It’s fun to decorate and cook to celebrate the winter holidays, but holiday decorations and unsafe cooking practices can increase your risk for a home fire. To assist you in being fire smart this holiday season, the Lakewood Fire Department reminds the community to be mindful of the following hazards to ensure a fire safe Holiday.
• Place Chanukah lamps on sturdy nonflammable surfaces, at least three feet away from flammable materials and in a location where they cannot be knocked over or something can fall on top of them. Do not leave children unattended in a room with lit candles and do not display lighted candles in windows or near exits in case you need these to escape. Never leave a lit Chanukah lamp unattended and keep matches, lighters and lit objects away from children.
• Cooking – When cooking, roll up your sleeves and avoid wearing loose fitting clothing that can easily catch fire. Do not reach over burners and other hot surfaces. Keep all flammable items (dishtowels, curtains, etc.) at least three feet from the range top. Always turn pot handles inward to prevent young children from pulling down a hot pan. Remain in the kitchen and keep an eye on the stove or oven. Unattended cooking remains a leading cause of home fires.
• Frying – When frying, it is important to keep children away from the stove and other cooking elements. Use the back burners so they are out of the reach of children. When reheating fried foods, be careful of the oil that is in the food as it reheats, since it can cause severe burns. In the event of a grease fire, smother the flames with a lid only if it is possible. Do not use water to extinguish a grease fire as this will just increase the size of the fire. Do Not Hesitate to Immediately Call 911.
• Appliances – Keep all appliances away from the edge of the counter and all wires safely out of reach, especially when children are around. Leave ample space around any appliances to allow air to circulate and minimize the buildup of heat. Please make sure your appliances are U.L. compliant and in optimal condition. An appropriate U.L. approved heavy duty timer may be used with hotplates, crock pots, etc. Speak to your Rav, if you need further Halachic clarification on using timers on Shabbos.
• Calling the Fire Department on the Holiday or Shabbos – NEVER hesitate to call the fire department even for the slightest suspicion of danger. Fire Department Chaplain Rabbi Moshe Rotberg (with direction from other various local rabbinical authority) would like to remind the community, since it is impossible for the typical layman to determine from the time of the crisis if it poses a danger to one’s self or neighbors. One should not hesitate to call the Fire Department immediately. What may appear to the uneducated to be “nothing” may, in fact, be deadly.
• PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU HAVE WORKING SMOKE ALARMS AND CARBON MONOXIDE DECTECTORS IN YOUR HOME. At a minimum, smoke alarms should be located outside each separate sleeping area and on every floor of one’s home. Place a carbon monoxide detector outside each sleeping area in the home.
• Be aware of what you will need to do if your clothes are on fire. Review, the principles of “STOP, DROP and ROLL” which are simple: STOP – do not run if your clothes catch on fire. DROP – to the ground and cover your face. ROLL – continue to roll to smother the fire.
• Think about and remain cognizant of your environment and your surroundings. Always be mindful of what you will do in the event of a fire to escape safely. Identify two exits when you enter an unfamiliar building. The way you entered the building may not be the quickest or safest escape route in an emergency. Do not use elevators in a fire emergency; use the stairs. Look for standard fire protection equipment such as pull stations, fire extinguishers, posted evacuation plans, etc. Follow your instincts – don’t stay in a building that has blocked or padlocked exit doors, is overcrowded or has hazardous activity going on that makes you uncomfortable. By conducting this mental pre-planning, you may be better able to act promptly when a fire or alarm of fire occurs. If you don’t feel safe, don’t stay inside. Report locked or blocked exits and overcrowding issues immediately to fire officials.
• Fire Safety Information for parents, children and educators can be found by visiting the Fire District Website at www.lakewoodfd.org and clicking on Sparky’s Firehouse or New Jersey Fire Safety under the Links heading.
• Information regarding smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors for individuals who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing can be obtained by contacting New Jersey Department of Human Services – Division of Deaf and Hard of Hearing at www.nj.gov/humanservices/ddhh/equipment/
As a polymer scientist, I would like to comment that this post leaves out perhaps the most dangerous safety hazard with prefilled oil cups.. As the photo that accompanies this article illustrates, the left cup was made of plastic (likely acrylic).. If the cup tilts in the menorah, or if the wick wanders to the side of the cup, the flame can reach the side of the cup and the plastic can catch fire. A house in Brooklyn caught fire a few years ago from just this type of plastic cup in a Chanukah menorah. In this picture, the plastic just deformed as it was heated by the flame, but had the flame come just a little closer to the side of the cup, it would have caught fire. Unfortunately, because plastic is cheaper than glass, virtually all prefilled oil cups on the market are made of this type of flammable plastic. The “Ner Mitzvah – Ohr Light” brand is about the only brand with prefilled glass cups instead of plastic cups. . .