Parent: can do wonder to prevent fire etting
by JUV 011 by followmg .th e ties:
.- Lead by example. Childr n will oft n treat fire
with the am re p ct that th ir parent do.
- Explain hy the children can not u e fire. Just
admoni hing the children with the word, "Don't" is
not enough.
- Treat matches and lighter as dang rou tools
the way other dangerou hou ehold item such as
harp kitchen knive , kitchen applianc s, etc. are
u ed.
� Keep matche . and lighter out of the reach of
children: or remov all unneces ary matche and
lighter completely. Mo t children et fires be­
cau th fir etting tool ar available.
. - R ward childr n for �rop rly handling fireset­
ting d VIC • Al 0 mak It clear that th r will be
puni hm nt for th mi.u, of matche or lighters.
- Encourage your child school to promote fire
safety ducation for at home or at school.
Parent or guardians who are uncomfortable
�Ith the id a of . ducating their children regarding
fire afety and fir u e should call their local fire
bur au for assi tanc . Mo t fire bureau around
the country, now hav fire education programs in
place to a I t parent, chool admini tration and
other.
lal Type of S ........
uet��nW r t
He r· 9 1m ired
By Jo E. Zaydik
A new typ of smoke detector is now available
to w.arn per ons with hearing impairment , ac­
cording to the National Fire Protection As ocia­
tion.
r-:i!�-"'��_""':"_""'--""""'''''''''' The e pecial
moke detectors
f�'\.����� work using light or
vibration to signal a
fire, instead of th
u ual audible ignal
emitted by conven­
tional moke detec-
tor. Thr
companie now pro­
duce thes special
smoke d rectors:
BRK El ctronic ,
Gentex Corp. and Ventex, Inc. The products
from the e manufacturers have met the tand-.
ards set by Underwriters Laboratorie , Inc .
. UnderwritersLaboratori s; Inc. has now estab­
It hed a standard u ed for testing moke detec­
tors and other ignaling d vice made sp cially
for hearing impaired people. The UL 1971 tand­
ard resu ted from a major research study and cri-
teria: ba ed on r arch for te ting the device
on leeping hearing-impaired people. Thi tudy
establish d th inten ity of th ignal n d d to
awak n a leeping p r on with a hearing impair­
m nt.
To avoid confu ion, all smoke detector which
carry a visual ignal are now marked a follow.
If you ar buying a moke detector p cifically
for th hearing impaired, make sure the device
indicat it i p cifically for the hearing im­
pair d. The marking on the package now indi­
cat:
1. Fire Evacuation. Thi category i marked
with the word , " ignaling Applianc for th
Hearing Impaired," and com with no caution
warning.
2. ir Alarm Warning - Private Mod of Fire
Alarm Informative. Thi cat gory of product i
d crib d a a "Fir Protectiv Vi ual ignaling
Appliance." The product warning indicate that
thi pr du t i "Not to bud a an ind or vi -
ual vacuation ignal or f r th Hearin Im­
pair d," or "Warning: Privat Mod only, not f r
the hearing impair d."
3. on-Em rg n y - Vi ual ignalin
anc . Thi cat gory of m ke alarm c m
th warning, "Warning - N t to bud a an in­
d r vi ual vacuati n ignal or f r the H arin
Impair d. t
Any n wh i int r t d in additi nal fir
af ty inf rmati n for p pi with di abiliti
n urag t nd a If-addr
v lop t F A' L arn t t urn F undation,
n Batt rymarch Park, uincy MA 22
I . to
y
urns
thi may di -
r or in uran
1994 ir Pr v ntion W k uppl m nt P 5
- ��- --- - _- ��------�--
By Jo E. Zaydi
The Federal Bureau. of Inve tigation con id r
arson a enou a cnme a murder or forcibl
rape. Yet, each hour, an ar oni t trikes in outh­
ern California. Some ar oni ts, uch a the Seattle
area' rec ntly-convicted Paul Keller were re-
pon ible for etting a erie .of extre�ely co tty
fires--in Keller' case, at least 76 of them.
"(Arson) i the intentional damaging of property
b� the use of fir or an explosive device," said Lt.
RIchard Grace, an investigator with the Portland
Bureau of Fire & Re cue's Ar on Unit. It is e ti­
mated that ar onist around the coun-'
try cau e about 1,400 death annually
and more than 1 billion in property
damage. What would one look for in
an arsoni t?
"There i no typical arsoni t' profile It
aid Deputy Chief Tom Oney of the Dai­
las Fire Department. "It could b any­
one. What you have to look for ar the
rea ons ar oni t would t fir ."
Ar onist et fir for a number of
rea on. According to th U.. Fire
Administration, fires ar t for quite 1....iL:���_
a number of rea ons: vandali m; r -
venge: a a cover-up for anoth r
cnme uch as burglary; to d fraud in-
surance companies; because of emotional distur­
bance; and finally, as a profe ion--arsoni t -for­
hire have become more common.
, Arson tend, to. o�cur more ,frequ ntly during dif­
fl��lt economic. tlI"!le ,according to Oney.
The vast majority of ar on by adult are to gain
conornically," Oney said. "Busines failure debt
on a home or vehicle, or even just trying to get
ah ad of th game by' having in uranc comparue
foot the bill are the most common rea on ar oni t
t fire ."
. The favorit targets of ar oni t include dry and
1 olated bru h areas, which provid the felon with
a y ta.rget .for large- cale d truction.
A di turbing as It may b , ar oru t al 0 lik to
target chool ,especially wh n no one is around to
ee them light the fires. Other common target in­
clud vacant buildings, home , tra hand oth r
flammables, churches and other hou es of worship,
and building under ,con truction, esp cially hou -
Ing tracts, condominiums and townhou e .
With the increa e in homele ness come a rela­
tively new type of ar on fir --the battle over turf
by homele s people, according to Oney. The Dal­
las Fire Department i now in the proces of hear-
109 the ca e of an out-of- tate transient who had
allegedly et fire to a series of building, becau e
the homele .per on who had b en u ing th un­
OCCUpl d s cnon of a comm rcial building did not
want him to tay with them. Out of revenge, the