THE TOWNSHIP OF TEANECK’S COUNCIL HAS AUTHORIZED THE
LAYOFF OF 11 FIREFIGHTERS EFFECTIVE JUNE 25, 2009.
YOUR safety will be reduced
YOUR FAMILY’S safety will be reduced
YOUR BUSINESS will be threatened
COME TO THE COUNCIL MEETING ON
TUESDAY NIGHT JUNE 23, 2009 at 8PM TEANECK TOWN HALL
STAND ALONG WITH YOUR FIREFIGHTERS AND SAY “NO”
TO THE LAYOFF OF 11 FIREFIGHTERS AND
DEMOTION OF 17 EXPERIENCED FIRE OFFICERS.
THE COUNCIL HAS MISLED THE PUBLIC:
THERE IS NOT A BUDGET SHORTFALL BUT A SURPLUS OF
2.6 MILLION DOLLARS.
In an effort to prevent the planned layoffs and demotions, both the Firefighters’ and Fire Officers’ Unions have proposed salary and long term contractual concessions totaling over $600,000 to help balance the 2009 budget.
This flyer was printed by and at the sole expense of the
Teaneck FMBA Local 42 and FMBA 242.
Please feel free to visit our website at
WWW.TEANECKFIRE.COM
Or you can send questions via email to the FMBA at
FMBALOCAL242@YAHOO.COM
A smoke alarm is critical for the early detection of a fire in your home and could mean the difference between life and death. Fires can occur in a variety of ways and in any room of your home. But no matter where or how, having a smoke alarm is the first key step towards your family’s safety.
This information is not intended to be all inclusive, but it is intended to inform the reader about some of the safety aspects and importance of having and maintaining working smoke alarms.
Why are Smoke Alarms Important?
Every year in the United States, about 3,000 people lose their lives in residential fires. In a fire, smoke and deadly gases tend to spread farther and faster than heat. That’s one reason why most fire victims die from inhalation of smoke and toxic gases, not as a result of burns. A majority of fatal fires happen when families are asleep because occupants are unaware of the fire until there is not adequate time to escape. A smoke alarm stands guard around the clock and, when it first senses smoke, it sounds a shrill alarm. This often allows a family the precious but limited time it takes to escape.
About two-thirds of home fire deaths occur in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. Properly installed and maintained smoke alarms are considered to be one of the best and least expensive means of providing an early warning of a potentially deadly fire and could reduce the risk of dying from a fire in your home by almost half.
Where Should Smoke Alarms be Installed?
Smoke alarms should be installed on every level of the home, outside sleeping areas, and inside bedrooms.
A smoke alarm should be installed and maintained according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When installing a smoke alarm, Read more…
What’s a holiday party or even the traditional Christmas morning scene itself without a beautifully decorated tree? If your household, as those of more than 33 million other American homes, includes a natural tree in its festivities, take to heart the sales person’s suggestion—”Keep the tree watered.” That’s good advice and not just to create a fragrant indoor winter wonderland atmosphere. Christmas trees account for 200 fires annually, resulting in 6 deaths, 25 injuries and more than $6 million in property damage. Typically shorts in electrical lights or open flames from candles, lighters or matches start tree fires. Well-watered trees are not a problem. Dry and neglected trees can be.
The video clip above from the Building and Fire Research Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology illustrates what happens when fire touches a dry tree. Within three seconds of ignition, the dry Scotch pine is completely ablaze. At five seconds, the fire extends up the tree and black smoke with searing gases streaks across the ceiling. Fresh air near the floor feeds the fire. The sofa, coffee table and the carpet ignite prior to any flame contact. Within 40 seconds “flashover” occurs – that’s when an entire room erupts into flames, oxygen is depleted and dense, deadly toxic smoke engulfs the scene.
Wet trees tell a different story. For comparative purposes, the NIST fire safety engineers selected a green Scotch pine, had it cut in their presence, had an additional two inches cut from the trunk’s bottom, and placed the tree in a stand with at least a 7.6 liter water capacity. The researchers maintained the Scotch pine’s water on a daily basis. A single match could not ignite the tree. A second attempt in which an electric current ignited an entire matchbook failed to fire the tree. Finally they applied an open flame to the tree using a propane torch. The branches ignited briefly, but self-extinguished when the researchers removed the torch from the branches. As NIST fire safety engineers say: REMEMBER, A WET TREE IS A SAFE TREE!
Virginia Department Cited in Blaze That Injured 7 Firefighters
ERIKA JACOBSON
Courtesy of Leesburg Today
The Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management has been cited by the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s Occupational Safety and Health Compliance division for violation of workplace safety standards. The violation notice stems from a May 25 house fire in which seven crew members were injured.
Specifically, the violation is for “employees that were exposed to fire hazards while engaged in search, rescue and interior structural firefighting activities at a single family residence.”
The department has presented additional information to the state agency in an effort to reverse the findings of a violation. Fire-Rescue Chief Joseph Pozzo said this is the department’s first occupation health and safety citation.
