Fending off fire

Simple preventive procedures can protect home owners from risk of fire

By Phil Zinkewicz

Summer is almost here, with its lazy, hazy, crazy days during which, baseball, beer and pretzels abound. Spring — with its Easter bunnies, baskets of candy and blooming gardens — is a distant, fond memory. Unfortunately, man’s hand and Mother Nature can turn both of these into seasons of discontent. Too often, spring floods and fires play havoc with people’s properties and lives, followed by hurricanes and tornadoes which shatter the summer idyll.

This spring, the season when fires are most prevalent, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) U.S. Fire Administration released a report that said nearly 4,000 people die each year in fires at home. “Residential structure fires, in the very place people should feel the safest, unfortunately account for the vast majority of fatal fires,” says Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response and FEMA’s director. “What’s most worrisome is that in a full two-thirds of these fires, smoke alarms are missing or not working,” he says.

According to the FEMA report, structure fires accounted for 74% of the 3,300 fatal fires in 2002. Of these fatal structure fires, 94% occurred in residences. Arson was the leading cause of fatal residential structure fires at 22%, followed closely by smoking at 21%.

There were 3,380 fire-related deaths in 2002. “An unacceptable number of Americans are losing their lives and being injured by fires each year,” says U.S. Fire Administrator R. David Paulson. “We know that smoke alarms, escape plans, child fire prevention programs and residential sprinklers save lives. We continue to encourage everyone to take the steps necessary to ensure their homes are fire safe.”

But are people taking those steps? A survey conducted by the Media, Pennsylvania-based International Communications Research from April 2-6, 2004, on behalf of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA), showed that, out of more than 75 million American home owners, one out of four never checks for electrical hazards and thus is vulnerable to electrical home-structure fires and other incidents that can cause significant personal and financial losses.

The survey reveals that 18.2 million home owners, or more than 24%, never check their homes for electrical hazards such as frayed or overheated cords, overloaded outlets and circuits, and light bulbs that are the wrong wattage.

On the good-news front, the survey found that 30% of home owners check for electrical hazards at least monthly, while 33% check their homes at least once or twice a year. But Madelyn Flannagan, IIABA vice president of education and research, believes things could be better. “While it is encouraging that the majority of home owners are checking their homes for electrical hazards, it still is extremely troubling that more than 18 million home owners do not realize the importance of practicing electrical safety when it comes to protecting their homes and loved ones,” she says.

Flannagan says that the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates there is an annual average of 165,380 electrical-related home structure fires, taking an average of more than 900 lives, injuring 7,000 people and causing nearly $1.7 billion in property damage. “No other hazard we face in daily life is as insidious and/or unforgiving as electricity,” says Michael G. Clendenin, executive director of the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI). “With proper checks and maintenance of our appliances and safety devices, the risk of electrical fires and other incidents can be greatly reduced.”

The IIABA survey also shows that home owners are putting themselves at risk by not changing their smoke alarm batteries more frequently. Only slightly more than a quarter of home owners change their batteries at the recommended frequency of twice a year, while more than 36% change their batteries less frequently by doing so only once a year. An alarming 8% never change their smoke alarm batteries. Nearly 5% of homes don’t have smoke alarms, and that number increases to 5.8% in homes that are more than 30 years old, according to the survey.

In addition to maintaining smoke alarms and checking for obvious electrical hazards, ESFI recommends that home owners have electrical inspections performed in their homes. Unlike general home inspections, which are surface-level inspections of the structure, plumbing, electrical systems and other aspects of a house, an electrical inspection comprehensively covers the electrical systems of the home. ESFI recommends electrical inspections for any house more than 40 years old, any house more than 10 years old that has had any major renovation or major appliance added, and for any home at the time of resale by the new owner, says Clendenin.

In the IIABA survey, when asked about electrical inspections, the overwhelming majority of home owners do not think their homes need electrical inspections. Of that number, nearly 90% live in homes that are more than 30 years old.

Pat Borowski, senior vice president of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents, says the PIA also works closely with fire safety organizations to gather fire safety information to disseminate to the public. And who better to disseminate that information than the independent insurance agent and broker? Agents and brokers deal on a face-to-face basis with consumers. For that reason, both the IIABA and the PIA constantly provide informational materials for their members to pass on to their clients. “The fire safety situation is a very serious one, especially for multi-family dwellings,” says Borowski. “It is essential that home owners and apartment renters revisit their safety systems—smoke alarms, heat detectors, carbon monoxide detectors. They should know where to place smoke alarms. Many people mistakenly have them in their bedrooms rather than just outside, but in the event of a fire, by the time the smoke reaches the alarm it might be too late. These systems should be upgraded and batteries should be checked periodically.” *