What to do in case of fire at home

It may have been a case of excited siblings ravishing their time alone; with their mother and father out on errands. However, Jacinta Waithera and Jackline Mundia will never forget the events of that day, more than a decade ago.

“There was no one at home at that time except for us kids,” recalls Jacinta.

The siblings decided to have some ‘fun time’ playing around with their hair. Moments before disaster, Jacinta held on a blow-dry machine; straightening her sister’s hair as they engaged in inconsequential chit-chat.

“Can I try straightening with a match box?” Jacinta joked.

That is when she stroke a matchstick and brushed it through her sister’s hair. Jackline’s hair, heavily emollient with flammable hair oil, burst into flames.

In the midst of the confusion, as Jackline yelled her voice horse, Jacinta moved away for cover. It is only a neighbor who came into the house and covered Jackline with a blanket to smother the flames.

The tragedy didn’t escalate beyond but the scars of the incident are always visible on Jackline’s scalp.

 Imagine the sight of a fireball blowing into the living room at the speed of sound. There is very little time to react. You look at your six month old nestling at your bosom and the horror of the spectacle is bloodcurdling.

At that moment, it hits you that you had left your six-year-old in the kitchen seemingly pre-occupied and in a world of his own. His position relative to the gas cooker – steaming a sumptuous meal for dinner – was safe enough. You had made a quick dash back to the TV screen to catch a juicy episode of a Mexican soap opera.

Just as you realize your mistake another explosion thunders across the space. By this time smoke has spread through the house like an equatorial mist. You can feel flames on your skin and you are worried for your family.

You wrestle your way through the thick smoke. Luckily, you land your hand on the door knob leading into the kitchen. It is the hottest thing you have come across since your existence.

 And as you swing it open, flames hit your face with gusto, instantly wiping out your eyebrows. You can barely breathe; it knocks you unconscious.

It is never real until it is surreal. Eve woman spoke to Henry Kipsang, a fire specialist with G4S, to find out ways you can keep your home safe from fire – especially during the time children are all over the place when schools close. What he shares is valuable for you, your household, and property.

1. Proper housekeeping

To create fire you need a triad: Fuel, ignition, and oxygen. “If any of the three is absent there will never be a fire,” Kipsang says. Do you know everything you have in the kitchen and where they’re located?

Of most importance is fuel – the conduit for flames to ride on. Fuel is not limited to paraffin and cooking gas alone. Hard matter too is fuel.

“Furniture at home, clothes, shoes, spirits, curtains, carpets – any kind of linen – is fuel in the house. If you don’t understand what can burn in your house then it will be difficult to react appropriately when there is an outbreak,” he says.

Every type of fire, categorized by the type of fuel, will need only a certain way of extinguishing. For instance, Kipsang offers, you can’t extinguish petrol fire the same way you put off wood fire.

2. Reduce mater in the house to bare minimum

Every time you enter your house you see what you own. That stops now; you ought to look at them as fuel that fire can burn. Inflammables can be liquids, gases, or solids.

 Books that you read years back have no place at the shelves. Garments that are no longer being used – or are used once every year – should be donated or sold out. Liquid spirits or nail polish removers that are no longer being used should be disposed.

High fire risks such as the gas tank, paraffin, or petrol should be kept as far away from the house as possible. For instance, Kipsang observes, many families have gas tanks within the house. Ideally, it should be outside – only connected to the cooker via a pipe.

3. Equip the house with smoke detectors and extinguishers

Apparently, smoke detectors are readily available and affordable in the Kenyan market. Each room in a house will need one, starting with the kitchen. Any hint of smoke will spark off an alarm which one can act upon before the situation gets out of hand.

There are commercial fire extinguishers meant for homes. Each is specific to the type of fire one may encounter. The standard carbon dioxide extinguisher, commercially available, can be used to put out fire on electrical equipment and some flammable liquids.

Water, which is available at home, is befitting for solid materials that can smolder after flames are put out. Dry powder, also available commercially, may come in handy for fire outbreak outdoors – like at the garage. Foam, which is water based, can neutralize flammable chemicals as well as smother fire.

And then, make sure the whole household understands how to use all extinguishers.

4. Does your house have safety features?

Have you studied the architecture of the house you live in?

According to Kipsang, it is proper that one studies every safety feature in their environment. “There should be an exit door,” he says, “through which people can escape if they can’t contain the fire.”

And one wouldn’t exactly need a backdoor for an escape route.

Kipsang advises: “Convert the window into an escape route. Equip it with a rope ladder that can be used to channel people down to safety from a storied building.

But safety features don’t end with the house alone. Electronic equipment in the house – like the cooker, heater, refrigerator, iron box – have safety manuals which you should make yourself conversant with. You may arrest a deadly spark from the equipment itself before it causes an inferno.

5. Have first aid kit at home

In case of harm to health or to life, it may be time for medical emergency to be introduced. In the absence of medical professionals, a first aid kit may be used to keep a victim safe at least until they can be ferried to the nearby health facility.

According to Kipsang, having a first aid kit is not the point: it is only important if everyone in the home knows how to use it.

6. A fire blanket for the person in the kitchen

Fire may emerge from the simple act of cooking. For instance, a flare-up may send flames in various directions.

The easiest way to handle flare-ups, says Kipsang, is by using a fire blanket to smother the flames. The blanket, made of fiber glass, is commercially available. But in the absence of one, Kipsang says the traditional blanket type, damp with water, may do the trick.

7. Act on your instinct and have a fire emergency line

Once a fire is established as out-of-control then the first thing one should do is call the emergency line even as extinguishing efforts continue. Every city has a local authority which runs a department of fire outbreak. But it may be important that one contracts the services of private sector personnel to bolster chances of better outcomes.

But calling an emergency line may not be the first thing that comes in mind in time of distress.

According to Kipsang, one should trust their instinct. “If your instinct tells you that you won’t handle the fire, run.

 You may not have the time to save even your child but remember saving your life is better than losing yours and your child’s. If you feel courageous enough to fight the fire then use extinguishers at your disposal.”

And never lose sight of the children. Majority of what children do they are not aware. A child running around the kitchen with a cup of water may be how disaster brews.