ATOMIC blast creates prepared ? FEDERAL tN CIVIL DEFENSE ADMINISTRATIONFIRES CAN BE PREVENTED The majority of all fires start in trash piles, rubbish, or stored odds and ends that accumulate around the house. Closets, attics, and cellars are the main source of home fires, and plain ordinary good housekeeping is a strong line of defense against them. Fire hazards in peacetime become doubly dangerous in wartime. Check your closets, attic, and basement for cast-off articles that would burn. Clean out your storage places. You will be sur- prised at how many burnable odds and ends are really useless to you. Don’t let them make your home a fire hazard. Get rid of them. If local welfare agencies can't use them, call the junk man. Don't stop when you've cleared out the inside of your house. Go after rubbish in your back yard, in alleys and in vacant lots near your home. Collect the rubbish and burn it. Don't leave it around to burn if an enemy bombs your city. Be sure to burn rubbish in metal containers. Instead of an attic, many modern homes have an air space between the top floor ceiling and the roof. If your home has such a spot, make sure you can get into it through a trap door. Keep a ladder handy. You won't be able to put out a fire in this space unless you can reach it quickly. And by all means don't store anything flammable there. CHECK YOUR WIRING SYSTEM Many electrically caused fires happen in homes every day, most of them because people are careless. They overload circuits by plugging in too many appli- ances to a single outlet. They switch on an iron then go away and leave it. They use old worn-out cords and stretch them under rugs, or staple them to baseboards and door frames. They string wires all over the house. Don't let such things happen in your home. Most accidental fires can be avoided with a little care. An ounce of prevention now may save your property—and even your life. Take a look at your electrical system. Buy new plugs and cords if yours are worn. Get advice from an electrician if your fuses blow frequently. They may be dangerously overloaded. His advice may prevent a bad fire. BE SURE YOUR HEATING PLANT IS SAFE Every winter costly fires are started by faulty fur- naces, stoves, and other heating plants. Some result from too much soot in chimneys. Others are caused by rusted or cracked pipes and fittings. Look over your heating system now. If your chimney needs it, clean it out. If the furnace pipes and connections are cracked and rusted, replace them. Teach your family not to put magazines papers, or clothing on radiators or near open flames. Don't hang flimsey curtains near your kitchen stove. Don't allow lamp shades to come in contact with light bulbs. Remember that such things don't have to touch flame to burn. They will catch fire simply because they are too close to the heat for too long. FIREPROOFING MATERIALS You can't make materials fireproof, but you can make many of them fire-resistent. Some fabrics are so Housewives Should Know how to prevent and fight fires If an enemy air attack were made on your city. it would start more fires than your fire department could handle. Fighting fires in your home or neighborhood would be up to you. Householders in England, many of them women, successfully fought fire in World War Il. In some cases bombs started fires in every house on a street et every house was saved by the local house- olders. In one town 150 small fires were started by one air raid. Only two grew so big that the regular fire-fighting services had to deal with them. Training, tools, and plenty of practice drills are the basis for good fire‘defense. You can get training in home fire fighting through your local civil defense organization. See back page for details ® GPO: 1951 O- 966922 nee Ol LS SStreated at the factory where they are made. You can buy fire-resistant drapery and furniture-covering materials. Or you can mix a fire-resistant solution for rayons and cotton yourself. It's cheap and easy to use. Dissolve 9 ounces of borax and 4 ounces of boric acid ina gallon of water. Dip your curtains, drapes, and slip- covers in it. This solution won't hurt anything that water won't hurt. You'll have to use it again each time you wash the fabric, however. It is important to remember that materials treated with fire-resistant chemicals will burn if they get hot enough. The chemicals make it harder for them to burn. Even “fireproof” buildings aren't really fireproof, Some are fire-resistant—which means that the structures themselves will resist fire. But their contents will burn. IF the rugs and furniture and draperies in a home go up in flames, the building will be weakened no matter how strongly it is built. Glass, steel, and even concrete break down when exposed to great heat. STORE FLUIDS CAREFULLY Gasoline, benzine, naphtha, and similar fluids should never be used indoors. When mixed with air, their vapors can be ignited by the spark of a light switch or an electric fan, or the tiny flame of a pilot light. Keep such fluids in tightly closed metal containers outside your home. And remember: oil-soaked rags, especially rags that have been used to spread quick-drying liquids such as turpentine, paint thinners, and some furniture polishes, can catch fire by themselves. This happens when there is enough air to provide oxygen, but not enough to carry away heat which is caused when they give off vapors. When these vapors get hot enough, they burst into flame. Oily rags should be stored in air-tight metal containers. It is best to keep them outside the house. Get and read your copy of “Fire Fighting for Householders’ The Official U. S. Civil Defense Booklet For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C. Price $1.50 per 100 copiesPREVENT FIRE AT HOME HOUSEWIVES HAVE A SAYING THAT: “A New Broom Sweeps Clean.” FIREMEN HAVE A SAYING THAT: \ "A Clean Building Seldom Burns” DEFENSE HOUSEKEEPING Rh NY By clearing out castoff articles in closets, cellar and attic. PREVENT FIRES By cleaning up rubbish around the house. @ ‘ .’ By keeping your wiring and electrical appliances in good order. iia dipineere FIR 2 By making sure your heating plant is safe. PREVENT FIRES By being careful—Keep burnable materials away from open flames—Store gasoline, benzine, naptha and similar fluids in a safe place. Put oil-soaked rags, paints and quick drying liquids in air-tight metal containers.FIRE...1s ONE OF OUR WORST PEACETIME ENEMIES FIRE...1s ONE OF THE BEST WARTIME WEAPONS BE PREPARED LEARN HOW TO PREVENT AND FIGHT FIRE NOW Getting ready to fight fires is a-big part of the civil defense job. After an atomic bomb explodes, the resulting fires could cause more loss of lite and property than the blast itself. An atomic bomb would cause great fires in the area where it fell. It also would start hundreds of small fires in surrounding areas. These smaller fires must be fought by people on the spot, because the regular fire-fighting companies won't be able to reach them. Teaching of householders to fight fires will be carried out by local civil defense instructors. Auxiliary or re- serve firemen will be recruited to back up the regular companies. These civil defense volunteers will be trained by local fire companies, using regular equipment. At least one member of your family must be trained in the use of basic fire-fighting tools and methods. Women are at home much of the time. It is particularly important that they know how to fight fires. Your warden or your local civil defense headquarters will tell you where to volunteer for such training. FEDERAL ® CIVIL DEFENSE ADMINISTRATION