While this should be of concern to all homeowners, it is particularly important in multi-family dwellings such as apartments and condominiums where the proximity of structures and the density of occupants multiplies the risk to health and safety. Apartment owners and managers know this well. Consider:
- 60% of all apartment fires involve cooking equipment – specifically stove fires;
- fire-related property damage is expected to reach $1 billion this year;
- apartments have a 1 in 20 chance of a cooking fire this year.
A single kitchen fire can menace hundreds, even thousands of residents, and can lead to displacement of residents, lengthy business disruptions and increased insurance costs.
Fire Prevention Week (October 5-11) provides an excellent opportunity to consider not only how we should pay attention in the kitchen, but also to review the safety equipment that we have access to in order to prevent damage and injuries from kitchen fires.
As firefighters, we very much appreciate the value of smoke alarms. They are crucial safeguards that can minimize the extent of fire damage and help to protect residents from injuries and even death due to fire.
Yet smoke alarms are useful only if people can hear them and respond appropriately. When smoke alarms go off a fire may already be in progress. And if the homeowners have left home, or even stepped out on the patio to interact with guests, the fire can spread quickly to other parts of the house, causing extensive damage, even when fire department responds as quickly as possible.