Captain shares risk reduction techniques
By Stephanie A. Herbert
Boss Lady at Stephanie’s Biz Services ✍️
Whitman County Fire District #14 Captain Justin Becker shared some tips for area residents to reduce the risk of fire for their properties at the May 15 Uniontown town council meeting.
The first point Becker made is that lithium ion batteries should be unplugged once they are charged.
He also said that with plenty of data to support the issue, closing doors and windows at all times can help reduce temperatures around the house.
“Even a hollow core bathroom door will keep the bathroom enclosed if that’s where the fire starts, but if that door is open, there is more air and potentially a bigger problem,” Becker said. “It may be the deciding factor to keep the fire to a room or if it takes a whole structure.”
With regard to exhaust fans for clothes dryers, many people might plan to “get to it later” but then it gets forgotten. “And that’s when problems arise,” he said.
One issue that doesn’t happen as much this time of year is in the chimney in a shop or house.
“When the time comes, it’s more than just doing a chimney sweep but cleaning out bird nests and things like that,” Becker said. They see this most later in the fall right when it gets cold and people start the first fire of the year.
He added that smoke detectors should be tested every month and batteries replaced once a year.
“You also want to have a plan of how you’re going to get out of the fire in case of a fire, including where the sensitive papers are,” Becker said. “If you have a fire safe rated for 30 or 60 minutes, that can alleviate stress knowing that the photo albums are kept safe.”
He added that if firefighters can get to them, when it’s safe for them to do so, they can get those if they know where those are.
Lawncare needs
Because many rural communities are surrounded by the woodland urban interface, in July or August when the fields are cut, a windy day that’s dry with no rain, a spark can turn into fire and cover ground in a hurry.
“Even in the middle of town, short grass that is green is far more responsive than tall overgrown brush to distinguish a fire,” he said. At the end of the season when the grass won’t grow any longer, short grass is better than the taller dry grass for fire prevention.
Roof cleaning
Becker shared that making sure gutters and roof valleys are clear of pine needles and other tinder.
“Hot embers can travel well over a mile,” he said. “There are a lot of things that we wouldn’t originally think about, but having a defensible space adds to the curb appeal and also to our success so we have a really good chance at helping you out.”
Volunteers needed
Becker also shared a call to action at the meeting.
“If there is anyone who knows someone or if there are new neighbors, and they show any interest in the fire department, we need volunteers and we need them badly,” he said. “We have an aging group of folks, and some of them have been fighting fire for 40-50 years. But they are tenured because they know there’s not a group to come behind them. So they have been doing things that we shouldn’t have them doing.”
Becker added the value of rural town connections.
“It is imperative that you volunteer your time, and we have a great group of folks,” he said. “We get to do some fun trainings, and you get to help our neighbors when it’s the worst day of their life when we go to their house, but we want to keep going there so we need more people.”
Adam W. Papini, Uniontown city attorney, asked if any organization still offers retirement for years of service for fire service.
Becker said there is a pension that firefighters can buy into that builds over time.
“That might be a point to offer to help persuade a young person to join,” Papini said.
Active fire preventions, notifications
“We’re here, we’re always available, if you have thoughts, questions, we’re here to help,” Becker said. He also referred questions to Scott Keller, assistant chief, and Nick Bell the fire chief who are great resources for the fire district.
Uniontown Councilman Brian Davies asked about an overall fire plan to create a fire line for the town, and move people out as far as possible.
“I know we’re having a dry season so I just kind of worry about all of that,” he said.
Becker shared that if an active fire happened in Steptoe Canyon and headed toward Uniontown, there are enough county roads which act as natural fire breaks.
“We can anchor off of those, and tie off the fire with disc lines and we can burn and create a fire break, so that’s what we’ll be doing,” he said, adding the district will probably do a Standard Operating Procedure plan to evacuate the rural towns.
Uniontown Mayor Wesley Kerr said he’s happy the town’s noon alarm is fixed because it can be used for notifications.
“If we’re under a level 3, with just a go now notice, we have different ways to communicate these things,” he said.
Scott shared that the usage of a reverse 9-1-1 automated phone calls and text messages can be sent to residents.
Keller said they will try to get notifications out on social media as fast they can.
Uniontown property codes
Council Member Jim Barry asked about an ordinance or a fire code about tall or dry vegetation to help prevent fires.
Kerr said yes the town has one and he and Papini drove through the town to review and discuss future actions on some properties that might be in noncompliance with those and other town codes.
Stephanie Herbert owns Stephanie’s Biz Services, offering news releases and news articles as opportunities for publicity for organizations and businesses.