By Colin Killian, Public Communications Director
In this week’s episode of “What’s Up, College Station?” Marketing Coordinator Grace Hallowell and CSFD Captain Stuart Marrs to discuss essential safety tips to protect your loved ones, pets, and property during firework season. Fireworks are a fun way to celebrate holidays, but without the proper precautions, they can lead to accidents, injuries, or even house fires.
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If you have a suggestion for a future topic or interview, email me at ckillian@cstx.gov.
TRANSCRIPT EXCERPTS
Grace Hallowell:
What’s up, College Station? I’m Grace Hallowell, and today I’m joined by Stu the Fire Guy from the College Station Fire Department. Hi.
Stuart Marrs:
Hi. Great to be here.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, we are heading into the Christmas holiday. I feel like we’ve been counting down the days. I know I have. But here, today, we are going to talk about holiday fire safety.
Stuart Marrs:
That’s right. So, we made it through Thanksgiving. We got past that big hurdle. I don’t think anybody burned their house to the ground in our city on Thanksgiving Day, so everybody was safe with their cooking and with all their family over. So, that’s good. But the other two busiest days for cooking fires across the country are Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
So, still keep in mind, need to be safe in the kitchen, keep kids and pets and all those distractions away from the kitchen when you’re cooking a big meal. And always stay with what you’re cooking, whether you’re cooking in the kitchen or out on the grill. If the weather’s nice enough, which it is sometimes for Christmas for us. So, just always stay by and pay attention to what you’re cooking, don’t get distracted, because that’s when the accidents happen. That’s when flare-ups happen, or something gets burned, or catches on fire, is when you’re away and not paying attention to it.
Grace Hallowell:
And another precaution is to have some sort of fire safety equipment nearby in your kitchen, correct?
Stuart Marrs:
That’s right. If a pan catches on fire, the first thing you want to do is turn off the source of the heat, so turn the burner off. And then if you have a lid nearby, smother that fire. If you can also have a fire extinguisher, you always want to keep that. I keep mine out on the countertop. If you put it under the sink, it’s going to get shoved to the back, it’s going to be hiding behind the dishwasher detergent and the Fabuloso and all the other great things that you put under your sink. And so keep that out on top of your countertop. Mine sits next to the paper towels, honestly. It’s a little ugly, but it’s right there where I always know where it is, and I can grab it quickly.
Another thing that people have started putting in their kitchens is fire blankets. It’s a special material that’s fire resistant and it’s a pretty big size, and so you can pull that out and put it over anything that’s on fire. It’ll cover your whole stove top area. So, turn off the heat source, put a fire blanket on it. Turn off the heat source, smother it with something.
Not a good idea to pick it up and run outside with it, because running is going to create a breeze and it’s going to flare up into you. It’s going to slosh, possibly. Also not a good idea to pick it up and throw it into the sink, because if you’re dealing with grease, it’s going to splatter. It’ll splatter all over your arms. I’ve seen those kind of injuries here in my career, it’s not pretty. And then hitting it with water is not a good idea either, because for a grease fire, that grease is just going to spread and try to get away from the water. So, you’re going to create a bigger mess. So, turn off the heat source, smother the flames. If the fire is in the oven, that’s a simple one: keep the door closed. Turn off the oven, keep the door closed. Smoke is going to vent into your house. It’s going to be annoying. We can come help you get the smoke out of your house. But don’t open up the oven door and give it a big, fresh breath-
Grace Hallowell:
Burst of air.
Stuart Marrs:
Burst of air, because it’s just going to make it really angry. And then you’re going to have a big, big problem.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, so try your best to stay calm. I know that’s easier said than done. But like you mentioned, kids, keep them away. I’m a new kitten mom, and he is in the stage of crawling on top of everything. So, I make sure whenever I’m cooking, he is locked in a bedroom with his toys, away from the hot stove or knocking things over to catch them on fire.
Stuart Marrs:
Absolutely. Another good trick is to get a squirt bottle and keep that near. That’s what we do, because we have cats too, so we keep a squirt bottle, and anytime they jump up or do something they’re not allowed to do, they get squirted.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. Teach them as well that fire can be dangerous.
Stuart Marrs:
Yes.
Grace Hallowell:
And it’s dangerous in and outside of the kitchen, especially with certain holiday decorations.
Stuart Marrs:
Yes. So, this time of year, everybody wants their house to smell like pumpkin spice or peppermint or whatever. And so you’ve got candles burning, and candles are the biggest cause of home fires outside of cooking. So, if you’re talking about home fires that are caused by decorations, candles cause almost half of those fires, which is because people leave them unattended, and they’re burning them where they shouldn’t be burning them. I burn a candle in my house: it sits in the very center of the kitchen island, and so it’s two or three feet from everything else. And there’s no other decor around it, there’s no foliage or leaves.
Grace Hallowell:
Snowmen.
Stuart Marrs:
Or snowmen. There’s nothing else around it, it sits right there, in the middle, where little kids can’t reach over and play with it, and the cat can’t easily knock it off. And I don’t leave it burning when I’m not there, when I’m not active in the kitchen or that part of the house. If I’m leaving, even if I’m just going outside to do some work outside, I’ll blow it out. So, always attend to your candles if you’re going to burn candles, and make sure that they’re very far away from anything that can catch on fire. What usually happens is they’re near curtains, or they’re in a bedroom in a pile of clothes. Those tall tapered candles can fall over. Even just striking the match and not throwing the match in the sink or not running it underwater when you’re done with the match. If I strike a match, it goes in the sink. I’ll come back later and pick it up and throw it away. But striking a match and throwing it in the garbage is another common cause of fires.
Grace Hallowell:
Right.
Stuart Marrs:
Yep.
Grace Hallowell:
And candle warmers, I know they make those nowadays, that’s a little bit safer of an alternative than an open flame. And I think they work just as well, scent-wise.
Stuart Marrs:
Mm-hmm.
Grace Hallowell:
But yes, make sure you never leave your candles unattended. And another winter fire hazard can be space heaters.
Stuart Marrs:
Yes.
Grace Hallowell:
I know our weather’s, knock on wood, getting warmer this week, but that doesn’t mean it won’t dip down again, and we might need our space heaters.
Stuart Marrs:
Right, we’re in that awkward time of year where sometimes it’s the air conditioner, sometimes it’s the heater. But if you’re going to use a space heater, make sure you’ve got a modern space heater. If it has a safety switch underneath it, meaning if the cat knocks it over, the safety switch will trigger and it will turn off. If your space heater doesn’t have that safety switch on it, it’s not up-to-date, it’s an older model. Go to the store and get a new space heater, one that’s going to be more safe.
We run them in our house because some people in my family, their feet get cold, so we have space heaters. My rule is use it, but when you leave the room, turn it off. And so even the ones that have thermostats on them, and the fancier ones, or the remote control ones, turn them off when you leave the room, make sure they’re off when you leave the house. If you’re going to run them at night when you’re sleeping, keep them far… Anytime you run them, keep them far away from curtains, far away from furniture. Three feet is the rule. So, give your space heaters space.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. And going outside of Christmas and into New Year’s, it’s the second most popular day for fireworks, which are illegal to pop off in city limits. So, let’s talk about firework safety, and why we shouldn’t set those off.
Stuart Marrs:
Yeah, fireworks, everyone wants to celebrate New Year’s and ring in the New Year’s. A common way to do that is with fireworks, but they are not allowed. You can get a big ticket from our fire marshals if you’re caught with the fireworks, and they will confiscate them. And so there’s alternatives. There’s party poppers. For little kids, they love to blow bubbles. We do glow sticks. And so there’s a lot of alternatives for things that are bright and fun and noisy and festive that are not fireworks. So, if you’re in the city limits, go for one of those other options. Also, another popular way to do New Year’s Eve with little kids is to celebrate at noon.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes.
Stuart Marrs:
And so then you’re not keeping them up to midnight and then they’re not grumpy the next day, but you have your little celebration at noon, and-
Grace Hallowell:
You’re not waking up your neighbors-
Stuart Marrs:
You’re not waking up the neighbors.
Grace Hallowell:
… who might be sleeping.
Stuart Marrs:
Yeah. Exactly, yeah, not everybody stays up to midnight. So, find an alternative. If you want to do something that’s festive and fun and makes noise and makes a mess, fireworks are not the way to go.
Grace Hallowell:
Gotcha. So, where can people find out more information on fire safety tips?
Stuart Marrs:
Fire safety tips for this time of year, anytime of the year, you find information for that at NFPA, that’s the National Fire Protection Association. And they always have good resources and information about any kind of fire and life safety issue.
Grace Hallowell:
All right, thank you so much for joining me today.
Stuart Marrs:
Absolutely. Good to be here.
Grace Hallowell:
Before we go, let’s look at our upcoming city calendar. The deadline to apply for a city committee, board, or commission is December 27th. For more information and to apply, go to CSTX.gov. Century Square’s Holiday Artisan Market is from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM on December 21st. It’s another event featuring live music and exceptional shopping for last minute Christmas gifts. For more on these and other events, go to CSTX.gov/calendar. And that’s what’s up.
About the Blogger
Colin Killian has been with the City of College Station since 2010 after serving 23 years as the associate media relations director for the Texas A&M Athletics Department. He has also worked as a reporter and editor for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and Lewisville News. A native of Hobbs, N.M., Killian graduated from Texas Tech with a bachelor’s degree in journalism/political science.
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