October is National Fire Safety Month; October 9-15 is Fire Prevention Week
WORCESTER, Mass., Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Kathy Notarianni, Ph.D., is a
fire safety expert and the mother of three young children. How does she
safeguard her own home from fire?
For National Fire Safety Month in October and Fire Prevention Week
(October 9-15), Notarianni, director of Center for Firesafety Studies at
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (http://www.wpi.edu), has compiled eight
safety tips she and her husband, Michael (a retired fire chief, who now runs
his own fire and safety consulting company), practice in their Massachusetts
home.
Parents ask doctors how they treat their children when they are sick, and
stockbrokers are asked what stocks they buy for themselves. So when
Notarianni is asked how she safeguards her home, these are some simple tips
she gives:
* Make sure your home has at least one smoke detector on every floor and
outside of sleeping areas. For extra safety, install smoke alarms both
inside and outside of sleeping areas.
* Change your smoke detector battery at least once a year (and when it
makes a chirping sound, which means the battery is running low). A
good time to do this is in the fall when we set our clocks back at the
end of daylight-saving time.
* Test your smoke detector once each month by pushing the test button.
* Do not run extension cords under rugs.
* Unplug appliances when not in use.
* Do not leave space heaters unattended.
* Develop and practice a family escape plan.
* Have a pre-arranged meeting place outside the house.
"As simple as these tips are, Americans have become complacent when it
comes to home fire safety," says Notarianni. "As a result, the United States
still has one of the highest rates of death from fire in the industrialized
world. Yet, by remembering to take these few easy steps, people can
dramatically reduce the risk of fire in the home."
Notarianni is an expert in the highly specialized field of fire protection
engineering, which incorporates elements of civil, structural, electrical, and
chemical engineering to make structures, vehicles, clothing, and people safer
from fire. In addition to directing the Center for Firesafety Studies, she
heads the WPI Fire Protection Engineering Department, and is an associate
professor of fire protection engineering. Prior to joining WPI, Notarianni
spent 15 years with the federal government's National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST), where she led a program to quantify fire events for
fire hazard and risk assessment. She has been recognized by the Society of
Fire Protection Engineers and the U.S. Department of Commerce with awards for
leadership and performance.
WPI is home to the world's leading educational program in fire protection
engineering. In addition to offering the nation's first master's degree
program, the university was the first to provide a graduate-level program in
fire protection engineering via distance learning in 1993, and it grants the
world's only formal Ph.D. program in the field.
Notarianni is available for interviews to discuss the important subject of
fire safety in the home and her eight tips. Contact WPI Media Relations at
508-831-5706 or media@wpi.edu.
About Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Founded in 1865 as one of the nation's first technological universities,
WPI is renowned for its innovative project-based undergraduate curriculum and
global projects program. With 2,770 undergraduates and 1,040 full- and part-
time graduate students, WPI offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in more
than 30 disciplines in engineering, science and the management of technology.
Working in more than 30 research institutes, centers and laboratories, the
university's faculty and students are engaged in cutting-edge research in a
broad range of fields.
SOURCE Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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Related links:
http://www.wpi.edu
CONTACT:
WPI Media Relations, +1-508-831-5706,
media@wpi.edu
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