Video Clip - Fire Safety
Press Release # 04-111
Transcript
(View of fire truck drivng through smoke to various views of burning homes and firefighters working to control the blaze. Living room of home after fire, view of products in the home such as bed and couch).
(View of newspaper clipping about a man in D.C. who died after he fell asleep smoking).
TEXT: A 65-year-old man died after he fell asleep while smoking. Courtesy Key Required: Video courtesy: Vito Maggiolo, D.c. Fire/EMS).
(View of people watching on the street as firefighters work to extinguish the flames of a burning home).
TEXT: Each year, 2,850 people die in house fires. 15,000 people are injured, and there are more than 353,500 residential fires reported to fire departments. Property losses each year are $3.8 billion.
TEXT: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends fresh batteries for smoke alarms and fire safety tips for every home. Change the batteries when you change the clocks for Daylight Saving Time on April 4th.
TEXT: The Commission has set standards to make lighters child-resistant. CPSC encourages the use of safety devices to reduce the risk of fires from electrical wiring.
TEXT: The Commission worked with industry to develop a new voluntary standard to help prevent candle fires.
TEXT: Smoke alarms - Have a smoke alarm wtih fresh batteries on each level of the house and inside every bedroom. Every family needs a fire escape plan.
(View of person pressing the test button on a clearly labeled smoke alarm, sound of smoke alarm test follows. Woman then hangs the smoke alarm on the wall).
(View of man replacing batteries in a smoke alarm and testing it. Same man discusses escape plan with his wife and two children, who express understanding and agree to the plan. View of man and child looking at a drawing of the layout of their house and pointing to the exits they plan to use).
(View of the family practicing the evacuation of their home twice).
TEXT: Matches - Keep matches away from children.
(View of person lighting a match from a matchbook. View of small bowl filled with matches and lighters, woman comes to put the bowl and its contents on a high shelf inside of a cabinet).
TEXT: Lighters - CPSC set a standard for cigarette lighters requiring that they be child-resistant. Commission staffers use a test apparatus to verify the force required to operate each lighter. The test can be used in investigations of problem lighters.
(Various views of different types of lighters and the use of their child safety mechanisms being demonstrated. View of man in laboratory setting using a machine to test the force required to light a cigarette lighter).
TEXT: Candles - CPSC worked with industry to develop standards for candles to reduce fire hazards. The standards cover cautionary labeling, sooting/smoking, glass containers, stability, flame height, secondary ignition, and issues about how the candle goes out when it burns down to the bottom.
(View of couple talking and sipping wine by a 3-wick candle. As they stand to leave, the woman blows out the flame on the candle, and then reaches down to pinch each wick to ensure that the candle is no longer burning).
(Various views of candles and their warning labels, followed by a view of multiple lit candles in a display).
TEXT: Mattresses - CPSC set a standard to make mattresses resist cigarette ignition. The staff conducts testing and other research on mattress flammability.
(View of woman in lab lighting multiple cigarettes and placing them on an exposed mattress. View of cigarettes burning while on the mattress, leaving scorch marks, but not igniting hte mattress).
(View of another flame test with a mattress - one mattress is exposed to a flame, and when the flame is removed the mattress is smoldering but is not on fire itself, next we see a mattress that is completely engulfed in flames).
TEXT: Upholstered funriture can be ignited by cigarettes, lighters, matches, and candles. The staff conducts testing and other research on upholstered furniture flammability.
(View of two people in a lab setting exposing upholstered furniture to flames and measuring time and amount of the furniture pieces that are burned).
(View of CPSC fire safety checklists).
TEXT: For more information or to get a copy of CPSC's "Home Fire Safety Checklist" (English or Spanish),
call the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Hotline at (800) 638-2772.
www.cpsc.gov
CPSC, Washington DC, 20207
End.