It is a pretty safe bet that a majority of the United States has weather that could warrant lighting up the fireplace and creating a warmer (if not romantic) atmosphere over the holidays. With all the crazy weather, it is quite possible that we end up NEEDING it when the power goes out!

Like with every good thing comes a risk if you are not prepared and careful. Sparking up that fireplace is no different.

According to the United States Fire Administration, more than one-third of Americans use fireplaces, wood stoves and other fuel-fired appliances as primary heat sources in their homes.

Heating fires account for 36% of residential home fires in rural areas every year. Often these fires are due to creosote buildup in chimneys and stovepipes.

Before you light up the hearth or that wood stove, make sure you have done the proper maintenance on that chimney!

Here’s some Safety Tips for you…

Keep Fireplaces and Wood Stoves Clean

* Have your chimney or wood stove inspected and cleaned annually by a certified chimney specialist.
* Clear the area around the hearth of debris, decorations and flammable materials.
* Leave glass doors open while burning a fire. Leaving the doors open ensures that the fire receives enough air to ensure complete combustion and keeps creosote from building up in the chimney.
* Close glass doors when the fire is out to keep air from the chimney opening from getting into the room. Most glass fireplace doors have a metal mesh screen which should be closed when the glass doors are open. This mesh screen helps keep embers from getting out of the fireplace area.
* Always use a metal mesh screen with fireplaces that do not have a glass fireplace door.
* Install stovepipe thermometers to help monitor flue temperatures.
* Keep air inlets on wood stoves open, and never restrict air supply to fireplaces. Otherwise you may cause creosote buildup that could lead to a chimney fire.
* Use fire-resistant materials on walls around wood stoves.


Protect the Outside of Your Home

* Stack firewood outdoors at least 30 feet away from your home.
* Keep the roof clear of leaves, pine needles and other debris.
* Cover the chimney with a mesh screen spark arrester.
* Remove branches hanging above the chimney, flues or vents.

Want to know more? Stay tuned or CLICK HERE

As of last weekend, this blog was one year old. The anniversary came and went without a flutter; we had no party, no balloons, no fanfare. It was just the end of a year filled with disasters around the country, educational events and tours and thousands of conversations with folks that just did not want to think about what would happen if it happened to them.
As we enter the winter months, we are looking ahead to the next threats: cold, wind, ice and snow. This week and next the team is touring on a special tour that focuses on home disaster kits. It’s really pretty simple: just ask yourself, “What do I need for 3 days?”
As the colder winds blow, make sure you have that smaller kit in your car, and take a look at your family’s disaster plan for the winter months. Don’t rule out the other weather we sometimes think is bound by seasonal dates either! North Carolina is having a hard time waking up this morning in the aftermath of an EF2 tornado.
Stay tuned to the weather, the radio, and the needs your family may have in the very near future.

The lack of high rise buildings and traffic sometimes make it easy to forget that we are living in an age of technology. Looking out over the fields, listening to the coyotes run at night and feeling breezes that blow through the buffalo grass, we sometimes can forget just how reliant we are on cyber-world; no different than the bustling cities around the world.

October is Cyber-Security Awareness Month.

With the growth of technology comes threats. The cyber threat has become one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face. America’s competitiveness and economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on effective cybersecurity. Every Internet user has a role to play in securing cyberspace and ensuring the safety of ourselves, our families, and our communities online.

This October marks the seventh annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security. Americans can follow a few simple steps to keep themselves safe online. By doing so, you will not only keep your personal assets and information secure but you will also help to improve the overall security of cyberspace.

Here are a few steps provided for by the Department of Homeland Security that you can take to not only participate in National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but also enhance cybersecurity 365 days a year:

There are many things businesses, schools, and home users can do to practice cybersecurity during National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and beyond.

• Make sure that you have anti-virus software and firewalls installed, properly configured, and up-to-date. New threats are discovered every day, and keeping your software updated is one of the easier ways to protect yourself from an attack. Set your computer to automatically update for you.
• Update your operating system and critical program software. Software updates offer the latest protection against malicious activities. Turn on automatic updating if that feature is available.
• Back up key files. If you have important files stored on your computer, copy them onto a removable disc and store it in a safe place.
• Join the National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign: Stop. Think. Connect.

Endorse - Demonstrate your commitment to cybersecurity.

• Show your organization's commitment to cybersecurity and National Cybersecurity Awareness Month by signing the online endorsement form at www.staysafeonline.org.
• Create a section for cybersecurity on your organization's Web site. Download banners at www.staysafeonline.org and post them on your organization's home page.
• Add a signature block to your e-mail:
  "October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Stay Safe Online! Visit http://www.staysafeonline.org for the latest cybersecurity tips."

Educate - Find out what more you can do to secure cyberspace and how you can share this with others.

• Participate in the National Cyber Security Alliance Cyber Security Awareness Volunteer Education (C-SAVE) Program and help educate elementary, middle, and high-school students about Internet safety and security. For more information or to download the C-Save curriculum, visit www.staysafeonline.org/content/c-save.
• Review cybersecurity tips with your family.
• Print and post  cybersecurity tips near your computer and network printers.
• Use regular communications in your business—newsletters, e-mail alerts, Web sites, etc.—to increase awareness on issues like updating software processes, protecting personal identifiable information, and securing your wireless network.
• Educate family, friends, peers at www.StaySafeOnline.org

Report Suspicious Cyber Activity to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) by visiting https://forms.us-cert.gov/report/ or by calling 1-888-282-0870. You may also visit http://www.staysafeonline.org/content/report-and-handle-problems for more information.

Get involved in Internet safety initiatives within your community and volunteer through the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) Cyber Security Awareness Volunteer Education Project (C-SAVE)

Support cyber education and training in schools and collaborative efforts such as the federal Scholarship for Service program.

For more information on Awareness Month and for additional material, please visit www.us-cert.gov and www.staysafeonline.org/ncsam.

This message was brought to you via the internet:)

 

 

It really is not that cold yet, but some of the recent nights have been a great excuse to throw a small log in that wood burner and sit in front of the television enujoying that wonderful smell of a fire. Chimneys will soon all be in use throughout the homes across our state shortly, fire wood piles we have worked on all summer will soon be utilized, and fire in general will become a part of everyday life for the next few months. Personally I cannot wait.

I love the sound of crackling logs and the smell of a wood fire, but with all of this comes risk and danger.

October is Fire Prevention Month, and now is the time to begin thinking through evacuation plans, fire safety, smoke alarm maintenance and maybe the process of having a fire drill in your home.

Don't let your family become a statistic this year. A fire drill in your home with your children can save lives. Take a few minutes this month to fire-proof your home and get your family prepared.

 

Here's some facts from the NFPA:

 

Smoke alarms

• Smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in a reported fire in half.
• Most homes (96%) have at least one smoke alarm (according to a 2008 telephone survey.)
• Overall, three-quarters of all U.S. homes have at least one working smoke alarm.
• Each year, nearly 3,000 people die in U.S. home fires.
• In 2003-2006, roughly two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from home fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
  - No smoke alarms were present in 40% of the home fire deaths.
  - In 23% of the home fire deaths, smoke alarms were present but did not sound.
• In more than half of the reported home fires in which the smoke alarms were present but did not operate even though the fire was large enough, batteries were missing or disconnected. Nuisance alarms were the leading reason for disconnected alarms.
• More than half of the smoke alarms found in reported fires and two-thirds of the alarms found in homes with fire deaths were powered by battery only.
• Most homes still have smoke alarms powered by battery only. In a 2007 American Housing Survey (AHS), 67% of the respondents who reported having smoke alarms said they were powered by battery only.
• In a 2008 telephone survey, only 12% knew that smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years.
• In fires considered large enough to activate a smoke alarm, hard-wired alarms operated 91% of the time; battery-powered smoke alarms operated 75% of the time.
• Interconnected smoke alarms on all floors increase safety.
  - In a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) survey of households with any fires, interconnected smoke alarms were more likely to operate and alert occupants to a fire. (This includes fires in which the fire department was not called.)

Fire

• Cooking is the #1 cause of home fires and injuries.
• Smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths.
• Heating is the second leading cause of home fires, fire deaths and fire injuries.
• Electrical failures or malfunctions are factors in roughly 50,000 reported fires each year.
• Roughly 30, 000 intentionally set home structure fires are reported each year.

In 2008

• U.S. fire departments responded to 386,500 home fires.
• Home fires killed 2,755 people and injured 13,160.
• Someone was injured in a reported home fire every 40 minutes.
• Roughly eight people died in home fires every day.
• A fire department responded to a home fire every 82 seconds.
• 83% of all fire deaths and 79% of fire injuries resulted from home fires.

 

With Farm Safety Week over, we have entered another special week: Did you know that this week is NATIONAL KEEP KIDS CREATIVE WEEK?

I believe all kids are creative. Each child has an imagination and a curiosity that adds to life each and every day, but so often we allow that creative spirit and ability to be sucked out of their heads by television shows, video games, and most recently, the IPOD.

I remember following my uncle around the farm listening as he talked about how it used to be. he showed me our old saw mill and took me into the barn and talked about how it was built. I spent long hours enjoying his stories, but more importantly, I enjoyed long DAYS of pretending I was living in the mid-1800's.  My uncle had ignited curiosity and imagination in his educational talks!

This week, find something around the farm, around the community or even just in Nebraska that will spark that imagination in a young child. encourage them to write or draw, encourage them to play outside in the autumn air that is sweeping our beautiful State. If only for a moment, unplug, disconnect or hide that ONE THING that iskilling the creativity and imagination in YOUR home.

Go keep a kid creative.

For more info on the week and for more ideas, hit the following address:

http://www.brucevanpatter.com/keepkidscreative.html