Polk Township Vol. Fire Dept.
Today's homes are built and remodeled to be as energy effecient as possible. Extra R-value insulation in the walls and ceiling helps keep heat inside where it belongs. The double or triple pane sealed windows help cut down the amount of heat that escapes thru the glass. Newer homes are even wrapped with a very thin layer of continuous material to help make homes as air tight as possible. All these benefits have helped us reduce our energy bills and made our homes more comfortable.
The inside of our homes are also decorated nicely with many more items than in years past. Look around your home, there are alot of fixtures and furniture that contains more man-made fibers and compounds. Not many home furnishings are 'true wood' these days. They usually are made from a wood composite material which makes them more durable and scratch resistant.
All in all, our homes are built and furnished nicer than the homes built even 50 years ago. But an air tight home furnished with high fuel load man made products has also drastically reduced you fire escape time. You have less time than you think!
A recent article in Today's Homeowner used data collected from the NFPA to prove that point:
Take a moment to study the time line:
Yet, notice at the bottom, the percentage of people polled that believe they have 10 minutes or more to get out! .
So please take the time to plan your family's emergency escape route today, because in only 4:33, there's no escape!
Start your home evacuation plan today.
You have less time than you think!
Get your family out alive.
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Sources: Today's Homeowner
John D. Einhorn