"Stay Fire Smart! Don't Get Burned" is the theme of this year's Fire Prevention Week, Oct. 4-10.
Northwest Fire District and the National Fire Protection Association are focusing on ways to keep homes safe from fire, and to prevent painful burns, a release said. Additionally, fire safety educators are teaching local students how to plan and practice escape from a home in case a fire occurs.
Each year, approximately 3,000 people die as a result of home fires and burns, and more than 200,000 individuals are seen in the nation's emergency rooms for burn injuries.
The most common types of burns result from fire or flame, scalds and contact burns. Burns are painful, and can result in serious scarring, infection, even death.
"Firefighters say that when we take extra caution in our homes to ensure that the curling iron is out of children's reach or pot handles are turned away from the edge of the stove, such injuries are entirely preventable," the release said.
For 85 years, fire departments have observed Fire Prevention Week, making it the longest running public health and safety observance on record.
For additional home safety information, contact Northwest Fire Life Safety Services Division at 887-1010.
Northwest Firefighters suggest tips to "Stay Fire Smart! Don't Get Burned."
· Keep hot foods and liquids away from tables and counter edges so they cannot be pulled or knocked over.
· Have a 3-foot "kid-free" zone around the stove.
· Never hold a child in your arms while preparing hot food or drinking a hot beverage.
· Be careful when using things that get hot, such as curling irons, oven, irons, lamps, heaters.
· Install tamper-resistant receptacles to prevent a child from sticking an object in the outlet.
· Never leave a child alone in a room with a lit candle, portable heater, lit fireplace or stove, or where a hot appliance might be in use.
· Wear short or close-fitting sleeves when cooking.
· Set your hot water temperature no higher than 120 degrees.
· Install anti-scald valves on shower heads and faucets.