Fire!!

One home in Silver Creek has already been gutted by a home fire. Not long ago, another resident turned to see her countertop mini-oven engulfed in flames that reached up to the overhead counters. As her grade-school sons tried to read the instructions on her old fire extinguisher, she struggled to use it, only to discover it no longer worked. She ended up grabbing the mini-oven with her bare hands and ran with it through the house, out the garage and onto the street where she let it burn itself out. She got burned in the process.

Once a fire starts in your kitchen, your BBQ, your garage, or anywhere, you may have only 30 seconds to put it out before it gets out of control. If you don’t have a fire extinguisher nearby, you will probably need that time to call 911and evacuate everyone out of the house.

An inexpensive fire extinguisher is all you need to put out a small stove fire, BBQ fire, or electrical fire. Without it, your house and your neighbors houses are at risk. If you have fire extinguishers that are several years old, replace them.

The next time you go to a hardware store, pick up several A-B-C type fire extinguishers, and keep one by each adult’s bedside, one in the kitchen, one in your garage, one near the BBQ, and one in your car. Extinguishers are the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

To use a fire extinguisher: pull the pin that locks the handle. Squeeze the handle and aim at the base of the flame in a sweeping motion, until you smother the oxygen at the source. Call 911 as soon as possible, even if the flame appears out.

Where Are Your Important Papers?

During a disaster you may need to evacuate your home rapidly. You will want to have some important legal documents with you and others in a safe place. Take steps now to ensure that you safeguard your legal documents and have appropriate access to them for disaster recovery!

Open a bank safe deposit box, or buy a fireproof safe for essential, irreplaceable, original documents. Scan important documents into your computer and save copies on disk in a safe deposit box if the volume of paper is too great to store in a safe.
Documents such as these:
• Family birth certificates, marriage certificates, and divorce papers
• Citizenship papers
• Military records and discharge papers, copies of the face of military ID cards
• Copies of insurance policies with agent contact information
• A file (saved only on a floppy disk) listing bank accounts, credit cards, passwords and PIN numbers
• Accountant’s copy of your income tax filings for 7 years
• Securities, US Savings Bonds, certificates of deposit, etc.
• Original Social Security Cards for all family members
• Titles and deeds for property and vehicles as well as copies of the registrations

A Document Cache

Make a GoKit Document Cache to keep in your family emergency kit. Organize these records in a 1” ring binder with page protectors, or in a waterproof container. You can use a 14” piece of 3” PVC pipe and two end caps. Use adhesive to attach one end cap permanently, and use a threaded cap for the other end. Fill the book or tube with the following documents/copies and update it each spring and fall.

• Copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates, divorce papers, wills, living wills, and living trusts.
• Emergency contact information for all family members: work address and phone, school address and phone, day care/after school care address and phone
• Out of area contact person’s name, address and phone number
• Copies of immigration and citizenship papers and original passports.
• Military papers and ID cards to prove Veterans Benefits eligibility
• Copies of medical information for each family member: physicians names and numbers, prescription drug names and dosages, pharmacy name and number
• Copies of insurance policies with 24 hour contact information for each policy
• Copies of the tax bill, mortgage papers or property deed to prove home ownership, or lease copy to show eligibility for alternate shelter
• Copies of 2 utility bills less than 1 year old or copy of lease to prove residency
• Copies of the credit card list and emergency numbers to report lost cards
• Copies of all family drivers licenses and auto registrations
• Copies of all Social Security Cards
• One pad of checks and one credit card for an account that you seldom use. Use for emergency expenses: food, alternate lodging, replacement clothing
• $50 in small bills and $10 in quarters
• Copies of funeral arrangements in place or last wishes for adults.

Video Your House

The best way to remember what you had after a fire or robbery is to video your house and significant contents. Describe what you are looking at as you take the video and narrate important information as you go. Keep the videotape in your safe deposit box. Photos are the next best option, and digital photos can be saved to disk for easy storage in a safe deposit box.

When Fire Threatens

When a grass fire on the hillside near Snowdon Place and Gleneagles Drive started moving closer to homes, some residents started to wonder if they should pack up some valuables and move to safety. But when you may only have minutes, how do you decide what is valuable enough to take?

Certainly the tendency is to want The Valuables and Irreplaceables: favorite photos, family videos, treasured momentos, currency, jewelry. But there are some important things that you may really need that would be easier to take if you planned ahead and stored them in a home safe or an easily accessible location where you could grab them and run if necessary. Here are some suggestions:

Important records
In some cases you may need to keep the originals, but in most cases a scanned copy saved on a floppy disk or CD would be adequate, and a lot easier to take (even better would be to have regular computer back-ups of these files stored in a safe deposit box).
• Stock certificates, original bonds, notes
• Trusts, wills, Powers of Attorney, and Durable Powers of Attorney for Healthcare
• Insurance documents so you have immediate reference to what losses are covered
• Legal property ownership documents for homes and real estate holdings, vehicles, other personal property
• Recent tax returns and supporting tax records
• Critical medical records and prescriptions

Documentation of your home assets
Most insurance agents will recommend that if you lose everything in a fire, you will need to remember and document item-by-item what you had so they know what needs to be replaced.

They advise clients to take a videotape or photos of all the rooms in the home and all the major possessions so it is easier to remember what you had when you can no longer see it. It is amazing how much you can forget when you have to just sit down and write a list. Photos and videos are a must, but even better is a copy of receipts for major items or a copy of your credit card bills and check books scanned onto a disk. Checks for major building improvements, credit card receipts for furnishings and personal possessions provide an excellent proof to insurance companies of the value of your personal property. You don’t have to record all your possessions, just the ones you want your insurance company to replace.

The get-out-quick personal packs
A small duffle bag or backpack should contain:
• Layers of comfortable clothing and a change of clothes, sturdy shoes for walking on fire, glass
• a pair of sturdy leather gloves that will allow you to handle broken glass or a hot doorknob

Include a waist pack with:
• important convenience items like eye glasses or contact lenses, regular medications, and first aid supplies, and
• extra keys to the house, in case you need to get back into the house a different way than you came out,
• extra keys to your cars in case you need to back the cars out of the garage quickly,
• cash and/or credit cards when you can’t get back into the house and need emergency shelter or supplies,
• copies of health insurance cards and drivers license, in you can’t get your wallet
• a photo identification in each person’s waist pack in case they get lost, injured, or unconscious.

July Fireworks, Fires, and Kids

Many people buy fireworks outside the city for their kids, not realizing that all fireworks are illegal in the San Jose. Most fireworks injuries happen to children, mainly boys aged 10-14. The most typical injuries are head burns.

Fireworks are also an easy way to start grass fires in the dry common areas around our homes, especially sparklers, cherry bombs, or anything with a fuse. Play it safe for your kids and your home, and watch the professionals light up the sky this year.

Be alert! People cause most fires

Most fires are preventable, caused by carelessness. How?
• - Careless smoking habits (the biggest single cause)
• - Playing with matches or fireworks (children and teens)
• - Combustible materials and flammable liquids
• - Defective electrical wiring and faulty appliances
• - Overheated cooking equipment (stovetop, BBQs)
• - Open flames and sparks (fireplaces, outdoor firepits)

Going on vacation? Don't forget...

If a fire or earthquake happens while you are gone, no one may know if you are still inside. To avoid having someone break down your door to attempt a rescue:
1. Tell your next-door neighbors. Give them your date of return, and phone numbers to reach you.
2. Exchange house keys and security codes so they can get in to check up on things.
3. Introduce house sitters to your neighbors so your neighbors don’t suspect a break-in.
4. Familiarize your pets with several neighbors to avoid alarm if neighbors have to enter the house.