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PORTLAND, Ore. – October 2, 2006 –Fires kill more Americans each year than all natural disasters combined, and with October designated as Fire Prevention Month, the American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter urges families to develop a fire escape plan and to take steps toward fire prevention and safety.

According to a recent poll by the Red Cross, only 26 percent of families have actually developed and practiced a home fire escape plan. Preparing for a home fire doesn't require a lot of expensive equipment or training. Following these simple rules can help you prevent and prepare for home fire emergencies:

Simple Steps to Prevent Fires

Keep all sources of fuel (paper, clothing, bedding, and carpets or rugs) at least three feet away from all heat sources when cooking.
Provide constant adult supervision during cooking or in rooms with lit candles or fires. Never leave burning candles unattended.
Keep matches and lighters away and out of reach of children.
Teach young children to tell an adult if they see matches and lighters and not to touch them.
Teach adolescents to resist peer pressure and not to play with fire if curious or bored.

Simple Steps to Make Your Home Safer

Smoke alarms save lives. Install a smoke alarm outside each sleeping area and on each additional level of your home. If people sleep with doors closed, install smoke alarms inside sleeping areas. Test smoke alarms each time you turn your calendar page to a new month. Smoke alarms also become less sensitive over time, so replace your smoke alarm every 10 years.
Have one or more working fire extinguishers in your home and get trained in how to use them.
Consider installing an automatic fire sprinkler system in your home.
Determine at least two ways to escape from every room of your home. Consider escape ladders for sleeping areas on the second or third floors. Learn how to use escape ladders and store them near windows.
Select a location outside your home where everyone would meet after escaping.
Practice your escape plan, especially with children and older adults, at least twice a year and revise as necessary. Practice evacuating blindfolded. In a real fire situation, the amount of smoke generated by a fire will make it difficult to impossible to see.
Keep a disaster kit in an easy-to-access location, ready to grab and go.

Safety Tips During a Home Fire

Once you are out, stay out! Call 9-1-1 from a neighbor's home.
If you see smoke or fire in your first escape route, use your second way out. If you must exit through smoke, crawl low under the smoke to your exit. If you are escaping through a closed door, feel the door with the back of your hand before opening it. If the door is warm, use your second way out.
If smoke, heat, or flames block your exit routes, stay in the room with the door closed. Signal for help using a brightly colored cloth at the window. If there is a telephone in the room, call 9-1-1 and tell them where you are.

For safety training, emergency and first aid kits, CPR and first aid training, and to learn how you can be properly trained, empowered and prepared to handle emergencies, contact the American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter by calling 503-284-1234 or by visiting www.redcross-pdx.org.

About The American Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter
Nearly every 40 hours the Red Cross Oregon Trail Chapter provides fire victims with assistance for food, clothing, prescription medications, temporary shelter and other special needs an affected family might have. All Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from Oregonians. Call (503) 284-1234 or visit www.redcross-pdx.org

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American Red Cross, Oregon Trail volunteers respond to house fires every 32 hours on average.
To assist the Red Cross in providing disaster relief, please call (503) 528-5634.
To prepare yourself and your family for fire or other disasters, go to www.redcross-pdx.org