizens of Oregon can burn certain items if
they have a valid permit issued by the Fire
Chief in their area.
Each year everyone waits for the
dry season to end so they can clean up all
the yard and garden debris. But time and
time again, those who do burn, forget about
the rules.
Because of the Environmental
Quality Commission, there are regulations
concerning what can and cannot be burned.
VRFPD responds annually to nu-
merous complaints concerning illegal
burns, and most complaints are well found-
ed.
VRFPD posts on Facebook and
contributes information in the Voice news-
paper, concerning what can and cannot be
burned.
Because illegal burning is becom-
ing such a problem, VRFPD will begin is-
suing citations for illegal burning, and sub-
jects can also be charged for the expenses
incurred (Charges for Service).
When you purchase your burn per-
mit, you are given the information needed
to comply with the burn permit.
So once again, you can burn yard
and garden debris, tree trimmings, and
leaves.
You CANNOT burn, any form of
lumber, household garbage, construction
material, demolition debris, tires, petroleum
products.
If you have any questions about
open burning, please contact the fire station
at (503) 429-8252, or email the Fire Chief
at: firechief@Vernoniarfpd.us
Calls responded to September 1-30
Fire
Emergency Medical Service
Hazardous Condition
Service Call
Good Intent
Severe Weather & Natural Disaster
Special Incident
No Emergency Found
False Alarm
Total
Autumn is upon us with all of the
seasonal changes and activities that we
all enjoy. Whether it’s the changing of the
leaves, fall festivities, or hunting season,
autumn has just about something to offer
everyone.
With Halloween just around the
corner, let’s remember our little ghosts and
goblins, princes and princesses will be out
trick or treating before you know it. Keep
them in mind when the time comes so they
can all have a safe and fun night out collect-
ing candy and other goodies.
Autumn also means that our daily
weather will start to be in the form of liquid
precipitation. So I’d like to remind every-
one that our roads out in this neck of the
woods get pretty slippery when wet. Take
the time to slow down a bit on your com-
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VOLUNTEERS
WANTED
VERNONIA RURAL FIRE
PROTECTION DISTRICT
Autumn Is Back
By Robert Schattschneider
Don’t ever go back inside a burning
home.
• For parents worried about not hear-
ing their children in the middle of the
night with a door closed, simply place
a baby monitor in your child’s room. If
you can’t get to your children’s room be-
cause you’re cut off by smoke the closed
door will provide a safety barrier and
you know your children have longer to
survive in that situation.
• Have an escape plan, identify multiple
escape routes from every room and prac-
tice them as a family at various hours.
After a fire starts, there’s little
time to act. Take these fire safety and
prevention steps today and you’ll sleep
easier at night.
mute into the valley. Leaving a few min-
utes early will make up for the time that you
spend being careful.
Bow season is over, but rifle season
for deer has just begun. I think we all know
someone who goes deer and elk hunting.
With that being said, keep an eye out for
our four legged friends. They will be active
from the pressure put on them by the hunt-
ers, and Mother Nature will also have those
bucks and bulls working overtime chasing
after their female counterparts. So while
you are out and about, keep an extra eye out
for them crossing the road.
And lastly, it will not be long be-
fore we have some overnight freezing tem-
peratures. Whether it’s in the form of ice,
snow, or heavy frost, it will add some time
to your commute. Keep the temperature in
mind when you are out traveling our high-
ways and forest roads.
VRFPD is currently accepting applications
for Volunteer Fire Fighters.
• You must have a High School Diploma or
G.E.D., a valid Oregon Driver’s License, and
be at least 18 years of age.
• Currently, you must be able to attend
weekly training on Monday nights
Here’s What We Do!
• Willing to attend the Fire Academy
VRFPD
• Live or work (employer willing to let you
respond to calls) within VRFPD’s District
555 E. Bridge St.
Vernonia, OR 97064
503-429-8252
• Applications can be picked up at the Fire
Station.
VRFPD FIRE CHIEF
Earl Dean Smith
dc4502@yahoo.com
503-709-8821 (cell)
503-429-8252 (office)
VRFPD P.I.O.
Robert Schattschneider
pio.vrfpd@gmail.com
971-225-8332 (cell)
503-429-8252 (office)