Northville Township Fire - Rescue
Fire - Safety Education
Station Headquarters
45745 Six Mile Road
Northville, MI 48168
(248) 348-5807
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Safety Education
Mobile Structural Fire-Fighting Trainer
Delivered recently to the Northville Township Fire/Rescue
Department is the first one of its kind locally: a mobile structural
fire-fighting trainer.
From the outside the mobile fire trainer looks very much like the
kind of trailer hauled by tractor trailer trucks. Inside are metal
partitions that can be removed and repositioned giving course
instructors the ability to redesign the inside of the trailer over and
over. That, along with smoke machines, props, a simulated roof
section, and flames, gives the instructors the ability to create a
variety of structural, live-fire scenarios.
This is good news – not only for Northville Township Firefighters,
and for the residents they protect. It’s good news for the
firefighters because they will no longer have to depend upon distant
facilities, or old buildings for structural fire training.
Live-fire training is one of the most important and dangerous
aspects of a firefighter’s job, but also one of the hardest things to
train for. Although there are trainers throughout Michigan, the
combination of long distances and limited scheduling made it
difficult, and often impossible, for the departments’ firefighters to
get the mandatory training they needed.
Now, with the mobile trainer, firefighters can get trained at the
Northville Township Fire Station, and area departments can have access
to the mobile trailer for their training.
Residents of Northville Township can feel good that their
firefighters are getting proficient training without having to leave
the community they serve. Residents can also feel good that the
live-fire burning is environmentally sound. The state-of-the-art
facility uses propane to create a safe, live-fire environment.
This equipment was designed to be environmentally safe. The unit is
fired with clean burning propane, which all but eliminates harmful air
emissions. Propane once expended leaves no residue (ash) to
contaminate run off and eventually storm water systems.
This equipment was purchased through a Grant offered by the U.S.
Fire Administration part of FEMA.
Hazard House
The Northville Township Fire Department has just added the Hazard
House to their public education programs. What is the Hazard House you
might ask? The Hazard House is a new interactive educational tool
designed to maximize learning and retention of many hazards that a
home can have.
Fire is one of mankind’s tools needed in everyday life. It is
unfortunately also a cause of death and destruction. One can, however,
learn how to handle it: fire can be prevented. The Fire Hazard House
was developed to produce an innovative and captivating teaching aid
for safety-conscious communities. It makes fire hazard education more
effective and stimulating for both presenters and spectators: it could
actually save lives.
The Hazard House has a triple objective. First how to organize the
home environment and optimally reduce the risk of fire. Second to show
how to detect a fire should one occur. Last to show how to deal
effectively with fire and how to evacuate the premises. A Hazard House
presentation gets the audience involved not only in handling, choosing
and installing various 3-D objects but also in finding numerous
hazards built into the simulator. This prompts more active
participation in the demonstration and facilities learning and
retention. To aid in teaching, it has several realistic smoke in
action displays, shivering sparking and arcing sounds, and activating
smoke detectors.
The Hazard House also includes innovative neighborhood safety
panels to cover the possible hazards outside the house as well.
Fire Prevention
Knox Box Program
 The
Knox Box program is a system used by the Northville Township Fire
Department to assist fire fighters in entering a location without
damaging the building when called upon to a fire or medical emergency.
These boxes are a secure vault at the location in which keys to the
building are placed. The Northville Township Fire Department is the
only one able to access this box in case of an emergency.
When the fire department has to force entry into a building
expensive and sometimes extensive damage to the building may occur.
Often when a door is forced open it is difficult for the door to be
re-secured. With the Knox Box system if the fire department determines
there is a false alarm at the location the building can simply be
locked back up before they leave.
Boxes can be placed in industrial, commercial, as well as
residential properties.
If you are interested in obtaining one of these boxes for your
property, or if you have more questions regarding them please contact
the Northville Township Fire Department at (248) 348-5807.
Fire Safety
Fire Escape Plan
It is important that families take the time to plan out a fire
escape plan for their homes. Going over these plans with your children
or loved ones can make getting out the house during an emergency more
organized and safer. Here are some easy steps to get a plan started:
- Plan two ways out of every room in your home
- Choose a place for all family members to meet, a safe distance
from your home.
- Make sure all smoke alarms are in working order.
- Ensure all exits are accessible by all family members.
- Practice safe ways of exiting your home and following your
plan.
- If you have a fire extinguisher in your home, place it near an
exit to assist in getting out of the house in case of a fire.
If you do find yourself in a house fire, remember these fire safety
tips!
- Stay Low! Fire and toxic smoke rise, and the areas closest to
the ground have the best opportunities for sustaining life.
- Check doors with the back of your hand to feel for heat and
fire outside of your door. If the door feels hot, find another way
out of the room.
- If your clothes catch fire, remember Stop, Drop, and Roll
while covering your face. Doing this will help to smother and put
out the fire.
- If you are unable to exit the room or you are trapped, go to
the window and attempt to get the attention of someone outside.
Call 911 and give them your location.
- Follow the Fire Escape plan you created with your family.
- Always call 911, but never call from inside your home
Smoke Detectors
Smoke detectors are one of the first lines of defense in protecting
your family from fires. Ask yourself some of these following questions
to see how ready you are if a fire is to occur in your home.
- When was the last time you checked your smoke detectors or
replaced the batteries in them?
- Do you have them located in all levels as well as all living
areas in the home?
- Are any of your detectors older than 10 years old?
- Do you know what your smoke detector sounds like?
It is recommended that you should replace the batteries in the
detectors twice a year. A good way to remember is when we change the
clocks for daylight savings we also change out detector batteries.
Detectors should also be checked on a monthly basis to ensure the
function. Detectors older than ten years old should be replaced with
new detectors as older units have a higher chance of failure to
activate in an emergency. The NFPA recommends installation of smoke
detectors in every bedroom, outside each separate sleeping area and on
every level of the home, including the basement. Interconnect all
smoke detectors throughout the home. When one sounds, they all sound.
Facts & Figures:
According to the National Fire Protection Agency, smoke alarms that
are properly installed and maintained play a vital role in reducing
fire deaths and injuries, and have contributed to an almost 50%
decrease in fire deaths since the late 1970s.
- A 2004 telephone survey found that 96% of U.S. households had
at least one smoke alarm, yet in 2000-2004, no smoke alarms were
present or none operated in almost half (46%) of the reported home
fires.
- An estimated 890 lives could be saved each year if all homes
had working smoke alarms.
- 65% of reported home fire deaths in 2000-2004 resulted from
fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
For more information visit the
NFPA’s Website
Carbon Monoxide Detectors
Although the popularity of carbon monoxide (CO) alarms has been
growing in recent years, it cannot be assumed that everyone is
familiar with the hazards of carbon monoxide poisoning in the home.
Often called the silent killer, carbon monoxide is an invisible,
odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood,
coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane) burn incompletely. In
the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel are potential
sources of carbon monoxide. Vehicles or generators running in an
attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.
CO detectors should be placed on every level of the home as well
and placed near all sleeping areas.
Facts and Figures:
- The dangers of CO exposure depend on a number of variables,
including the victim's health and activity level. Infants,
pregnant women, and people with physical conditions that limit
their body's ability to use oxygen (i.e. emphysema, asthma, heart
disease) can be more severely affected by lower concentrations of
CO than healthy adults would be.
- A person can be poisoned by a small amount of CO over a longer
period of time or by a large amount of CO over a shorter amount of
time.
- In 2005, U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated
61,100 non-fire CO incidents in which carbon monoxide was found,
or an average of seven such calls per hour. The number of
incidents increased 18 percent from 51,700 incidents reported in
2003. This increase is most likely due to the increased use of CO
detectors, which alert people to the presence of CO.
For More information about Carbon Monoxide detectors in the home
visit the
NFPA’s website
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