Home Safety Council Releases New Educational Program: Start Safe: A Fire and Burn Safety Education Program for Preschoolers and Their Families

Today I was excited to learn that the Home Safety Council released its newest education program for preschoolers and their families. Start Safe: A Fire and Burn Safety Education Program for Preschoolers and Their Families.

Fires and burns are a big problem in America for preschool-aged children. Each year, thousands are injured or killed from accidents in the home that could be prevented. The Home Safety Council has teamed up with Weekly Reader Custom Publishing on Start Safe: A Fire and Burn Safety Program for Preschoolers and their Families.

Funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Office of Domestic Preparedness, Start Safe provides resources for preschool teachers and administrators to work hand-in-hand with a local fire department. Working together, using developmentally-appropriate teaching tools from Start Safe, teachers and local fire safety experts can deliver life-saving lessons to the preschoolers. Perhaps even more importantly, they can also reach parents and caregivers with key safety messages and help them take action to reduce the risk of fires and burns at home.

Tools for Educators

Start Safe has everything you need to deliver effective preschool fire and burn safety education in the classroom or community. Materials available online include:

Eight-page teachers guide with bilingual student activities
Eight-page expert guide with bilingual student activities
"I Spot Something Hot!" Big Book for classroom reading
Mini, take-home versions of the "I Spot Something Hot!" Big Book
An 8 ½-minute “I Spot Something Hot” DVD with original song in English
An 8 ½-minute “I Spot Something Hot” DVD with original song in Spanish
A parent resource booklet in English
A parent resource booklet in Spanish
Hand puppet activity
A program evaluation form

Additional program materials will be added in the coming weeks.

A national Start Safe training program was conducted by HSC in Orlando, Florida, on April 26-28, 2009. Funded in part through a generous donation from Tyco International, the training brought together 12 teams of Head Start teachers, parents and fire and life safety educators to introduce them to the Start Safe program and provide best practices for implementation.

The Home Safety Council will formally evaluate the Start Safe program during a 10-week pilot test and use the findings to revise the guidance materials for program implementation. Start Safe will be distributed to 6,700 Head Start preschool classrooms across America, and in August 2009, the free program will be offered to the fire service through HSC’s Expert Network resource: www.homesafetycouncil.org/expertnetwork.

According to Meri-K Appy, President of the Home Safety Council, "Safety Saturday" will be held September 26 at local Lowe's stores. More information on the national event will be coming soon.

NFPA Kicks Off National Electrical Safety Month

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) is kicking off National Electrical Safety Month (May) by reminding the public to be aware of the risks associated with the use of electricity, and providing safety tips to assist individuals in taking steps to reduce the risk of experiencing a home electrical fire.

In recent years, an average of 53,000 home electrical fires have been reported per year. These fires resulted in an average of 500 deaths, 1,400 injuries, and $1.5 billion in direct property damage per year. One of every seven home fires was an electrical fire. Any type of equipment that uses electricity may be involved in an electrical fire. Some type of electrical distribution equipment such as wiring, light switches, outlets, cords, and plugs or lighting equipment was involved in roughly half of the home electrical fires. There are also many home electrical fires involving air conditioners, fans, clothes dryers and appliances.

"Whether you are actively flipping a switch, inserting a plug, or simply enjoying all the electric-powered appliances in your home, the risk of fire may not be on your mind," said Lorraine Carli, NFPA's vice president of communications. "Most electrical fires can be easily avoided. The first step in preventing them is to be aware of the danger, the second is to learn the rules of fire safety and then put them into practice."

NFPA has resources for educators HERE.

Home Safety Council® Presents 2009 Dr. Anne W. Phillips Award

Patricia Mieszala, RN, Recognized for Lifetime of Commitment to Reducing Burn Injuries and Juvenile-Related Fires

The Home Safety Council presented the third annual Dr. Anne W. Phillips Award for Leadership in Fire Safety Education to Patricia Mieszala, RN, at the Congressional Fire Services Institute’s (CFSI) National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner in Washington, DC on April 2, 2009.

Throughout her 40-year career, beginning with ten years of service as a psychiatric burn nurse clinician at Cook County Hospital’s Sumner L. Koch Burn Center in Chicago, Mieszala has earned national and international recognition for her tireless commitment to reducing burn injuries and juvenile-related fires through public awareness, education and intervention programs.

A long-standing member of the American Burn Association, Mieszala served on the ABA Board of Directors in the late 1970’s. Working with Dr. Anne Phillips and others, she was instrumental in moving the organization to include prevention in their overall mission. Mieszala served as a charter member of the coalition that successfully lobbied Congress and established the first week in February as National Burn Awareness Week. 2009 marked the 24th anniversary of the effort to reduce burn injury through a concerted public awareness and education campaign.

“Pat Mieszala has devoted her career to helping fire and life safety educators across North America protect children, older adults, and people of all ages and abilities from fires and burns through the power of education and action,” said Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council. “Especially as we mark Dr. Phillips’ recent passing, I am honored, through this award, to recognize how Pat’s distinguished contributions to our field deepen and extend Anne Phillips’ inspiring legacy.”

Mieszala is passionate about improving methods to identify and treat youth who set fires. For more than 20 years, she has managed juvenile firesetting and arson prevention grants and contracts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United States Fire Administration (USFA) and the National Fire Academy. Mieszala was one of the original authors of the FEMA/USFA Juvenile Firesetter Handbooks and has produced child firesetter and juvenile arson instructor training packages through a grant from the FEMA National Arson Prevention Initiative.

She also worked with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to develop and oversee the nationwide implementation of the Learn Not to Burn ® elementary and middle school curricula and continued as a contract NFPA Field Advisor for the Risk Watch® Injury Prevention and Natural Disasters school curriculum. For the past ten years and continuing today, Pat works with communities and states that use the Risk Watch program as part of their ongoing fire and injury prevention efforts at the local and state level.

Currently, Mieszala travels throughout the United States and Canada as a public education advisor for NFPA and assists in implementing the Association’s public education programs on disaster preparedness and fire, fall and injury prevention. For the past nine years, Mieszala has served on the NFPA Education Section’s Board of Directors and has been an active participant in the NFPA’s Educational Messages Advisory Committee since its inception in 2004.

About the Dr. Anne W. Phillips Award

Named after Dr. Anne Wight Phillips, the award honors Dr. Phillips’ outstanding achievements as a champion of fire safety education and celebrates her role as a leader whose exemplary work in fire safety education has had a lasting impact on the nation's safety. As a member of the National Commission on Fire Prevention and Control, Phillips authored the 1973 Minority Report as an appendix to the Commission’s landmark report, America Burning, pushing the Commission to recognize the important role of prevention in reducing fire injury and death. Throughout her life, Dr. Phillips demonstrated an unwavering dedication to fire prevention and preparedness, as the basis to strengthening fire safety education across the country. Having established the award in her honor in 2007, the Home Safety Council aims to keep the example and spirit of Dr. Phillips alive well beyond her passing in 2009 by celebrating those whose own work has made a meaningful contribution to protecting society from unwanted fire.

USFA Announces Arson Awareness Week Theme for 2009

EMMITSBURG, MD - The United States Fire Administration (USFA) announces the theme for the 2009 Arson Awareness Week: "Arson for Profit". USFA and its partners will use the week of May 3rd to the 9th to focus public attention on the alarming statistics about Arson for Profit and hopes to expand the resources and support necessary to reduce this crime.

Arson for Profit, or economic arson, is when businesses or individuals set fires to reduce financial loss, recoup initial investments, or dispose of depreciated assets usually for a payout from insurance companies. The USFA is partnering with the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI).

"Each year firefighters and innocent civilians are needlessly put in danger, injured and killed as a result of arson fires," said Glenn A. Gaines, Acting United States Fire Administrator. "We are pleased to partner with the law enforcement community on efforts to reduce the crime of arson."

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), in 2005 an estimated 323,900 intentional fires reported to U.S. fire departments resulted in 490 civilian fire deaths, 3 firefighter onduty deaths, 1,500 civilian fire injuries, 7,600 firefighter onduty injuries and $1.102 billion in direct property damage.

"Arson is a costly crime that's being fanned by the flames of recession. Firefighters and innocent families are endangered when desperate people illegally torch their homes, businesses and cars for insurance bailouts," according to Dennis Jay, Executive Director, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. "Arson also is raising insurance premiums at a time of great stress on honest people's pocketbooks. All Americans are victims of arson, and we all must work to ensure fewer arson matches are ever lit."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's 2007 Uniform Crime Reporting statistics showed the average dollar loss for all types of arson was $17,289. For structures, arson damages were $32,364 on average and $7,890 for motor vehicles. Arsons of industrial and manufacturing structures resulted in the highest average dollar losses--an average of $114,699 per arson.

"Arson is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. When the arsonist unleashes fire, he does so with a callous disregard for what the outcome will be. He cares not a whit about the firefighters that will risk their lives responding to the fire, the innocent victims that may be disfigured or killed, the neighboring residents or businesses that may suffer damage or destruction, the blight his deeds will leave on a community or the financial costs that burned property imposes on society," said Ken Finley, IAAI-CFI, President, International Association of Arson Investigators. "Please join us in our never ending fight against those who use fire as a vicious tool for their own gain."

The USFA's National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) states the two leading causes of civilian deaths are arson, at 28 percent, and smoking, at 18 percent. Arson is, by far, the leading cause of property loss, at 26 percent. Arson is an enormous problem in the United States, especially to outside and nonresidential structure properties.

David M. Wulf, Chief of the ATF's National Center for Explosives Training and Research adds, "In view of the economy and uncertainty within the housing market, arson for profit presents an increased concern to both fire service and law-enforcement agencies."

For more information, including a media kit for the 2009 Arson Awareness Week campaign, go to http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/aaw/

Update on Novelty Lighter Legislation in Florida

This update on the Novelty Lighter Legislation in Florida was received by Steve Peavey, Deputy Fire Marshal from the City of Altamonte Springs. Thanks for the update, Steve!

Senate Bill – 806
Passed the Senate Commerce Committee unanimously on 03/17/2009
Currently in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee

House Bill – 471

• Passed the House Public Safety & Domestic Security Policy Committee unanimously on 03/06/2009
• Passed the House Insurance, Business & Financial Affairs Policy Committee unanimously on 03/19/2009
• Currently in the House Criminal & Civil Justice Policy Council Committee

Thanks for the update Steve and good luck to everyone in Florida!

Governor Beebe Signs Senate Bill 154 which Bans the Sale and Distribution of Novelty Lighters in Arkansas

On Tuesday, 10th March 2009 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Governor Mike Beebe signed into law Senate Bill 154 which bans the sale and distribution of novelty and toylike lighters. The Bill by Senator Sharon Trusty, R-Russellville was backed by Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and sets a fine between $25 to $500 for retailers selling the lighters. On September 25, 2007, 15-month old Peyton Edwards and 2-year-old Breydon Edwards of Russellville, Arkansas, died after setting fire to their apartment with a motorcycle-shaped lighter. Twenty cities in Arkansas had already passed local ordinances banning the lighters.

In the photo are Front: Senator Sharon Trusty, Governor Mike Beebe, Representative George Overbey and Back: Lt. Mark Shoemaker, North Little Rock Fire Department, Assistant Chief Wayne Gately, West Memphis Fire Department, Dayna Hilton, Arkansas Fire Prevention Commission and Johnson County RFD #1, Jimmy Parks, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Chief Frank Hill, Sherwood Fire Department.

Firesafetyeducator.com's video of Governor Beebe signing the bill, along with an interview with the Governor, is below:

Arkansas's Novelty Lighter Bill Passes in the House

SB145, the bill to ban novelty lighters in the state of Arkansas, passed in the House 97-0 today.