Entries by Mike Watson, Smoke Alarm Medic

3 Tips for Smoke Alarm Installation

One of the questions we are asked repeatedly is, how do I know if my smoke alarms are properly installed? The last thing anybody wants, including the fire department, is to find out during a fire that the smoke alarms are not functioning properly. While we certainly suggest using a professional service like Smoke Alarm […]

Keep Your Pets Safe in a Disaster

As firefighters we are always faced with the unfortunate situation where pets get left behind in emergencies as families scramble to save their loved ones. The pet is usually not far behind on the checklist, but by then we are usually hard at work extinguishing the fire and ensuring the safety of the occupants. A […]

Tips for Power Tool Safety

As firefighters we encounter a lot of strange things inside garages, especially when they catch fire. One time, I had a call for a garage fire where the owner was smoking inside his garage while he was cutting plywood. Between the heat and sparks from his tools and his cigarette ashes, something caught fire and […]

5 Carbon Monoxide Safety Tips

As a hazardous materials technician, I am on calls everyday for check odors. But Carbon Monoxide is never one of those and it’s quite possibly the most dangerous common gas we all encounter everyday. Fortunately now, the law requires CO alarms in every home. But those are only as good as the homeowner maintaining them. […]

Which Home Alarms Do You Need?

Part of our job as firefighters is to educate the public on fire safety awareness and prevention. We have found that people don’t always know what type of alarms they need in their home, or how long those alarms last. Since the last housing boom in the early 2000’s, many people are approaching fifteen years […]

Homeowners Insurance 101

As a firefighter we see the devastating potential that even a minor kitchen or dryer fire can possess. Keeping up to date smoke detectors and doing your part to eliminate fire hazards like having clogged dryer vents can go a long way to preventing a claim, which is the best way to keep your rates […]

Protect yourself from Carbon Monoxide—at Home and Work

As firefighters we know that Carbon Monoxide is a silent killer. It is a danger for us on all emergency incidents, so we are well versed on the dangers. Every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hundreds of people in the U.S. die from carbon-monoxide (CO) poisoning—and the invisible, odorless gas […]