Fire Safety

 Sharing Lessons Learned from Our Fire

We all have appliances. Gotta.

But there's a difference between a "system" like your HVAC heating & air that's designed to run 24/7 unattended and appliances that should be monitored while in use.

The need for time-saving conveniences in our busy modern life has influenced many families to use appliances differently than we may have been taught growing up.  I know many people today who start the clothes dryer then head to bed or run a dishwasher overnight.  We were one of those overnight, run the dishwasher when everyone is asleep and use lower-cost electricity while your at it, households.  Were.

What's the problem or risk of doing that?  Statistically there isn't much to talk about risk-wise.  But we just happened to be the one in "1 out of 100", or 1000, that experienced a problem while using an appliance overnight.  And believe me, you don't want to be a member of the "1 out of ..." club.

Our dishwasher erupted into flames during the drying cycle due to a product defect in the control panel {the manufacture has accepted full responsibility}.  This happened at 2 a.m. while we were asleep.

I will never run my dishwasher over night again and really hope you don't either.

I've learned dishwasher fires are more common than you would think. The fire department indicated they respond periodically to items in the dishwasher catching fire. Having a faulty appliance catch fire is less common, but we are proof that it can happen.  Either way - if a fire starts with the dishwasher contents or the dishwasher itself, being awake, alert and able to respond could greatly change the outcome.

You don't have to run a dishwasher overnight, so don't.  Please.

I also do not run the dishwasher if our puppy dog is the only one at home; the possible outcome of that scenario makes me ill just thinking of it.

We only run our new dishwasher (not the same brand!) when we are awake or when no living occupant of the house is home (things can be replaced, people and pets cannot).  

Yes, making this change in behavior was a bit of a hassle at first, but is habit now.  If you'd like to read my posts related to our fire recovery as a way to understand how much hassle is involved if this type of thing happens, click here, or here's the most detail I've written about the night of the fire.

What You May Not Know About Smoke Alarms,

but might want to,

Especially If You Have Young Children

There's a lot to cover on this topic, so let me summarize what I've learned and then I'll share links where you can read more from expert studies.

The auditory range (tone / pitch of sounds that can be heard) in children under the age of 16 is not fully developed.  Seniors (at what age depends on how each individual ages) have a similar issue in reverse ... as we age we begin to lose the high and low ends of our auditory range.  So both these groups are potentially at risk of not hearing a traditional smoke alarm if it sounds during a period when the person is asleep.  When an alarm is most needed - when not aware of your environment, children and seniors may not hear it.

The traditional smoke alarm pitch falls in the auditory range of underdeveloped or lost hearing.  There are several new types of smoke alarms on the market these days that address this issue; one is the talking alarm.  It comes with a recordable chip - just like a greeting card, and you record the message ... "sweetie, wake up, this is Mom ... do just like we rehearsed and crawl to the stairs and we'll meet you there ... its going to be OK" ... studies show that children are able to wake to the sound of their parent's voice because it is familiar and in the range of developed hearing.  

Read more here for info on children's auditory development and here is some info for Seniors and fire safety {pass it along to your loved ones}.

---------------------

I hope you'll take a minute and reflect on your families habits and needs regarding these issues.  And I'd really appreciate your help in spreading this fire safety awareness message ... Pin {would you please?} the lovely pic of our charred dishwasher with a description like ...

"visit happilyhomeafter.blogspot.com to read about safety considerations when running a dishwasher overnight"

or

"photo of dishwasher that caught fire during operation overnight while family slept; all thankfully escaped. When something like this happens, you greatly improve the outcome by being awake, alert, and able to respond. You don't have to run a dishwasher overnight, so don't. Please. Changing your habit of when you run a dishwasher may be a bit of a hassle, but if this were to happen, wouldn't it be worth it?"

Did you know that if you select text before clicking PIN that the selected text will automatically paste into the PIN description?  I'm just sayin' it's a neat trick I recently read about.

Thanks for taking the time to read and think about your family's safety.

                                                                                                         Robin