City of Leeds Spring Safety Tips
Hi everybody, this is Chuck Parsons, Fire Chief for the City of Leeds Fire Department here for some safety tips for the springtime. We know spring’s coming around and we'll be using lawnmowers, weed eaters, and picking up debris around the house so I’ve got some safe tips for you.
Gasoline Safety
First, I'm going to talk about gasoline. Gasoline should be stored in a proper container and should be stored in the gas cans that are designed for storing gasoline products. You really don't want to store in your house. You don't want to store in the basement. You want to put it in an outside shed or detached garage is best. You want your caps tightly capped on the gas cans when you're not in use. When you're cutting the grass, you want to safely fill your lawnmowers with gasoline so you’re really not advised to fill your lawnmowers when it's hot. It can cause a fire when the gas hits the hot exhaust on the lawnmowers. Also, the same way with your weed eaters. You want it cool before you put gasoline in, mix gas in your weed eaters.
Year-Round No Burn Ordinance
You’re also going to be removing debris, pine needles, and stuff from around your house. We asked that you do not burn it. The City of Leeds does have a burn ordinance year-round. I know there are times during the year when certain counties in the state have no burn orders. The City of Leeds has a year-round burn ordinance so please don't be burning your debris, especially construction materials. You can put limbs, trees, and debris like that out at the roadside for the city for pick up. Limbs and pine needles need to be bagged and placed at the edge of the road and it will be picked up.
Grilling Safety
It's also about time to start grilling again so inspect your grills to make sure they're in good working order. With your charcoal grills, you don't want any grease buildup. You want to clean them up. Make sure they're ready to be used. With propane grills and gas grills, you want to make sure that your gas line hoses are not leaking and that your gas tanks are proper for your LP gas.
Keep Debris Away From Your Home
Also, when you do your debris, you're going to remove debris from around your house. You want a good clear area around your house from debris where there are leaves, limbs, branches, whatever, you don't want piles of wood or anything close to your house. When wood fires do break out or fires do break out, that's a hazard around your house so you don't want to create a heavy load around your house for fires.
Smoke Detector Safety
Also, this time of year, take time to check your smoke detectors. Change the batteries on your smoke detectors. We suggest you change your batteries yearly and check them every month. Go by and hit the button to make sure that they work. If you have a chirping noise on your smoke detectors, that's usually a sign to have your battery replaced. In a lot of these newer houses, code says you have to have a hardwired system, but hardwired smoke detectors typically have a battery backup for when the power goes out. A chirping noise usually means that your smoke detector needs a new battery.
Leeds Fire Department Can Help You With Smoke Detectors
If you need smoke detectors or you need us to check them, call us. We have smoke detectors through grants from the Red Cross and Alabama Fire College. You can ask us to come check your smoke detectors or you would like smoke detectors installed and we'll arrange to have that done. There's a number you can call: 205-699-2581, listen for the options, the first thing it's going to say is if you have an emergency, call 911. It's going to list options for different departments, listen for the fire department, and choose that option for the fire department. If we do not answer that number, leave a message. THAT IS NOT AN EMERGENCY NUMBER. It’s an admin non-emergency number for us so when we're out on calls or doing things, sometimes, we're not able to answer that number, leave a message.
Check Carbon Monoxide Detectors Regularly, Too!
Same thing for carbon monoxide detectors. If you have gas appliances in your house, you're going to have carbon monoxide detectors so you want to check your batteries also like you do your smoke detectors. Last thing I want to kind of go over with you is an emergency plan for your family. As always, prepare for the worst hope for the best is what we do so prepare that if your house ever does catch on fire, you have a plan with your family to escape, get out of the house and have a central meeting point. If you have a mailbox by your road, that's a good place, but away from your house have a pre-planned meeting place where all your family will come. You can then call us and say, hey, everybody's out of the house and we'll know everybody's out of the house. Again, our routine number is 205-699-2581 and you can choose the option for the fire department, if you have any questions or need anything.
Again, our routine number is 205-699-2581 and you can choose the option for the fire department, if you have any questions or need anything.
All right, you have a good day!
Leeds Fire Chief Chuck Parsons