Middletown Fire Dept.: How To Escape A Fire In Your Home

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — The Middletown Township Fire Department wants everyone to be aware of Fire Prevention Week. The community of Middletown was shaken this past July when 18-year-old Aubree Larusso tragically died when a fire broke out in her parents' North Middletown home.

The fire broke out just before dawn, and Aubree and her dog were unable to get out of the home in time. That's a photo of the burning home on Neptune Place, above.

Today’s home fires burn faster than ever. In a typical home fire, you may have as little as one to two minutes to escape safely from the time the smoke alarm sounds. Knowing how to use that time wisely takes planning and practice.

The Middletown Township Fire Department is teaming up with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) ­— the official sponsor of Fire Prevention Week for more than 90 years — to promote this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere,” which works to educate the public about basic but essential ways to quickly and safely escape a home fire.

Past Patch reporting: Aubree Larusso, 18, Dies In Tragic Middletown Fire

“Volunteering in the fire service for many years, we know that people often make choices in fire situations that jeopardize their safety or even cost them their lives,” said Chief Ryan M. Clarke of the Middletown Township Fire Department. “We need to do a better job of teaching people about the potentially life-saving difference escape planning and practice can make and motivating them to action.”

Chief Clarke says this year’s “Look. Listen. Learn.” campaign highlights three steps people can take to help quickly and safely escape a fire:

· Look for places fire could start.
· Listen for the sound of the smoke alarm.
· Learn two ways out of every room.

While NFPA and the Middletown Township Fire Department are focusing on home fires, these fire safety messages apply to virtually anywhere.

“Situational awareness is a skill people need to use wherever they go,” said Chief Clarke. “No matter where you are, look for available exits. If the alarm system sounds, take it seriously and exit the building immediately.”

The Middletown Township Fire Department is hosting a series of events in support of this year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Look. Listen. Learn.,” including Fire Prevention training at grammar schools and pre-k schools.

NFPA statistics show that the number of U.S. home fires has been steadily declining over the past few decades. However, the death rate per 1,000 home fires that are reported to fire departments was 10 percent higher in 2016 than in 1980.

“These numbers show that while we’ve made significant progress in teaching people how to prevent fires from happening, there’s still much more work to do in terms of educating the public about how to protect themselves in the event of one,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA’s vice president of Outreach and Advocacy. “This is particularly critical given the increased speed at which today’s home fires grow and spread.”

Carli also notes that although people feel safest in their home, it is also the place people are at greatest risk to fire, with four out of five U.S. fire deaths occurring at home. That over-confidence contributes to a complacency toward home escape planning and practice.

For more information about Fire Prevention Week and home escape planning, visit www.firepreventionweek.org.

Photo supplied to Patch by the Middletown Fire Dept.