Virtual town hall promotes fire safety in East Orange

EAST ORANGE, NJ — Continuing his virtual town hall series, East Orange Mayor Ted R. Green joined acting Fire Chief Bruce Davis Jr., acting Director of Code Enforcement Eladio Negron and Health Officer Victor Kuteyi on Jan. 26 to discuss the importance of fire safety and prevention, as well as the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing valuable lessons from the recent apartment complex fire in the Bronx, city leaders are determined to educate the public on how to avoid serious injuries in the face of dangerous house fires.

Davis, who stepped into the role of acting fire chief on Dec. 6, has been a firefighter for 21 years, rising from probationary firefighter, to firefighter, to senior firefighter, to captain, to deputy chief and now acting fire chief.

“When a firefighter comes to work, before they come in the door, they have to file a health screening that was provided by (Health and Human Services Director Monique) Griffith and Victor (Kuteyi), and it’s an excellent tool to be able to gauge where the firefighters are as far as their COVID exposure during their time off,” Davis said during the meeting. “Once they submit that health screening and they’re approved to come in the building, we take a temperature check of them twice a day — once in the morning and once in the evening. Once we do that, we monitor each other throughout the day for COVID symptoms.

“If we see anything, we’re quick to mitigate that and send them home if necessary,” he continued. “We also have personal protective equipment on hand, which is in the form of an N95 mask and Tyvek suits. When the firefighters go on calls, if they respond and find out that it’s a COVID-related call, they will respond accordingly. We also decontaminate our apparatus in the firehouse three times a week to make sure the firefighters are safe. Last but not least, we test weekly.”

In reference to the devastating fire in the Bronx, which was sparked by a malfunctioning space heater, Green asked for safety tips regarding space heaters in homes and offices.

“Space heaters are a great way to warm the home if necessary, but we have to think safety first,” Davis said. “We would like for you to put your space heaters on a flat surface first and foremost, because you can’t have those things fall over. Make sure that they have a safety feature … so if they do tilt, they will automatically cut off and will not start a fire. Afterwards, we want you to plug them into a wall, check for cracked cords, make sure that they’re 3 feet away from items that can be burned, including yourself and family members. We just want residents to be safe when using space heaters.”

Davis added that he does not recommend a specific type of space heater but certainly recommends safe usage. Davis also responded to a question regarding the importance of apartment buildings having fire-rated doors, which are constructed from materials that can slow the spread of fire and smoke in case of emergency.

“Fire-rated doors are required in most buildings,” Davis said. “They’re located basically around stairwells and elevators. They’re very helpful because, once you have an alarm activation in your building, they should automatically shut, which will prevent smoke from traveling through the building. What we want you to check as a resident is to make sure those door closers are operable.”

According to Davis, smoke detectors in a home reduce death by a minimum of 50 percent. Davis wants residents to test their smoke detectors monthly. For residents who live in apartment buildings, have landlords check smoke detectors for the 10-year seal. If the detector is older than 10 years, it should be replaced. East Orange Fire Department also has a program in which it gives two free smoke detectors to city seniors. For general information, residents can call 973-266-5509.

“In the event of an emergency — if you smell smoke, gas or see a fire, you should automatically stay low and go, get out and stay out, meet in a meeting place and call 9-1-1. For gas (or fire), get out of the house and meet in a meeting place,” Davis said.