PLEASE DIG OUT YOUR LOCAL FIRE HYDRANT, FIRE LANES AND EXIT DOORS

Are You Prepared for Hurricane Season

Hurricanes can cause catastrophic damage to coastlines and several hundred miles inland. Winds can exceed 155 miles per hour. Hurricanes and tropical storms can also spawn tornadoes and microburst, create storm surges along the coast, and cause extensive damage from heavy rainfall. Hurricanes are classified into five categories based on their wind speed, central pressure, and damage potential. Category Three and higher hurricanes are considered major hurricanes, though Categories One and Two are still extremely dangerous and warrant your full attention.

Hurricanes can produce widespread torrential rain. Floods are the deadly and destructive result. Slow moving storms and tropical storms moving into mountainous regions tend to produce especially heavy rain. Excessive rain can trigger landslides or mud slides, especially in mountainous regions. Flash flooding can occur due to intense rainfall. Flooding on rivers and streams may persist for several days or more after the storm.

Before a Hurricane

• Make plans to secure your property. Board up windows with 5/8” marine plywood.
• Be sure trees and shrubs around your home are well trimmed.
• Clear loose and clogged rain gutters and downspouts.
• Determine how and where to secure your boat.

During a Hurricane

• Listen to the radio or TV for information.
• Secure your home, close storm shutters, and secure outdoor objects or bring them indoors.
• Turn off utilities if instructed & turn the refrigerator thermostat to its coldest setting.
• Turn off propane tanks· Avoid using the phone, except for serious emergencies.
• Have a supply of water for sanitary purposes. Fill the bathtub with containers of water.

Evacuation

• If you are directed by local authorities to do so. Be sure to follow their instructions.
• If you live in a mobile home or temporary structure—such shelters are particularly hazardous during hurricanes no matter how well fastened to the ground.
• Near a river or waterway.
• If you feel you are in danger.

Unable to Evacuate

• Stay indoors during the hurricane and away from windows and glass doors.
• Close all interior doors—secure and brace external doors.
• Take refuge in a small interior room, closet, or hallway on the lowest level.

May 12, 2009 -As part of a demonstration, a fire that started in a garbage can ripped through a room in a matter of minutes, leaving only a blackened, gutted shell behind. In a similar room, a fire blackened only a curtain and garbage can before a single sprinkler kicked on, drenching it with water and lessening the potential damage. The major difference between the two rooms was part of a demonstration put on by the Uniform Fire Prevention/Protection Association of Ocean County, New Jersey Fire Safety Commission and National Sprinkler Association to show how sprinklers in residential buildings greatly reduce the size and severity of fires, saving lives of residents and firefighters.

"(Having sprinklers) is the equivalent of having a fire department at your residence," said Bob Yaiser, public education officer for the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention. "We don't hesitate to sprinkle our front lawn to keep our grass from burning. Why would you not want to spend the money to protect your home and save yourself?" Approximately 100 members of local fire organizations and the public gathered to watch a real-time demonstration of how a fire affected two identical dormlike rooms, one with sprinklers and one without.

According to Chief John F. Lightbody of the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention, approximately 3,000 residents and 115 firefighters die nationwide each year in fires, specifically in one- and two-family dwellings. The New Jersey Fire Commission Master Plan Committee, of which Lightbody is chairman, is lobbying for legislation requiring all new one- and two-family dwellings built after 2012 to have residential sprinklers.

Yaiser said the Seton Hall dorm fires in January 2000 inspired the nation's first law requiring sprinklers in dormitories at colleges. "There has never been a multiple loss of life in a fully suppressed building," said David Kurasz, executive director of the New Jersey Fire Sprinkler Advisory Board. He said the sprinklers help buy families a lot of time, explaining that in 1975 families had approximately 17 minutes to escape a house fire, a number which dwindled to three minutes in 2003. This is due largely to lightweight construction and hazardous contents in homes, he said.

Kurasz said the sprinklers go into effect once the temperature reaches 155 degrees and are not activated by smoke. Only the sprinklers closest to the fire release water, which is approximately 15 to 25 gallons per minute, compared to 150 to 250 gallons per minute with a fire hose. Heidi Michel, the fire official for Stafford, was watching the demonstration with Chris Freeman, Stafford's fire inspector. "We're concerned with resident safety and firefighter safety," said Freeman. "It could make a huge difference with these (sprinklers)."

Bedroom Without Sprinklers

Bedroom With Sprinklers