The following public service announcements are provided to you by the Marysville Division of Fire.  For further information please contact the Marysville Division of Fire, 209 South Main Street, Marysville, OH 43040, (937) 642-2065.

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Winter Fire Safety

Be sure all furnace controls and emergency shutoffs are in proper working condition.

Leave furnace repairs to qualified specialists.  Do not attempt repairs yourself unless you are qualified, and have your furnace/chimney inspected annually by a qualified service technician.

Keep trash and other combustibles away from the heating system.

Never discard hot ashes inside or near the home.  Place them in a metal container outside and well away from the house.

If you use an electric heater, be sure not to overload the circuit.  Only use extension cords which have the necessary rating to carry the amp load.

Frozen water pipes? Never try to thaw them with a blow torch or other open flame, (otherwise the pipe could conduct the heat and ignite the wall structure inside the wall space).

If windows are used as emergency exits in your home, practice using them in the event fire should strike.  Be sure that all windows open easily.  Home escape ladders are recommended.

Plan and practice a home escape plan with your family.

Be sure every level of your home has a working smoke alarm, and be sure to check and clean it on a monthly basis.

IF THERE IS A FIRE HYDRANT NEAR YOUR HOME YOU CAN ASSIST THE FIRE DEPARTMENT BY KEEPING THE HYDRANT CLEAR OF SNOW SO IN THE EVENT IT IS NEEDED, IT CAN BE LOCATED.

And last (but not least); take a personal home fire safety inventory of your home for hidden fire and safety hazards. A sample checklist is available by clicking on the link on the right side of this page.

Ice Safety

If you go out onto the ice...

• Always go with a "buddy", always have a cell phone, and always tell someone where you are going and what time you expect to return.
• If you fall through the ice, Keep calm and think out a solution.
• Ice awls are an invaluable tool and can be commercially purchased or homemade (basically a hand-held dowel rod with a nail or spike protruding from the bottom of the dowel rod).  The victim can utilize this tool to "self extricate" form the hole.

If someone falls through the ice...

• Act quickly and immediately call 911 for help.  Make sure properly trained and equipped rescue personnel are alerted to respond.
• Shout to and encourage the victim until help arrives.
• If you are able to safely do so, reach to the victim with a rope, ladder, or other object or throw a rope or something that will float to the victim.
• DO NOT go out onto the ice.  Many times would-be rescuers become victims themselves.

Total immersion in cold water is painful and quickly disorients the victim.  The dangers of ice should never be underestimated.  It should be noted that bodies of water owned by the City, including the reservoir, prohibit any activity in the water or on the ice.  As with most things in life, common sense goes a long way.  Don't become a statistic.

Holiday Fire Safety

Decorating homes and businesses is a long-standing tradition around the holiday season.  Unfortunately, these same decorations may increase your chances of fire.  Following a few simple fire safety tips can keep electric lights, candles, and the ever popular Christmas tree from creating a tragedy.  Learn how to prevent a fire and what to do in case a fire starts in your home.  Help ensure that you have a fire safe holiday season.

Christmas Trees:  If your household includes a natural tree in its festivities, take to heart the sales person's suggestion - "Keep the tree wanted."  Christmas trees account for hundreds of fires annually.  Typically, shorts in electrical lights or open flames from candles, lighters or matches start tree fires.  Well-watered trees are not a problem.  A dry and neglected tree can be.  Do not place your tree close to a heat source, including a fireplace or heat vent.  The heat will dry out the tree, causing it to be more easily ignited by heat, flame or sparks.  Keep the tree stand filled with water at all times.  When disposing of a Christmas Tree, never put tree branches or needles in a fireplace or wood-burning stove.  When the tree becomes dry, discard promptly.

Holiday Lights:  Inspect holiday lights each year for frayed wires, bare spots, gaps in the insulation, broken or cracked sockets, and excessive kinking or wear before putting them up.  Use only lighting listed by an approved testing laboratory.  Do not link more than three light strands, unless the directions indicate it is safe.  Connect strings of lights to an extension cord before plugging the cord into the outlet.  Make sure to periodically check the wires - they should not be warm to the touch.

Do not leave holiday lights on unattended!

Holiday Decorations:  All decorations should be nonflammable or flame-retardant and placed away from heat vents.  If you are using a metallic or artificial tree, make sure it is flame retardant.

Don't Block Exits:  Ensure that trees and other holiday decorations do not block an exit way.  In the event of a fire, time is of the essence.  A blocked entry/exit way puts you and your family at risk.

Never Put Wrapping Paper in the Fireplace:  Wrapping paper in the fireplace can result in a very large fire, throwing off dangerous sparks and embers that may result in a chimney fire.

Avoid Using Lit Candles:  If you do use lit candles, make sure they are in stable holders and place them where they cannot be easily knocked down.  Never leave the house with candles burning.  Do not go near a Christmas tree with an open flame - candles, lighters or matches.

Winter Fire Safety Tips

For more information about the causes of winter fires, winter storm fire safety, holiday fire safety, and tips that will help prevent the incidence of fire in the home, visit www.usfa.fema.gov/winter and www.nfpa.org/winter.

United States Fire Administration Install, Inspect, Protect Campaign

More than 3,500 people die in home fires each year in the United States.  If a fire breaks out in your home while you're asleep, how will you know?  Having a working smoke alarm is like having a fire safety official on duty in your home, 24 hours a day.  The following tips can save your life:

• Place properly installed and maintained smoke alarms both inside and outside of sleeping areas on every level of your home.
• Interconnected smoke alarms are best, because if one sounds, they all sound.
• Get smoke alarms that can sound fast.  Every residence and place where people sleep should be equipped with both ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms or "dual sensor smoke alarms", which contain both ionization and photoelectric smoke sensors.
• Inspect and test smoke alarms monthly and change alkaline batteries at least once every year, or as instructed.
• If possible, install residential fire sprinklers in your home.

For more information on the Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign and other fire prevention information, please visit www.usfa.dhs.gov/smokealarms.  To learn more about the Marysville Fire Department and Union County programs, please feel free to contact the Marysville Fire Department at (937) 642-2065.

Early Warning and Severe Weather

It is important to take a look at the “layers of protection” that are available to give you early warning as well as their capabilities and specific limitations. The first and most obvious is personal awareness of current and impending weather, attention to televised, radio, and print media, and most importantly having a personal “disaster plan”, practicing the plan, having an “emergency preparedness kit”, and having a NOAA Weather Radio. This item is frequently overlooked, but critical. Have a NOAA weather Radio (with a battery backup), or other radio/device that has NOAA Weather Radio broadcast ability. For more information on this, go to http://www.weather.gov/nwr.

The most common (and familiar) early warning system is commonly referred to as “tornado sirens” or “Early Warning Sirens”. The City of Marysville has 11 sirens with overlapping zones of coverage. These zones of coverage are set at 1 mile, and based on the most recent federal studies. EWS (sirens) are tested weekly by the county 911 center, once a month by the backup city police dispatch center and “silently tested” on a daily basis. All of the city’s tornado sirens have a battery backup in case power fails, and are monitored thru software in the city police dispatch center to ensure a “ready status”. It is important to note that EWS (tornado sirens) are an OUTDOOR WARNING DEVICE. The range of a given siren can vary significantly dependent on buildings, wind, traffic, and other uncontrollable factors.

Cable TV also has a “preempt” capability that allows the city police dispatch center the ability to transmit a weather warning. Obviously you have to be a cable subscriber and have your television on for this to be effective. In 2007 the city instituted an Emergency Alert Radio Station (EARS). This is a low-power AM radio station-AM1650, which re-broadcasts NOAA weather information, traffic information, and safety alerts. This radio system has an effective range of 3 to 5 miles (even further), depending on atmospheric conditions. Severe weather alerts also preempt this radio broadcast, advising motorists of the current threat.

“Code Red” and “Code Red Weather” are companion systems that are financed thru the cooperative efforts of the city, county, and townships. The Code Red system can be utilized for community notification in a variety of circumstances where immediate notification is important to the safety and welfare of the community. This state of the art system can selectively notify residents based on geographic location, dependent on the location of the emergency. The addition of Code Red Weather has further refined this notification ability to automatically deliver targeted weather notifications for the immediate threat of severe weather. This system actually utilizes computerized data that, within seconds of a severe weather alert (like a tornado warning), models the storm path and immediately calls those within the projected path of the storm. You must subscribe to Code Red and Code Red Weather. To do so you can log on to www.co.union.oh.us and click on the Code Red icon, or you can call the Union County Sheriff’s Department at 645.4110.

The most recent addition to our “warning network” is the addition of a service called “Nixle”, a real-time messaging system that will allow you to receive timely alerts, advisories and community information by email and text message. To access this service you must go to the city’s web site: www.marysvilleohio.org , and click on the “get connected” icon in the upper right hand corner of the home page and follow the instructions. For more information about this service you can also go to the web site www.nixle.com.

There are many ways to prepare oneself for severe weather. The most important is a general awareness of current and future weather conditions as well as preparation for the “what if”. Thinking about it after the siren sounds is too late. Be aware of the various methods of early warning, understand the importance of tornado drills, family preparedness, and think about the “what if”.