Neighbourhood Support partners with NZ Police, Civil Defence and Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ). Recently your Neighbourhood Support Coordinator spoke at the September 60s Up and Lyceum meetings with Michelle Hinton from FENZ. Our audiences were happy to have the opportunity to learn more about their own safety at home. These are a few of the important facts that Michelle has shared:
The Fire Triangle
A fire needs heat, fuel and oxygen to ignite and to maintain itself. Therefore, you can stop a fire by denying it one or all of these elements. Michelle showed us a tremendous fire surge that occurred as a result of pouring a small amount of water into hot oil. She then demonstrated the correct way to starve a fire of oxygen by holding a pot lid or a wooden board in such a way as to push the flame away from yourself as you cover the pot. A fire blanket is used in the same way, held up folded over your fingers, and pushed away from you and onto the fire. (A fire blanket is light and can be much easier to use than an extinguisher.)
Michelle warned against plugging in large appliances to power boards, (multiplugs), as this causes excess heat. The heat with the plastic, (the fuel), combines with oxygen and is a common cause of house fires.
Finally, if you need assistance to install smoke alarms, you can purchase them and FENZ staff will install them for you at no cost. If you are in the Cambridge area please phone 07 827 6546 and leave a message to arrange a time.