Fire Roundup
South King Fire & Rescue call for 2014
Fire Related EMS Related Other Total
April 35 1092 279 1371
Year to date 128 4552 1173 5725
In the month of April South King Fire and Rescue responded to 1371 calls for help. Nine of those were CPR calls, 125 people that were injured in motor vehicle accidents, nine structure fires and a Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
On April 28 after working the night shift a resident in the Steel Lake area came home from work, turned on the baseboard heater and went to bed, she woke several hours later to a home charged with smoke. Her smoke detector did not wake her because the battery had been removed. The fire caused significant damage to her floor and spread to the crawl space beneath the home. Fortunately her two children were not at home and she escaped without injury.
Since the widespread use of smoke alarms began home fire deaths have been cut in half but they only work when they have a working battery
170 people died last year in this country from Carbon Monoxide (CO) in their homes. It has been mandatory in Washington State to have a CO alarm since January of 2013 and landlords are required by law to provide them for their tenants. Many homes are still without this vital protection. One of our citizens recognized the symptoms of CO poisoning which are headache, nausea, dizziness and weakness, they got themselves and their family outside to fresh air and called 911. The problem was traced back to a faulty appliance.
If you don’t have a carbon monoxide alarm and need assistance attaining one call South King Fire and Rescue. We can help 253-946-7347
There were two car vs. bicycle accidents last month with significant injury and with May being “national bike month” there will be increased numbers of bicycles on the road, especially May 7th (bike to school day) and May 16th (bike to work day). SKFR encourages drivers to always share the road and to be especially vigilant during the commute hours.
All cyclist are required to wear a helmet, obey all traffic signals and ride as far to the right as possible on the road. Motorists are required to give three feet of clearance when passing bicycles.
Washington state is ranked as the “number one bicycle friendly state” by the league of American Bicyclists http://wabikes.org/2014/05/01/washington-state-americas-top-bicycle-friendly-state-7th-year-in-a-row/