Fire Safety Awareness Day | These safety hazards and fire safety misconceptions could cost you your life

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This post was last edited by wang*nhua77020 on 2016-11-9 at 21:50. Today is November 9th, Fire Safety Awareness Day. This year’s theme for this day is: Eliminate fire hazards and work together to create safe communities. We have all gained some knowledge and learning regarding fire hazards and fire escape procedures. But do you know enough about it? These fire hazards and misconceptions could cost you your life; hurry and learn about them! Fire safety hazards in household life: Failing to unplug household appliances. The power switches for some household appliances are located on the secondary side of the power transformer. When you use a remote control to turn off devices such as televisions, the primary side of the transformer remains powered. If it stays powered for an extended period, the coils and insulators of the power transformer can catch fire due to short circuits or carbonization, or they may attract lightning strikes, leading to fires and explosions. Correct approach: Remember to turn off the power supply after using household appliances, just in case. 2. Balconies used as warehouses: Some families use their balconies as storage areas for miscellaneous items; in some cases, flammable and explosive substances such as paint and gasoline are kept on these balconies. Direct sunlight in summer, along with children playing with fire, can all lead to fires on the balconies. At the same time, in the event of a fire, if escape routes such as doors and windows are blocked, the balcony is the best place to take shelter. The right approach: Properly handle miscellaneous items; do not use the balcony as a storage area for clutter, and instead make it the best shelter. In the stairwells on the 3rd floor, some residents, for convenience, often park their bicycles, motorcycles, or other items at the stair exits or in the lower stairwells. In the event of a fire, blocked passages hinder evacuation, leading to unnecessary casualties. The correct approach is to store bicycles, electric vehicles, etc. in the parking shed of the community. In residential homes in urban areas, the 4 wires are installed without being placed in conduits. In an effort to achieve an attractive appearance for the interior decoration, these wires are often embedded directly in the walls without any protective conduits. As time goes by and more household appliances are used, if there are faults or damages in the wiring, it becomes difficult to find a way to repair them. In mild cases, this can lead to short circuits that threaten the safety of the household appliances, while in severe cases it can cause fires. The correct approach: When renovating, don’t focus only on aesthetics; instead, run the wires through tubes before embedding them in the wall. 5 Improper storage of liquefied gas cylinders: In some households, liquefied gas is still needed. However, when storing and handling these cylinders, there are practices such as keeping them in cabinets under the stove, scalding them with hot water or heating them with fire, using them in a horizontal or inverted position, and dumping leftover liquefied gas – all of which pose serious safety risks. Correct practice: LPG cylinders should not be placed in cabinets, and the safe distance between an LPG cylinder and a stove should be at least 1 meter. Under no circumstances should liquefied gas cylinders be scalded with hot water or heated with fire, whether they still contain gas or have only a small amount left. LPG cylinders should be used in an upright position. Liquefied gas residue cannot be discarded casually; it must be taken to a liquefied gas station for recycling. Fire safety tips for the office: 1. Since many electrical devices in the office are powered by power strips, it is important not to plug in too many devices at once, to avoid overloading the strip and causing it to overheat and catch fire. One should not rely solely on the wall outlet that is most convenient to use, as this can lead to accelerated aging of the wires connected to the outlet, and may even result in safety hazards due to electrical overload. 2. Small electrical appliances commonly used in offices, such as shredders and sealers, have poor heat dissipation; the power should be turned off promptly when not in use. 3. When away from the computer for an extended period, you can set it to automatically \"sleep\". When turning off the computer, the monitor’s power supply and the power strip switch should also be turned off. 4. When leaving work, unplug the power plugs of water dispensers, air conditioners, etc. The office is equipped with a double-pole main switch, allowing the power inside to be turned off easily. 5. The charging time for batteries in phones, cameras, etc., should not be too long (it’s best not to exceed six hours). The battery should be unplugged after work to prevent it from exploding due to excessive charging time. 6. Smoking is not allowed in the office; if you need to smoke, go to the designated smoking area in the hallway. Make sure to completely extinguish the cigarette butt after smoking. 7 Common Mistakes in Evacuating from a Fire. Fires are something we all hope to avoid, but once one breaks out, effective self-rescue and evacuation can greatly enhance the efficiency of rescue efforts. However, there are still some mistakes people make when trying to escape from a fire, which we need to be aware of and avoid. 1. Wet towels – A wet towel can filter out particles such as carbon powder from smoke, but it cannot remove toxic gases like carbon monoxide; therefore, using a wet towel as a breathing protection device in a fire situation has certain limitations. The correct approach: Residents living in high-rise buildings should have smoke masks on hand, as these can effectively prevent poisoning and suffocation caused by toxic fumes such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, sulfur dioxide, ammonia, and benzene. 2 Crawling for safety: If the smoke is not heavy, there is no need to escape by crawling. If there are many people trying to escape, those behind them are likely to step on those crawling, resulting in a stampede. The correct approach: walk by bending over. The bathroom is the best shelter. Bathrooms are generally small in size, and if they lack windows that lead outside, it’s very easy to suffer from oxygen deficiency, which can lead to unconsciousness or death ； Even if there is a window in the bathroom, it is usually very small; if the fire burns for a long time, it is difficult for rescuers to locate and rescue those trapped inside. The right approach: Try to find a relatively open area where it’s easier for people to see it. 4 Those who manage to escape by the original route will, in their confusion, always look for paths and exits they are familiar with. In fires, this *instinct often manifests as people rushing toward the exits and stairwells they use regularly to evacuate; even when those areas are crowded and the exits are blocked, they still compete to get out. Little did they know, the best chance to escape might have already been lost. Solution: To overcome one’s *habitual mindset, it is necessary to become familiar with the environment in which one finds oneself. Walk through the corridor a few more times to check the locations of the alarms, evacuation exits, and stairs. 5. Phototropism: Organisms have a tendency to move toward light, with an instinct to head in the direction of brightness and open spaces. In emergency situations, people always flee towards areas that are lit and bright. However, at this point in a fire, there is a 90% chance that the power supply has been cut off or that a short circuit or tripping has occurred; it is in such areas of light that the flames can wreak havoc unchecked. Solution: One is what was mentioned earlier – get familiar with the environment and know the location of fire-fighting equipment. One is to carry a flashlight in your bag, to provide some light for yourself and others in the darkness. 6 Blind following: When a person’s life is suddenly put in danger, it’s easy to lose one’s ability to think clearly due to panic. Upon hearing or seeing someone running ahead, the first reaction is to follow closely behind. Many fatal fires have been caused by the negative consequences of this kind of blind following behavior. Solution: Fire departments often conduct fire drills in large shopping malls and public places, and ensuring the safe evacuation of multiple people in case of a fire is an important aspect of these drills. Attend more such performances*. 7. The panic associated with taking risky jumps from heights is likely the first reaction people have when faced with disasters and fires, causing them to lose their normal judgment. When a fire breaks out, human instinct to survive usually drives people to run outside. Panic, combined with this tendency to act impulsively, may lead many survivors to engage in behaviors such as jumping from buildings or windows. Solution: Conducting more targeted behavioral training on a regular basis is an effective way to overcome this issue. In the event of a fire and when there is no way to escape, one should find a relatively safe place to take shelter, wait for the arrival of the firefighters, and think ahead about what to do next and make the necessary preparations. Emergency calls for rescue are twice as frequent as those for fire alarms – use the number \"119\». Please do not disturb them unless it’s an emergency. In the face of disasters such as fires, firefighters are the guardians of people’s lives and their source of hope. But in addition to carrying out tasks such as fighting fires and dealing with disasters, firefighters also encounter all sorts of unusual rescue situations. Currently, the number of rescue calls received by the fire department is twice that of fire alarms; fire emergency calls have become calls for social assistance. Non-emergency incidents consume a large amount of police resources, affecting the normal duties of firefighters. In accordance with the Law on Penalties for Public Security Offenses and the Fire Protection Law, falsely reporting emergencies or police incidents constitutes intentional disruption of public order, and shall result in detention for between 5 and 10 days along with a fine. Please do not disturb unless it’s urgent.