June 1, 2017
With winter officially here, the State Government and Queensland Fire and Emergency Services are urging residents to prepare themselves and their homes to be winter fire safe
Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan said that unlike bushfires, cyclones and floods Queenslanders genuinely believed house fires wouldn’t happen to them.
“In 2016, QFES attended 554 residential structure fires during the winter months,” Mr Ryan said.
“These months typically see the highest number of structure fires compared to any other period of the year so it’s a good time for families to sit down with their loved ones and prepare a fire escape plan.
“In the event of a fire breaking out in your home, you may only have a small amount of time to get out. Having an escape plan could be the difference between life and death.
“It’s important for everyone in your household to discuss, prepare and practice an escape plan so if a fire occurs everyone knows what to do.
“When creating your escape plan, ensure you have two ways to escape from each room in the house, check there are spare keys handy for doors and windows, have a heavy object handy to break glass to escape and pick a safe meeting place outside of your home.
“You should also regularly practice using your escape plan to get out, and make it realistic by using a blindfold and crawling on all fours so you know how to keep low in case of smoke.”
QFES Commissioner Katarina Carroll said that as the temperature started to drop, people were more likely to begin using heating appliances.
“Every year, firefighters attend incidents caused by faulty or poorly maintained electrical equipment, and occurrences where materials have ignited as they were placed too close to heating appliances,” Ms Carroll said.
“Before turning on electric blankets and heating devices, ensure they are properly functioning and do not have any frayed, exposed cords or rust evident. If they do, please repair or discard the electrical appliance immediately.
“It is also a timely reminder for everyone to remember to take care using matches or lighters and never leave burning candles or any open flame unattended, especially when cooking in the kitchen.
“If a house fire does occur, residents should enact their fire escape plan, leave immediately and call Triple Zero once they have safely exited the home.”
QFES offers a free home fire safety visit called Safehome; to book a Safehome visit call 13-QGOV (13-74-68).
