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~~~~~HOME~~~~~

Last updated
18 July 2006

Home Safety

Mike Montford heads the Volunteer Home Inspection Program for SKF&R.
Upon residents' requests, the Volunteer Home Inspection Program surveys homes for general safety hazards and make recommendations to eliminate hazards. Mike is always looking for more dedicated volunteers from the community to assist in conducting home safety surveys.
To have your home surveyed for safety or to volunteer to be part of the team, please call South Kitsap Fire & Rescue at 871-2411.

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HOME SAFETY STATISTICS

In 1998, 28,200 people were killed by unintentional home injuries. Preliminary National Safety Council estimates for 1999 indicate that the number has risen by 9 percent to 30,800. In 1998, 6,800,000 people suffered unintentional home injuries. One person in 39 in the United States was disabled one full day or more by unintentional injuries received in the home. Disabling injuries are more numerous in the home than in the workplace and in motor vehicle crashes combined. The leading causes of home deaths as the result of injury are falls and poisonings--and these numbers continue to rise.

Almost 32 percent of home drowning victims were children four years of age or younger.

Smoke inhalation accounts for the majority of deaths in home fires.

For more statistics, please see WWW.SKFR.org .



WHAT WE DID IN 2003:

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HERE IS WHAT WE DID IN 2002:

         

In 2002, SKFR received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control, and we bought smoke detectors with it. We targeted high risk areas--mobile homes--because of their light construction and the extreme need for early warning--so that people can get out alive in a fire. We find it disturbing how many residents maintain no smoke detector protection in their homes.
Public Information/Education Officer Lisa Kirkemo organized our smoke alarm "blitzes" of last summer and notified residents before we went door to door in mobile home parks, offering free alarms and installation on the spot. These units are ten-year Lithium battery detectors--no battery change is required; the entire units should be replaced in ten years. Last summer's effort was comprised of SKFR Home Safety volunteers, career inspectors and firefighters on shift, and Kiwanis and Rotary volunteers from our community. Our Home Safety crew has the ongoing job to respond to requests for free smoke alarm installations and home safety inspections. Summer 2003 will see more alarm blitzes throughout the neighborhoods we serve. If you need smoke detectors, please call the pager listed below. Our goal is to improve the fire survival statistics.
More volunteers are needed. If you wish to volunteer to make our community a safer place and become an Inspector with Home Safety, please page the Home Safety Officer at (360) 613-8605 or contact the Home Safety Team at 871-2425 (leave a message).