Being Prepared for Fires
I'd really love it to rain right now. Well, soon: it's Friday afternoon and I'm biking to the pub.
It’s been dry in Canterbury for months. It’s normal for summers to have low rainfall, but we are well into autumn and I’m still waiting for rain to plant out cuttings and garlic. Even the weeds are struggling.
There was a community meeting this week with FENZ (fire and emergency New Zealand). They are extremely concerned about the threat of fire and they had some advice which included:
• Make sure you have working fire alarms—any alarm over 10 years old needs replacing.
• Do not have multi-plugs plugged into multi-plugs—get one bigger multi-plug.
• Range hoods—clean regularly to avoid fat build up with hot water and soap.
• Door keys—keep in the lock at night or always leave in the same place so you can find them in a smoke-filled house.
• Faster you ring 111 the better (that’s NZ’s emergency number. I wonder what happens if you dial 911, or the UK’s 999…)
• Clean out gutters, particularly before summer.
• Plant low flammability plants around your house
• Do not store firewood against the house.
Are lemon and lime trees flammable? We have them on one side of the house. Unfortunately, on the other side is firewood. We don’t have anywhere else to put it. I also want to know how much difference it would make, considering that our entire house is made of wood.
Let’s hope this remains academic, and the autumn rains come soon.
Meanwhile, the fantails are flitting around and other birds are singing, including the delightful grey warbler.
Time for the pub!
Thank you for being one of the good humans.
Alex
PS. I don’t know what I would rescue in a fire except for Molly. Molly would find it tough to choose between her latest bone and a ball.
What do you think is important to rescue in a fire apart from loved ones?
Last year, I experienced a fire emergency in my building. I live on the 12th floor. I just grabbed my dog and ran away. As I made my way down, I grabbed two other dogs that had been left behind. It was a truly terrible experience. Fortunately in the end everyone was safe.
I'd grab my pre-digital photo albums. Hmm. I guess digitizing them would be a good project....