69°
NORTH WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - North Castle home owners have a variety of fire prevention issues to heed.
Albert Conte, assistant fire chief of the North White Plains Fire Company, said home owners should start by having smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers.
Batteries in smoke detectors should be changed twice a year, he said, while carbon monoxide detectors have a five-year shelf life.
"ABC fire extinguishers are better than water cans because they are more universal," Conte said. "They can be used on paper based, liquid and grease based and electrical equipment fires, while water cans are restricted to paper fires."
Fire places should be cleaned, chimneys cleared and oil burners cleaned before they're turned on in the fall. "You should know where the shut off switch on an oil burner is, turn it off in the event of a smoke fire and call the fire department," Conte said.
Preparing a good escape route in the event of a fire is another important tactic. "Know where to go and practice with the lights off," Conte said, because homes can lose power during electrical fires so residents must be aware of the best escape routes. "You should have a flashlight handy for the same reason," he said.
Occupants of upper floors should arrange a means of egress. "They should be able to shimmy down ropes or metal ladders," he said.
The last major fire in North White Plains occurred on Christmas Eve day, 2009. It was a "double fatal," Conte said, when a husband and wife were killed in a bedroom from carbon monoxide poisoning. The husband initially escaped the fire but returned to try and save his wife.
"If it's a working fire and you get out, stay out," Conte said. "Save yourself or you both perish."
Conte has a Scott pack, which enables firefighters to breathe in a smoke fire, but residents don't have them, which is why he said they should never return to a burning fire.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Armonk and receive free news updates.
