Just last week I wrote my blog entry on a visit by Sate Fire Marshal, Jerry Rosendahl to Eden Prairie. Among the facts Jerry presented was that cigarettes are the leading cause of fire damage and fire deaths. Fast forward to this past Friday night and the first structure fire in a long while for our Fire Department is a direct result of an improperly discarded cigarette.
This particular fire turned out to be rather minor, in the larger scheme of things, but there is no doubt that some level of heart-ache has been visited upon the homeowners as a result. There will be contractors to call for the repairs, smoke damage to get cleaned out of the furnishings and clothing articles just to name a few things they’ll have to deal with. If the homeowners had not been home when the fire showed itself, the outcome could have been much more severe, everybody got lucky on this one.
Hopefully in 2009, when fire resistive cigarettes become the only kind allowed in Minnesota, the fire service will see a big decline in these kinds of fires. Most fires are caused by human error, so think abut what you are doing and where you are doing it and your chances of an accidental fire will be greatly reduced.
Firefighters complete the overhaul process to be sure that all of the fire spread has been extinguished from the inside of this home’s walls. Overhaul can be a messy process, but insures the fire is completely out.
