What an evening (please read at least the end)

[Highbeam]

To be clear, is there any reason to have a CO detector in the home if there are NO gas burning appliances? We have no propane or NG and I can't see why I should have a CO detector. No hydrocarbons = no carbon monoxide, true?

 

[Jredsjeep]

To be clear, is there any reason to have a CO detector in the home if there are NO gas burning appliances? We have no propane or NG and I can't see why I should have a CO detector. No hydrocarbons = no carbon monoxide, true?

yes, if the firebox splits on a oil furnace snding the fumes through your ductwork.

 

[sawkiller]

Smoke detectors are very important! That little annoying beep you hear on them every 5 or 10 minutes means change my batteries!
CO detectors are also important as mentioned earlier sometimes if the conditions of a fire are just right the CO can be picked up before the smoke can! Then as firefighters we will do a gas check and TIC scan of your home before giving an all clear. The CO detectors do seem to false alarm more than smoke detectors though but you can never be to safe GET OUT in particular with CO as you can't see or feel it like smoke!

Also great that you got out the dog but it was a risky maneuvar that you could have paid dearly for! For everyone in the future break a window for the pooch to exit. The windows are most likely garbage anyway and any insurance adjustor worth his salt will take care of the cost if a life was saved.

I just got back from a fire safety program from a local school we had a ball with them youngins. The youger they are the better! We were like heroes we ate lunch with them in the cafeteria and each one of us had to sit at a different table. I am sure I have never been so requested to "sit at our table" in my life. But seriously folks teach your kids most housefires are started by children under 10 so the more they know they safer everyone is. Also good advice above know how to get out and where to meet mom and dad!

 

[dingeryote]

To be clear, is there any reason to have a CO detector in the home if there are NO gas burning appliances? We have no propane or NG and I can't see why I should have a CO detector. No hydrocarbons = no carbon monoxide, true?

To be clear YES!

CO and smoke indicate fire.
Smoke detectors can be worthless if the fire is in a wall that vents outside or above the smoke detectors. Most Electrical fires give no indication of burning, untill well into the initiation stage due to wiring bieng predominantly enclosed inside walls that contain smoke.

CO from a fire can be detected without the presence of smoke.

I highly encourage everyone to keep one in working order in thier house even of they have zero combustion in the house.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[bluestem]

Just a note to all those that have it in their heads to check the batteries in the smoke and CO detectors. I was at a home improvement center last year and we needed batteries for just this purpose and they now have both with internal lithium ion batteries in them that you don't need to replace the batteries, they last 10 to 15 years and you won't get that danged beeping every year! They are little bit more pricey(can't remember how much we paid for them) but it removes the option of just taking the old battery out and not putting in a new one! Needless to say we replaced all our old 9v ones.

 

[lone wolf]

The only relevance to the forum is the fact that I was delivering a load of firewood to my wife's grandparents, but thought I would share anyway.

After running out of seasoned wood for sale for this season, my buddy who owns a tree service made a deal with me I couldn't refuse--take my TW-5 and split all the wood I want, just split it with him 50/50. To throw out a number, I would guess he has about 200 cords of wood cut into rounds varying from 14"-20" depending on the diameter. Last Sunday I split roughly five cords.

To make a short story long, I find out my wifes grandparents have no wood. Her grandfather is a scrappy 78 year old with a defibrillator and a pacemaker, who has no business cutting and/or splitting wood, but would do it anyway. So I throw about a 1.5 cords on the dump trailer and we head down toward the farm. On the way, we saw a heavy plume of smoke along the road and came upon a house with fire blazing out of the second story windows and through part of the roof. A teenager and older couple were from the front door. I stopped while my wife called 911 I ran to the house and saw a dog in the front window. I went in to get the dog only to get a pretty good bite on my right hand, but was able to get him out.

Fortunately, everyone in the house was fine although with the 18 minute FD response all appeared to be lost. When we got home this evening we had a long discussion with our kids about fire safety. Also, I discovered that two of our four smoke detectors have dead batteries.

The point: This was an eye opening experience for me. Since the vast majority of us have wood burners of some sort here, please check and make sure you have the basics working properly, like smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, etc. We went as far as to review our escape routes and our meeting place in front of the house. I want everyone to be here after the woodburning season!

Hey what kind of dog is it?

 

[Truck4]

Thanks for the good deed, hope the dog was up to date on his shots, as a Firefighter we always suggest to people to change the batteries in there smoke detectors twice a yr. and a good time to do / remember it for those of us who have to do it, is when you set your clocks back or forward, otherwise try and set two dates about 6 mths or so apart, birthday, aniversery etc to try and help you remember

 

[cornbread]

great reminders thanks

 

[1999HarleyRN]

To the OP great job!! As far as changing batteries, a local fire department in a district I used to drive thru on my way to work used to hang a banner from the bridge over the expressway saying its time to change the clocks and your batteries. Always thought that was a great idea. Having been in the fire service for almost 20 years and having a few chimney fires of my own, I can't stress enough smoke detectors, clean chimney, teach fire prevention to the young ones. I echo the wishes of the OP for all of us to be here with intact homes this spring.

 

[giXXer]

To the OP great job!! As far as changing batteries, a local fire department in a district I used to drive thru on my way to work used to hang a banner from the bridge over the expressway saying its time to change the clocks and your batteries. Always thought that was a great idea. Having been in the fire service for almost 20 years and having a few chimney fires of my own, I can't stress enough smoke detectors, clean chimney, teach fire prevention to the young ones. I echo the wishes of the OP for all of us to be here with intact homes this spring.

I just returned from Canada 2 weeks ago and I passed a few government buildings and also fire stations that had large signs out front reminding people "change your smoke detector batteries this week." They must have an annual or bi-annual safety campaign in Canada, ehhhh.

 

[BPS. LLC]

Hey what kind of dog is it?

Not sure, sort of had the look of a German Shepherd, but it was much smaller, definitely mixed.

 

[BPS. LLC]

right next door to me, was it in the news?

It was in the Hanover Evening Sun, on the front page. I'm not sure if it was in the York Daily Record. I don't buy papers because the reporting is terrible, but I will read some online, just to keep up with the local stuff.

 

[RAYINTOMBALL]

Good for you. Great job helping a neighbor, and reminding us about the smoke
detectors. But I have a question. You mean you didn't stop to take the time to check and see if his homeowners insurance was paid up in case you were injured rescuing the dog. Or making sure his taxes were paid so you would know if FD was going to respond. Wow goes to show there's still people out there willing to help without all the legalities. I'm just being facetious, because of a thread in off topic about a FD that won't put out a house fire because the resident hadn't paid his 75 dollar fire fee. Sorry about :arg: but couldn't help myself. Again thanks for helping out and doing the right thing.

 

[Buckethead]

I just returned from Canada 2 weeks ago and I passed a few government buildings and also fire stations that had large signs out front reminding people "change your smoke detector batteries this week." They must have an annual or bi-annual safety campaign in Canada, ehhhh.

Here in the U.S. the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has a similar program.."Change your clocks, change your batteries." Their goal is to get everyone to change your smoke detector batteries when you change your clocks for daylight savings time.

Regarding CO detectors, if you have anything in your home that creates heat by combustion then a CO detector is a good idea (and perhaps required by law). Typically, improperly operating gas powered appliances are the most common cause of CO in the home. However, oil and wood fired appliances can also be sources of CO as well. So, unless you have an all electric home, you should have at least one CO detector in the house.

 

[esshup]

Thanks for the reminder. Good job! Rep sent.