Erika Leader-Young is a firefighter/paramedic and a public education coordinator. One of her biggest jobs is helping folks understand how they can take simple measures to avoid home fires.
Erika Leader-Young can tell you from first-hand experience how a fire can disrupt your life—or take your life away. Leader-Young is a firefighter/paramedic with the New Lenox Fire Protection District. She has served as the district’s public education coordinator for two years in a full-time capacity and nearly twice that long counting part-time work. And she knows how quickly fires spread and how they can turn deadly, too. More than 3,500 Americans die each year in fires and 18,300 are injured, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. And Leader-Young said an overwhelming number of fires occur in the home. “Fire doubles in size every 17 seconds, ” she said. “People can go on YouTube and see how quickly it spreads. We did a side-by-side …
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New Lenox Fire Protection District
261 E Maple St, New Lenox, IL
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One-third of home Christmas tree fires are caused by electrical problems.
One-third of home Christmas tree fires are caused by electrical problems.
Candles and twinkling lights are beautiful at Christmas, but they have the potential to ruin holiday celebrations. Christmas trees and a heat source too close to the tree are blamed for one in every five of roughly 260 structure fires each year, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Most fire departments have already set out their large green wreath that are decked with red bulbs and a red bow. The decorations are pretty, but they're poignant too. The red wreaths are a reminder to be safe when decorating this holiday season. The wreaths are part of the” Keep the Wreath Red” fire safety campaign, a statewide program that reminds you to practice fire safety during the holiday season. The wreaths feature decorative red lights…
Celebrate a risk-free Thanksgiving.
- OPINION
- On opinion
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Friday, November 16, 2012
Mike F.
3:33 pm on Thursday, December 27, 2012
My escape routes: either of the stairwells, or if those are blocked, seal the doors with wet towels, go into my bedroom (which faces the parking lot of my condo complex), hang a bedsheet out the window and wait for the fire department. Also, I will have my cell phone with me so I can have the 911 operator relay my information. more ›