Make Labor Day fire safety a priority

  • Published
  • By Robert J. Ruminski
  • 60 Air Mobility Wing Voluntary Protection Program
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  An exciting time of the year has finally arrived. Headlined by a four-day weekend, Labor Day is a time for family and friends to gather together. 

Although traditional festivities include a street parade to exhibit to the public the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations, many Americans celebrate the end of summer. 

It's a time when the children return to school, fall ushers in football season and the hills turn green from the rains of fall and winter. 

It's also a time when fire safety and prevention are a top priority, especially this weekend. A wide variety of contained fires are started ranging from backyard cooking to camp fires. 

High temperatures with dropping humidity can help ignite the already dry grasses. 

To witness the danger, Team Travis need look no further than the blaze currently raging in the Angeles National Forest in Southern California, which had burned nearly 219 square miles, destroyed more than five dozen homes, killed two firefighters and forced thousands of people from their homes as of Wednesday evening. 

The Travis Voluntary Protection Program asks us all to "act and feel" like our own safety managers. "Wingman taking care of wingman" assists each of us in understanding this safety concept. 

An important aspect of fire safety at work and home is evacuation. For you and your family to be proactive, plan ahead. While standing anywhere in your workspace, can you close your eyes and point to a fire extinguisher, primary and secondary exit? 

Can your family do the same at home? Teach your children how to exit doors and windows and have a primary and secondary rally point for them, even if you aren't with them. 

Plan with your neighbors to assist each other in this regard. Have a rally point off base to link up with family and friends if you get separated. You may not be at home when the fire starts, so your family needs a set plan and place to go. 

Complete a home emergency bail-out bag and place it in an easily accessible place, possibly a closet near the front door for worst-case scenarios. It should contain food, water, fire provisions and emergency gear. Our emergency/disaster preparedness folks as well as many Internet sites have the knowledge to help build these bags. 

If there is an emergency recall and you cannot return home, have a secondary meeting place in case families get separated. 

Construct a bail-out bag for all your vehicles and keep it in them. If wildfires or natural disasters strike, you can egress the area while much of the unprepared population experiences varying states of chaos. 

Loss of possessions due to fire is tragic. Recovering from the physical and psychological pain and suffering of burns is life changing. Be proactive rather than reactive. Educate each wingman member of your family in fire safety. 

Be fire smart and have a great Labor Day weekend!