According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a fire is any process of uncontrollable combustion or burning. A structural fire, refers to any fire occurring in or on a structure, including, if this is limited to the contents. Fire spread rapidly, causing economic losses, injury and even death. The majority of the injuries or deaths caused by fire, occur in the home, either in properties of one, two or multiple families, especially while people are sleeping. In addition, the risk of injury or death does not have a uniform distribution between populations. This varies between age groups, race, religion, cause of the fire and size of the community (Ahrens, 2014).
In the United States, the main risk factors for being a victim of
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Smoke inhalation being the leading cause of death. During the course of time the deaths by age distribution have changed. (Ahrens, 2013). The percent of fatalities among children under 5 years of age, was reduced from 18% in 1989 to 6% in 2011 (Ahrens, 2013). Despite this, 40% of the children that die during a fire, are under the age of 5 years (NY Department of Health, 2014). On the other hand, in those over 65 years, increased from 19% to 31%, respectively (Ahrens, 2013). Adults over age 65 are at 2.4 times greater risk of death in a fire, than the general population (Ahrens, 2013). In addition, adults 85 years or more, have 3.6 times greater risk of dying. Therefore, the risk of death from home fires, increases with age (Ahrens, 2013).
Among the causes why these age groups are at increased risk of death, are, they are more likely to be asleep at the time of the incident, are less likely to wake up by the smoke detectors alarm, may lack of mobility (due to disability or lack of ability) or have slower reaction times (NY Department of Health , 2014). In addition, children may not perceive or know the danger of
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Among these are, smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, automatic water irrigators (fire sprinklers), etc. Three of every five deaths by fire, resulted from homes that did not have smoke detectors (37 %) or had one that was not functional (23 %) (Ahrens, 2014). Other ways of prevention are, the education and having an escape plan (American Red Cross, 2014).
Puerto Rico have a high incidence of home fires. According to the Fire Department of P.R, on the island there were 1,565 fires in structures during the 2012 and 1,409 in 2013. In addition, the American Red Cross Chapter of Puerto Rico has assisted 1,293 families in the past five years, with an average of 22 families each month, which have suffered an incident of fire in their homes. Even so, there is little knowledge and awareness on them and their effects. At the same time, there has been no assessment of the characteristics of the victims or the context in which these incidents
71 percent of the people that were at The Station Nightclub Fire, which occurred in West Warwick Rhode Island on February 20, 2003, that either died or was injured. This paper will look at the contributing factors in this shocking number as it pertains to fire prevention. When breaking down a case study, this case being The Station Nightclub Fire, there are three main factors you must look at. Those factors are fire behavior, human behavior, and building behavior.
The City of Detroit, Michigan, seems to be a city on the decline in America. Job prospects some of the lowest in the country and one of the only cities to be shrinking, rather than growing. There are a lot of problems Detroit is facing, one of them is there incidence rate for fires. Detroit is the number one city in America for house fires, not to mention their high rate of fires in the many vacant buildings throughout the city. There are many socioeconomic factors with the city that make the incident rates rise, and response less effective.
Fire safety education is a crucial aspect of fire prevention. The general public needs to know how big of a threat fire is to them and how they can do things in their everyday lives to improve their safety, as well as preventing the threat of fire to begin with. The commission also realized that it was critically important that people know how to properly act once a fire has started. It is important that people have the knowledge to act quickly, safely, and effectively. When people don’t understand fire they can react in many negative ways such as panicking, not evacuating effectively, or by trying to fight a fire that they are not going to be able to extinguish. All these human reactions can decrease safety and end with tragic results. In the commission’s report they approximate that nearly 70 percent of all building fires were due to people acting carelessly because they did not understand the fire dangers that were present. The commission cited studies like one conducted in southeast Missouri. In the southeast Missouri community, a huge emphasis was put into public fire safety education because the fire death rate of the community was much higher than the national average. After increasing fire safety education in the community it was no surprise that the rate of deaths and injuries decreased
Secondhand smoke is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in infants and children under 18 months of age, resulting in between 7,500 and 15,000 hospitalizations each year. It also causes 430 sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) deaths in the U.S. annually.
Children are more vulnerable to the negative influence from the surrounding environment than adults because their immune system, as well as all other systems of human body, is not fully formed yet. Smoking in the car has a greater effect on children than adults because their immune systems are not fully formed and are not strong
Indoor air pollution is an issue for many low income families, causing a multitude of adverse health effects. Dangerous smoke to have built up indoors include both the smoke from burning of solid fuels
Every year, there are over 400,000 smoking-related deaths in the United States. A large percentage of these are due to lung cancer, whose leading cause is smoking. However, not all deaths are smokers themselves. Anyone in the vicinity can fall victim to second hand smoke. These people, through no action of their own, can have their lives threatened.
Inhalants are very dangerous and teenagers don’t know how much damage it causes to their body. Inhalants are so easy to get a hold of. homes are full of products that could be
The experimental, curious, and accidental fire setter is typically a younger child with low impulse control. The child is a hands-on-learner and likes to explore their environment. They well may feel fear, sadness, or loss resulting from setting a fire. This type of fire setter will use matches, cigarette lighters, and available combustibles found in or around their home. Their fires are not very sophisticated and they may extinguish the fire or ignore it. The child has little or no adult supervision or safety awareness. The parents or guardians may deny the child’s involvement, be embarrassed, and may be very aware of the behavior and will not report the behavior to anyone.
According to The United States Environmental Protection Agency, “Exposure to Secondhand Smoke can cause asthma in children who have not previously exhibited symptoms. Also exposure to Secondhand smoke increases the risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Infants and children younger than 6 who are regularly exposed to Secondhand smoke are at increased risk of lower respiratory tract infection such as pneumonia and bronchitis, and also are at an increased risk for middle ear infections” (“Exposure” 1). These health risks are especially alarming because tobacco smoke is causing problems in children that cannot fight against them. When the products are giving off emissions that these children are forced to inhale. Furthermore, these emissions cause major problems with asthma in children. The American Lung Association points out, “Secondhand smoke can aggravate symptoms in 400,000 to 1,000,000 children with asthma. In the United States, 21 million, or 35 percent, of children live in homes where residents or visitors smoke in the home on a regular basis. Approximately 50-75 percent of children in the United States have detectable levels of cotinine, the breakdown product of nicotine in the blood” (“Smoking” 2). Also The United States Environmental Protection Agency informs, “Exposure to Secondhand smoke causes asthma in children who have not previously shown symptoms.
Fire at any level can be devastating, yet the effects that wildfires have on every worldwide country really has left its mark on the land. As written by world renowned wild fire spokesperson Smokey the Bear, “Every year, wildfires sweeps through parts of the United States setting wilderness and homes ablaze. On average these raging infernos destroy about four to five million acres of land a year. But in 2012, wildfire burned more than 9.3 million acres, an area about the size of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined” (U.S. Wildfires). Destroying homes, crops, towns and of course forests. Yet the effects of these fires can be seen from a negative perspective as well as some positive. Plus there are natural causes as well as manmade that makes these destructive fires erupt and become almost unstoppable in seconds.
Smoke within the home is more dangerous than in a public area. Record studies show that smokers are less affected from smoke than non-smokers. Non-smokers are at more of a high risk to have complications than the actual smoker. Secondhand smoke is also linked to some of the more fatal illnesses, such as, low birth weight, respiratory disease, and sudden infant syndrome. Now studies have showed that the deaths from secondhand smoke are at a record high. Secondhand smoke tends to kill around fifty thousand people each year.
Have you ever seen a burning building? The fire isn’t caught quickly enough, and the flames have already been at work for too long. They envelop the inside, but leave the frame still standing, barren as the wind itself. Without its fleshy foundations, the building is vulnerable and each howling ...
Arson is the malicious and intentional setting of fire to a building, house, business, forest, vehicles, and other properties. This type of arson motivated by vandalism is common to many juvenile offenders between 10-14 years of age (Radell Smith, Jan 26, 2010, Yahoo Voices), usually as a result of peer pressure or some type of gang initiation. Most type of arsonists don't typically live very far from where they commit their crimes. Commonly, they know the area really well where arson has been committed.
In addition to its explosiveness, firecrackers are hazardous to people's health and lives. First of all, according to sources, firecrackers can trigger pneumonia or bronchitis caused by inhaling the smoke generated by firecrackers ( Kammerer; South China Morning Post ). Furthermore, many children do not realize the danger firecrackers can cause and are often burned and injured by these substances. Even adults can be physically harmed by firecrackers if they do not pay enough attention during the usage.