"Fire Prevention Mont

Wednesday
with —
Fae

by Fae Mooney

FIRED!
First ina three-part series -
on fire prevention
-October is Fire Prevention
Month.
. Fire safety. Do we give it any
‘serious thought? Do we think

~ “prevention? Protecting our:

- home from fire? Do we con-
sider safe evacuation routes for
family: members? In the remote
and unlikely event that a fire
does occur? Getting out alive...
What about insurance? Do we
have sufficient coverage?
Replacement-value for con-
tents? |

‘It’s like car accidents and.
cancer, isn’t it? Something that
happens to someone else. Not
to us. *‘Our home will never
burn”. .

That isa head-in-the-sand at-
titude. It can happen. It does
happen. It did happen — to
me. Four years ago...

| was fire-safety conscious. I _

was diligent and careful. We
had a smoke detector in our
trailer."And we had escape
routes memorized. We even
practised... Our insurance, we
thought, would cover our
losses, in that remote and
unlikely event that would never
happen to us. But still, it hap-
pened.

home burn? To have flames
devour everything that is
representative of your life?

October 6, 1985. My hus-

_ band’s voice broke as he tired
to speak over the phone, long
distance, to me in Victoria,

_ “We've been burned out,
Baby,’’

In just twenty minutes that
autumn afternoon, what |
represented twenty years of
married life was wiped out.

An accident. A misjudgment.
Ravenous flames ate into the
side of the wooden sundeck. ©
Unchecked, the fire spread
down its length. Intense heat
began to melt the trailer’s
aluminum siding. Suddenly. —

- an. explosion... A fireball, in-
tensely hot, raged through the
interior of our home. In twenty
minutes it was all over..

I flew home to — no home.

A diary of the aftermath

October 8th: I stand in front
of my bedroom closet. The
mirror doors are coated and
streaked with a black greasy
grime. The room smells of a
mixture of charcoal and melted
plastics. It’s cold. An icy
breeze blows through the empty
window frame, unimpeded.

/ attempt to slide the closet

‘ door open. It doesn’t move as .

easily as it used to. Inside the
closet my clothes, still handing

- neatly and. in order, look drab,, ;

discolored from the grimy
smoke that settled on them. No

What is it like to have your |

. fragrant perfume clings to them

_now. Only the: ssickly-sweet
smell af parched plastic...
Melted plactic strips ‘from the

ceiling hang, stretched, in low,

sagging, inverted arches, Some
are compleiely gone, having
dripped like candle wax onto
the furniture and floor below...
What remains of a planter

- that contained a philodendron

lays smashed on the floor....A
spider plant and a wax plant,

still intact, rest — cooked — in.

their potted beds... A blacken-

ed asparagus fern, dead in its _

pot... A tangled mass af worm-
like sterns that once was a lush
patience plant litters the
Jloor...

Outside, a man is emptying
our oil tank... Others are tak-

- ing away our winter supply of

wood...

‘In the next room, strangers
are wrenching the little Fisher
stove from the hearth... ripping
the chimney from its place.
Tearing... scraping... . rasping. .

grating...

My sons’ rooms... I stand in

 * a bedroom doorway — a char-

red, blackened door frame, No
door remains, only as charcoal
and ashes under my feet. The
room — it has. only one wall...
My office has no ceiling.
Wads of smoke-stained,. grime-
drenched pink fiberglass insula-
tion hang unsupported from
the scorched underside of the
roof. Soggy clumps of it litter
the fioor, The walls — black,
charred, naked —~ in some _
places totally eaten away by
flames. Pictures of my boys
when they were young —
ashes, Special treasures they
made or drew when they were
little no longer exist. The cur-

tains in front of my writing

table hang in tattered, scorched
shreds at one side of the

- blown-out window. They flut-

ter limply in a chill breath of

_ wind, My desk —~ littered now

with soggy insulation and the
remains of a toppled book
shelf; it’s contents — scorched,
grime-coated, a mess of melted
plastic and half-burned books.

_ And my writing... published
- works, story outlines, articles,

poetry... Gone. The room is
dark, cold, Dead.

I try to open the fridge door.
It’s welded shut, The sink is
filled with an indescribable °.
conglomerate of melted ©
plastics, pots, and utensils,
stoneware,.. The cupboards,
doors burned away, expose
their parched contenis. My
once bright kitchen — dark,
dingy, destroyed...

The china cabinet, looking
drab and scorched, stands —

atone in the corner of the tor- .

\ ched room, The etched glass it, Vr Middieton 6955872

- (he cabinet door is shattered. A~

delicate amber glass candy dish

is still intact, still’ in its place. rf

gently take hold of the solid —
glass knob of the lid. Careful

Ly, TD try to. lift its It. sticks,

niomentarily, then comes free.

_. The dish instantly.crumbles in-
‘ to a mound of tiny shards.
Snap. The lid disintegrates and
- rains down on the frosty amber
heap. I stand in front of the
. singed china cabinet holding
- the knob to — nothing.~

_ In the hall, the pantry door °
is burned away, eaten by the -

hungry flames. But inside, can-

ned goods — twice cooked —
look quite ordinary. on the
shelves, And down below, still
attached to the wall inside the -
pantry, charged and ready for
use, is the fire extinguisher...

That autumn I returned to
Terrace, to heavy clouds and
temperatures clinging to zero,
with only lightweight fall
clothes to wear from my suit-
case... as I roamed, scrounged,
rummaged, sifted, and salvaged
my way through those days of
chilly, damp gloom in the
burned-out interior of what
was my home.

What is it like to lose your
home to fire? May you never
-have to experience it.

Educate yourself. Take the
necessary precautions. And
make the time to implement
them.

. To prevent a fire from —
devastating your home, Art
Hoving of the Thornhill
Volunteer Fire Department of-

*. fers three suggestions. Number ~

one: install smoke detectors.
Secondly, the installation of a
residential sprinkler system is a
good idea. Mr. Hoving’s third
suggestion may seem simplistic,
but carelessness is the number
one cause of fires in North
America — don’t play with
fire. Don’t allow your children
to play with matches, or
lighters.

Expanding on this, the Ter-
race Fire Chief Cliff Best

reports that in the past year

most home fires were caused by
smoking. Terrdce had 11 fires

THE SIGN OF A
GOOD BUSINESS
NEIGHBOR...

1

THE SIGN OF
A MERCHANT
WHO CARES
ABOUT PEOPLE ...

~ This emblem Identifies
-the civic-minded © _
- businessmen who sponsor

atone Mig.

In the community.

Terry Kendell 638-8178 |

caused by careless smokers.
-Ten fires resulted, from faulty
heating.: And there has been an

" alarming increase in cooking

fires this year. Five such fires
caused an estimated $50, 000 in
damages.

What should you do? Early
detection is paramount. Every
home should have a smoke

' detector. And a fire ex-

tinguisher.

You have heard this before,
too..Keep combustibles con-
tained and stores safely.

’ Eliminate them if they are no
- longer needed.

Chief Best’s advice to
smokers is this: never rest a
cigarette on the arm of a chair,"
sofa, or any upholstered fur-
niture. The cigarette can drop

between cushions, smolder, and

ignite (perhaps after you have
gone to bed). Ashtrays should
never be emptied directly into
the garbage can. Instead,
gather up the ashtrays (after a
party, for example) and place
in the sink overnight. (If the
smell is offensive then pour
vinegar into a bow! next to the
ashtrays to absorb the odor.)
Emptying ashtrays directly into

' plastic-lined receptacles is a bad

idea — plastic burns. Don’t
leave a cigarette in an ashtray
without butting it out. A
cigarette can slowly burn down,
become off-balanced and fall

_ out of the ashtray. Don’t be

careless with cigarettes. It could
cost you your home. Or your .
life.

Inadequately or improperly
maintained heating systems can
leave you out in the cold. It’s a
good idea to check your

* heating system annually, Now

is a good time. Check for faul-
ty equipment and dirty
chimneys.

Grease cooking can be dead-
ly — the chef’s place is in front
of the stove, not the TV. Fires
caused by grease cooking are
increasing in Terrace, Chief
Best reports, which is unfor-

7 Terrace Review - Wednesday,

h — teaching ape how not to. burn |

pletely destroyed by fire.

. phone and call for help. Try to

tunate, And ‘avoidable..

Do people « die in home fires?
Yes, they. do. Terrace has: not,
experienced such a ‘tragedy. in: *:

_ two years. And you can ‘make: eae

sure it doesn’t happen again.
In the past yearno home in = °°. —
the Terrace area has been com- Poth

Several have been gutted, and
that isa tragedy.

Don’t let it happen to you. -
Don’t play with fire.

But in that remote and ©

unlikely event — because you .
are fire safety conscious — be:
prepared. 7

Most serious home fires start
at night for the obvious reason —
that no one is up and about to |
discover it. —

Home fire drills are recom-
mended. Have an outside
meeting place at an easily ac-
cessible and safe location. .

If your smoke alarm. does _-
sound during the night, Chief
Best advises that you roll out -
of bed onto the floor — if
there is a fire there is also 7
smoke. Air quality will be bet-
ter closer to the floor. Crawl
out-— don’t walk. Before
opening any closed door, feel it
first with the back of your
hand (not'your palm). Do the:
same with the door knob. If
both feel cool, open cautiously.
Stay low.

When safely outside, locate a

stay clam. Easier said than
done at this point, but it is im-
portant. In a panic you may

contact the fire department,

blurt out, ‘Fire! My home is
on fire! Hurry!”’ And hang up.
Where’s the fire? You didn’t

give them your name, address,
apartment number or trailer lot
number. It is essential that you
try to stay calm, listen to the-
dispatcher, answer any ques- —
tions. Panic when you hang up.-

And play it safe. Don’t get .
fired’.
Part II next week.

race, B.C.

ed by the candidate.

tlmes:

Glen Vowell

NOTICE OF
BY-ELECTION

PUBLIC NOTICE ts given to the electors of School District No.
88 (Terrace) that | require the presence of said electors in the
places herein designated on Tuesday, October 10, 1989, bet-
ween the hours of ten a.m. and twelve noon, to elect:

Trustee (one) — for one year (1989/80 calendar year) to
represent the Hazelton area & environs;

at the SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE, 3211 Kenney Street, Ter-

The moda of nomination of candidates shail be as. follows:

Candidates shall be nominated In writing by two duly
qualified electors of the Assessment District. The nomination
paper shall be delivered to the returning officer, or designate,

Jn person, or by registered mail, at any time between the date
of this notice and noon of the day of nomination. The nomina-
tion paper shall state the name, residence, and occupation of.
the person nominated In such a manner as to sufficlentiy
Identify such candidate. The nomination paper shall be sign-

In the event of a poll being necessary, advance polls and
regular polls will be held at the following places, dates and

Advance Poll: Friday, October 20, 1989, Fire Hall, New
Hazelton, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Regular Poll: Saturday, October 28, 1989, Kispiox, Hazelton,
New Hazelton, South Hazelton, Two Mile, Morlcetown, and

GIVEN UNDER MY HAND at Terrace, B.C.
this 13th day of September 1986
; (Mrs.) Efaine Johnson
Returning Officer
School District No. 88 (Terrace)
ao 3221 Kenney Street,
Terrace, B.C., Vea aE9