Fire Safety in the Home

The guest speaker at its meeting on 18th May was Julie Owens from the CFA. Julie is a volunteer with 25 years’ experience in the CFA. Julie was formerly in the Warrnambool CFA but now is a member at the Wangoom CFA.

She provided a very informative presentation on general fire safety in the home. With emphasis on:

- People being the main cause of home fires.

- The main risks of fire at home are generally attributed to candles, cooking, BBQs, electric blankets, clothes dryers, power boards (that gather dust and can short), smoking, lithium batteries.

- Most home fires generally start in the kitchen or bedroom.

Julie outlined the limitations of fire extinguishers (small, home extinguishers generally only last for around 20 seconds and users are not familiar with their operation. She strongly advised every home at least having a fire blanket and demonstrated how to best use one.

Julie provided a few valuable brochures on fire safety for members to take home.

She was thanked by President, Graeme Cox, for her informative talk.