Local News

Fire marshal warns of home hazards

By Journal staff | Sunday, October 05, 2008

The South Dakota Fire Marshal is asking state residents to be aware of home fire hazards during National Fire Protection Week, Sunday through Saturday, Oct. 5 -11.

Cooking, heating, electrical and smoking materials are the leading causes of home fires.

Related Stories
Most Popular

Cheap Car Insurance

Drivers Pay $44/mo on Avg for Car Insurance. Are you paying too much?
www.Auto-Insurance-Experts.com

Obama Urges Homeowners to Refinance

$180,000 Refinance $939/mo. See Rates- No Credit Check Req.
SeeRefinanceRates.com

Obama Wants You to Return to School

Get Your Degree with Government Grants and Scholarships.
www.classesusa.com

Ads by Yahoo!

"For many of us, our home is our safe haven. It's where we spend our time, and it's important to make it safe -- for ourselves and for our families," Al Christie said. "Nearly 80 percent of all fire deaths happen in the home. Please, take the time to think about the fire hazards in your home and the prevention efforts you can make."

Cooking

* When cooking, stay in the kitchen if you are frying, grilling or broiling food. Being in the vicinity gives you time to react before a cooking fire gets out of control.

* Forty percent of home fires start in the kitchen.

Heating

* Make sure flammable items such as paper, bedding and furniture are kept at least three feet away from heating equipment.

* Nearly half of all heating fires happen in December, January and February.

Electrical

* Use extension cords only for temporary wiring.

* Replace cracked and damaged electrical cords.

Smoking

* If you smoke, stay awake until you've properly extinguished your smoking material.

* Smoking materials are the leading cause of fire deaths in the U.S.

For more information on National Fire Prevention Week, go to www.nfpa.org

Rapid Reply

Show Comments

2 comment(s)

Send us your Rapid Reply

The preceeding are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Rapid City Journal or Lee Enterprises.

The opinions above are from readers of rapidcityjournal.com and in no way represent the views of the Rapid City Journal or Lee Enterprises.

Rapidcityjournal.com provides this community forum for readers to exchange ideas and opinions on the news of the day. Passionate views, pointed criticism and critical thinking are welcome. Name-calling, crude language and personal abuse are not welcome. Moderators will monitor comments with an eye toward maintaining a high level of civility in this forum. Our comment policy explains the rules of the road for registered commenters.

If you don't see your comment, perhaps...

you called someone an idiot, a racist, a dope, a moron, etc. Please, no name-calling or profanity (or veiled profanity -- #$%^&*).
you rambled, failed to stay on topic or exhibited troll-like behavior intended to hijack the discussion at hand.
YOU SHOUTED YOUR COMMENT IN ALL CAPS. This is hard to read and annoys readers.
you named a business or identified a business in a way good or bad. Contact the business directly with your customer service concerns or your praise – they’ll likely appreciate your feedback.
you believe the newspaper's coverage is unfair. It would be better to write Jerry Steinley at jerry.steinley@rapidcityjournal.com or call him at 394-8427. This is a forum for community discussion, not for media criticism. We'd rather address your concerns directly.
you included an e-mail address or phone number, pretended to be someone you aren't or offered a comment that makes no sense.
you accused someone of a crime or assigned guilt or punishment to someone suspected of a crime.
your comment is in really poor taste.