Nehalem Bay
Have you done everything you can to make your home safe?
hERE ARE SOME TIPS & THINGS TO DO...
Tips on Home safety
- Smoke Alarms: Remember to replace your smoke alarm batteries; we recommend you change your batteries at least once per year. Install smoke alarms on every floor and in each bedroom. Smoke Alarm Information
- Gas Appliances/Carbon Monoxide Detectors: If you have a gas appliance in your home you should have a Carbon Monoxide detector. Carbon Monoxide is tasteless and odorless but can be fatal over a period of time. Carbon Monoxide Detectors
- Escape Plans for the Family: Remember to have an escape plan that you have practiced with your kids. Have a meeting place outside. Escape Plan Information
- Kitchen Fires: Did you know most fires start in the kitchen? Kitchen Fires
- Electric Appliances: Make sure you keep your furnace filters clean, your dryer vent clean of lint, and clean out your electric heaters per manufacturer’s specification (usually every six months). Make sure to disconnect the electricity prior to cleaning electric heaters. Do not place combustibles within three feet of electric heaters.
- Chimneys: You should clean your flue/chimney once per year. It’s best to do it in the fall just before you start using your woodstove/fireplace just in case birds or rodents made a nest inside during the summer months.
- Address Signs: Remember, we can’t help you if we can’t find you. Please make sure your house numbers are visible from the road. The Fire Department will create a house number sign that can be posted near the road. The signs are sold for cost only. Please call for current pricing.
- Landscaping: Would your landscaping prevent the Fire Department from being able to access every side of your home? If there was a wildfire, does your landscape/natural vegetation provide a fuel source right to your home? You should have a clear path completely around your home, both for Fire Department personnel and a fire break in case of a wildland fire. Fire Wise Home -Landscaping
- Fire Wise Home: If you are building a home or replacing a roof or siding, think about using fire resistant materials. Metal or composition roofing is much safer than a cedar shake roof. A cement fiber siding is much safer than shingles or other types of wood siding. If embers land on your home from a nearby house or wildland fire, these materials could save your home. Fire Wise Home
- Residential Sprinklers: Residential sprinklers have become much more economical and discrete. If you are building a new home or doing a major remodel, you should consider installing a sprinkler system. Today, materials found in our homes are made of petroleum and synthetic based products, causing fire to spread more rapidly as compared to products made 20 years ago. A room in your house can be fully engulfed with fire in under four minutes. It takes the fire department 8 – 10 minutes on average to reach your home and several more minutes to hook to a fire hydrant, deploy equipment, and begin fire suppression activities. The average room and contents fire can be extinguished with as little as 25 gallons of water per minute in the first couple minutes of ignition. The fire department uses about 125 gallons per minute from a single hose, which causes water damage in addition to the fire damage. Sprinklers can extinguish the fire quickly and minimize water damage. Fire Sprinklers