911: only for emergencies

Call 911 only for true emergencies such as fires, vehicle accidents and medical emergencies. Do NOT call 911 for pet emergencies, for fun or as a joke. The consequences could be serious.

Misuse of 911 is a first-degree misdemeanor, but if a call results in more than $100 in services provided, or if a caller misuses 911 four times, it becomes a third-degree felony.

How to Dial 911

• Press the 9 and then the 1 key twice, instead of looking for an 11 key that doesn't exist.
  
  
• If calling from a cell phone, don't wait for a dial tone. Dial the number and press the green send or call button to place the call.
  
  
• Cooperate with 911 dispatchers.
  - Dispatchers are the people who answer the phone when you call in with an emergency and are there to help.
  - Provide them as much information as possible and answer their questions.
  - Remember, while you're giving additional information, the dispatchers have already sent emergency crews. 
  
  
• Remain calm.
  
  
• Make sure that children know they are allowed to give out their address and phone number to dispatchers.
  
  
• Don't hang up until told by the dispatcher to do so. Firefighters, police and ambulances (rescue units) will respond to emergencies depending on the type.
  
  
• Firefighters recommend writing down basic information such as name, phone number, address and basic driving directions to leave by the phone. In an emergency, a caller may panic and forget even basic information.

Arson is a crime with devastating consequences. Help prevent arson in the Marion County community by following these tips:

• Keep homes secure and well-lit.
• Teach children about the dangers of fire.
• Teens should know that intentional fire-setting has serious legal consequences.
• Even small fires can spread quickly, endangering lives and property. If something sparks suspicion, call 911 immediately.

Join our Juvenile Firesetter program

MCFR offers a free early-outreach, educational program geared toward children ages 4-16 who have set or have shown interest in setting fires. This two-hour, age-specific class stresses the dangers and consequences of setting fires. Classes are kept small in order to keep learning personal and increase opportunities for interaction with each child.

A parent or guardian must also attend with their child. For more information, contact MCFR headquarters at 352-291-8000. Classes are scheduled as referrals are received.

Juvenile Firesetter program referral form

Parents & caregivers: The best role models for fire safety

Teaching fire safety and respect for the danger that fire can bring starts early. The best way to increase the likelihood that a child will develop that respect comes from demonstrating proper fire safety behaviors at home. Parents or caregivers can take the following steps to teach children how to have a healthy relationship with fire:

• Teach children that fire is not a toy and should not be treated as something for play.
• Keep matches and lighters out of reach.
• Always supervise children in situations where fire is involved.
• Set a good example of fire safety by, for example, using matches and lighters in a safe manner.
• Maintain working smoke alarms.
• Practice monthly fire escape/emergency exit drills.
• Never leave stoves or lighted candles unattended.
• Teach children to alert adults to any matches or lighters they find.

Residents of Marion County are allowed to burn items on their property, within the guidelines of city ordinances and recommendations from MCFR.

Learn more about what, when, and where it's permitted to conduct a burn in Marion County here.

Candles. Such a small flame. So aromatic, ambient and pleasant. Despite their appeal, candles can be dangerous if they're burned incorrectly or left unattended.

Get the facts

According to the National Fire Protection Association, from 2014-2018:

• Candles caused 2% of reported home fires, 3% of home fire deaths, 6% of home fire injuries, and 4% of the direct property damage in home fires.
• Roughly one-third (37%) of home candle fires started in bedrooms. These fires caused 40% of the associated deaths and 49% of the associated injuries.
• Falling asleep was a factor in 10% percent of the home candle fires and 15% of the associated deaths.
• On average, 21 home candle fires were reported per day.
• Three of every five (60%) of home candle fires occurred when some form of combustible material was left or came too close to the candle.
• December is the peak time of year for home candle fires. In December, 12% of home candle fires began with decorations compared to 4% the rest of the year.

Safety tips

Using candles safely can bring the comfort and enjoyment of candles to your home without the risk of creating a fire emergency. Follow these tips when using candles:

• Place candles on a secure surface in sturdy noncombustible holders that are large enough to catch drippings and won't tip over.
• Keep candles three to four feet from children and pets.
• Keep candles three feet from combustible items such as curtains, books and paper.
• Keep candles away from flammable liquids such as kerosene heaters or lanterns.
• Avoid using candles during a power outage (a flashlight is a safer option).
• Remember to extinguish all candles when leaving the room or going to sleep; never leave children or pets unattended in a room with a lit candle.
• Keep candle wicks trimmed to one-quarter inch.
• Extinguish taper and pillar candles when they get within two inches of the holder.
• Extinguish votives before the last half-inch of wax starts to melt.
• Do not use candles in bedrooms or sleeping areas and avoid carrying a lit candle.

According to the National Fire Prevention Association, cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home injuries. The leading cause of fires in the kitchen is unattended cooking.

Cooking fires might bring to mind the image of a smoldering slice of toast or a casserole that cooks until it's black and crispy. Think again. Cooking fires are dangerous and can become very large, very quickly.

Safety tips

No one wants flaming food or a charred house. So, follow these cooking safety tips to make cooking fun and safe:

• Never leave cooking unattended; watch what you heat.
• Turn pan handles in and away from children's reach.
• Keep all appliances in good working order.
• Never overload electrical outlets.
• Unplug appliances that aren't in use.
• Keep your stove exhaust system (or fan) free from grease build-up.
• Don't wear loose fitting clothing while cooking.
• Keep combustible kitchen items (like dish towels, pot holders, curtains) at least three feet away from the stove and/or open flames.
• Keep a lid handy to cover the pot or pan if a small fire should start.
• Use appropriate cookware in the microwave and remember the food may be extremely hot.
• Keep an ABC-approved fire extinguisher in the kitchen, and make sure it's charged and working properly. Check out our section on fire extinguishers to get additional information.
• Take a pot holder with you if you must leave the kitchen, so you'll remember to get back to the kitchen quickly.
• Use timers to remind yourself to check on food that takes several hours to cook.
• Remember fire extinguishers are not an alternative to calling the fire department.
• Never put water on a grease fire; the water will spread the fire, not extinguish it.
• Keep the oven door closed and turn off the heat for oven fires.
• Cover the small fire with a pan lid and turn off the heat, for stove fires.
• Call 911 after extinguishing a fire to ensure it hasn't spread.

In Florida alone, enough children under the age of five drown each year to fill three to four pre-school classrooms. Marion County Fire Rescue thinks that even one young child as a statistic is too many. That’s why the Prepare. Protect. Prevent. campaign was created.

This educational campaign focuses on guarding residents against the dangers of drowning and increases water safety awareness by focusing on the three Ps of water safety: preparing, protecting and preventing.

Prepare

A moment's inattention should not cost a child their life. Adults can prepare themselves by learning basic CPR skills and prepare their children by enrolling them in swim lessons.

According to Nicole Meade, swim instructor and founder of Marion County Infant Swim Resource (ISR), children as young as six months old can be taught to save their own lives if they reach the water alone.

Learning CPR is another way parents and guardians can arm themselves against water tragedies. Hands-only CPR is simple to learn, easy to remember, and is proven to save lives.

Protect

Protect against drowning through supervision, pool alarms and pool fences. Most drownings occur in the family pool due to easy access during an unsupervised moment.

Other precautions that can be taken to protect against the short time frame in which a drowning can take place include:

• Making sure pools and spas are enclosed on four sides with a fence at least 5 feet high with self-closing and latching gates
• Having anti-entrapment covers on all pool and spa drains
• Having a phone near the pool for emergency use

Prevent

Preparing and Protecting lead to the third P: Prevention. By providing parents and guardians with easy access to drown-prevention resources and hands-only CPR instruction, MCFR hope to prevent future drownings.

MCFR firefighters respond to nearly 9,000 traumatic injuries annually. Almost 5,000of these responses were due to traumatic falls. Whether it was a trip, slip or fall, those everyday accidents caused more traumatic injuries than motor vehicle accidents and structure fires combined.

Partnering with Marion Senior Services, MCFR  visits senior citizen communities throughout Marion County to share information and tips such as the ones below to help residents minimize hazards and live safely at home for as long as possible.

Fall prevention

• Exercise regularly to improve balance and coordination.
• Take your time when getting out of chairs slowly. Stand and get your balance before you walk.
• Clear stairs and walkways, indoors and out, free of clutter and other obstacles.
• Visit eye specialist once per year and use night lights to light dark paths in your home.
• Prevent slipping by using non-slip mats in the bathtub and the shower and install grab bars.
• Safeguard uneven surfaces by using non-skid backings on rugs.
• Tread carefully. Take your time.
• Wear sturdy, well-fitted, low-heeled shoes with non-slip soles.

Resources

• Fall & fire prevention reminders
• Fall prevention checklist

Do the drill: create & practice a fire escape plan

Know what to do when the smoke alarm sounds? How to get out of the house safely? Where are good meeting locations when escaping a fire? When should someone call 911?

Don't wait until an emergency to answer these questions. By then it will be too late. Be proactive and make a fire escape plan.

Following these tips on fire escape plans will help the entire household ensure they know how to exit burning buildings safely.

Making a fire escape plan

• Identify two exits from every room (like doors and windows).
• Draw a map of the house with the escape routes, so you know where they're located.
• Practice the escape drill with all family members at least twice a year, to make sure it’s remembered even in the chaos of an emergency.
• Designate a safe meeting place outside, and meet there during practices.

Download a grid to help draw a fire escape plan

During a fire: get down, get out, get on the phone

In a real fire, never hide, always get out of the house immediately after the smoke alarm sounds and never go back inside a burning building for any reason. Remember the three steps below.

Get down

Check to see if smoke is leaking in through the door (the first exit).

Touch it with the back of the hand. If it's cool to the touch, escape through the door by crawling low because smoke rises, but try to stay 12-24 inches above the ground.

If the door is hot or smoke is seen, keep it closed and put clothes and sheets around the bottom of the door to keep smoke out of the room.

Get out

Next, try the window (a second exit).

Crawl out of it if the window is in a one-story house, or use an escape ladder if on a higher level.

If exiting through the window is not possible, wave a cloth out the window and yell to let people know that help is needed.

After leaving through the window, go to the pre-determined family meeting place.

Get on the phone

Go to a neighbor's house to call 911.

Don't be afraid of firefighters. They're there to help!

Types of fire extinguishers & when to use them

Firefighters recommend keeping two ABC-approved fire extinguishers at home and placing them in different areas such as the kitchen and garage. But what's an ABC-approved fire extinguisher?

Types of fire extinguishers

While ABC extinguishers contain material to eliminate all types of fires, some extinguishers may feature only material to put out certain types of fires. Knowing the different classes of fires can help make it easier to extinguish a fire.

Class A: ordinary combustibles

Class A fires are those fires that consist of wood, paper, textiles or other ordinary combustibles. Class A extinguishers contain ONLY water for such fires, while ABC extinguishers also use a water-based chemical foam, or a multi-purpose dry chemical to extinguish fires.

Class B: flammable liquids

Class B fires consist of flammable liquids, oils, solvents, paint, grease or other similar materials. These are materials that will not be extinguished with fire alone. For these fires use ABC or BC extinguishers that use foam, dry chemical, or carbon dioxide to smother the fire and extinguish it by cutting off oxygen.

Class C: electrical equipment

Class C fires have electrical material as their source, including live or energized electric wires or equipment as the source of the fire. Again, water will not extinguish these types of fires. An ABC or BC extinguisher is best as the foam, dry chemical, or carbon dioxide will smother the fire and extinguish it by cutting off oxygen.

Fire extinguisher safety tips

• Make sure extinguishers are charged and working properly.
• Purchase at least a 5 or 10-pound extinguisher.
• Purchase a dry chemical fire extinguisher.
• Do not test the fire extinguisher to see if it works. This will make it useless in a time of emergency.
• Understand how to use and aim the extinguisher properly.
• Have fire extinguishers inspected annually.
• Fire extinguishers are for fires no larger than the size of a small wastebasket.

Use the PASS method to operate an extinguisher

When using a fire extinguisher, remember PASS to effectively and safely operate the extinguisher:

• Pull the safety pin on the extinguisher.
• Aim the hose of the extinguisher at the base of the fire.
• Squeeze the handle to discharge the material.
• Sweep the hose across the base of the fire from side to side.

Call 911

When a fire that is too large for a home extinguisher to handle (bigger than the size of a trash can), immediately leave the house and call 911 to send fire assistance.

If the fire can be extinguished safely with a home extinguisher, call 911 to report the fire and ensure that the fire did not spread.

October is Fire Prevention Month

Each October, MCFR expands the nationally-observed fire prevention week into an entire month of learning activities. Since this campaign launched in 2007, MCFR has partnered with Marion County Public Schools to teach children life-saving fire safety messages.

The fire prevention month themes are created from local test data.
*Recent data revealed that students were confusing when and where they should call 911.

Students mistakenly thought that 911 should be called from inside a burning building. So, the Get Down. Get Out. Get on the Phone! campaign was formed to help children understand to get out of the home first, then get on the phone to 911...after they've reached a meeting place already established with their family.

Educational resources

MCFR also provides free educational resources centered around fire prevention, preparation and safety available to schools at any time. These short lessons focus on three important topics:

• Know how to prevent and escape from a fire features topics such as: 
  - maintaining smoke alarms
  - creating fire escape plans with two exits from every room
  - crawling under the smoke to safety
  - never going back into a burning building
  - determining meeting place to gather outside
  - practicing the plan twice each year
  
  
• Learn & practice outdoor fire safety includes topics like:
  - camp fires
  - electrical safety
  - fireworks
  - fuel safety
  - storm safety
  - wildland fire safety
  
  
• Learn & practice cooking safety references topics such as:
  - supervision of an adult
  - never leave cooking unattended
  - pot handles turned inwards
  - keep towels
  - oven mitts away from stove

Fire prevention

• If you smoke, use large deep ashtrays and only smoke outside the home.
• Keep all space heaters and portable heaters at least three feet from anything that can burn, including you.
• Unplug electrical cords that run across doorways and rugs and repair any cracked or damaged cords in your home.
• Wear fitted clothing when cooking. Never leave cooking unattended.
• Have at least one working smoke alarm on every level of your home and test it once a month. If you don't have a smoke alarm, MCFR's Get Alarmed! Smoke alarm program may be able to provide you with one. Please call MCFR Headquarters at 352-291-8000 for more information.
• Plan and practice your escape from fire and smoke.
• Know your local emergency number to call in case there is a fire.
• Consider your physical ability when preparing your fire escape plan and make sure you can do it.

Resources

• Fire prevention checklist
• Fire safety tips for disabled residents
• MCFR's smoke alarm program

Staying safe while being festive

The holiday season evokes visions of fragrant, green trees adorned with colorful, twinkling lights. Regardless of the holiday being celebrated, holiday decorations, though beautiful, can be dangerous. Firefighters recommend following these safety precautions to ensure your holiday is safe and enjoyable.

Christmas trees

• Regularly check the tree for fresh, green needles. Trees that are dried out burn faster than fresher, well-watered trees.
  
  
• Make sure the tree stand holds at least one gallon of water. The average six-foot tree has a four-inch diameter trunk and can consume as much as four quarts or one gallon of water per day.
  
  
• Keep the tree at least three feet from fireplaces, radiators, space heaters, heating vents and other sources of heat.
  
  
• Don't place the tree where it blocks an exit.

Lighting

• Look for the UL Mark on light strings, electrical decorations and extension cords.
  - The UL Mark means that UL engineers have tested representative samples of the product for foreseeable safety hazards such as fire and electric shock.
  
  
• Ensure outside lights, decorations and extension cords are rated for outside use.
  - Lights intended for indoor-only use bear green holographic UL Marks.
  - Light strings intended for indoor and outdoor use have red holographic UL Marks.
  
  
• Carefully inspect each electrical decoration - new or old - before plugging it in.
  - Cracked sockets, frayed, bare or loose wires can cause a serious electric shock or start a fire.
  
  
• Don't use staples or nails to hang light strings.
  - Use plastic hooks or clips designed for hanging light strings.
  
  
• Don't overload extension cords by plugging in too many decorations.
  
  
• Turn off all electrical lights and decorations before leaving home or going to bed.
  
  
• Read and follow the manufacturer's instructions for electrical decorations.

Holiday hazard demonstration snapshots

A holiday display can go from inspiring to disastrous in a matter of seconds. To demonstrate just how rapidly a fire can spread in the wrong environment, the MCFR set up a mock holiday display to show how dry trees and an electrical spark can create the wrong kind of memories at the holidays.

Smoke alarms can save lives, but only if they are functioning properly. Studies have shown most smoke alarms don't work because of missing, dead or disconnected batteries. In fact, most people die in fires because of the toxic smoke, not the flames.

Deadly carbon monoxide suffocates the body, preventing it from receiving life-sustaining oxygen. People go into a lethargic state, and most people die before the fire even gets to them.

Families who have working smoke alarms installed in sleeping areas and common areas such as living rooms or hallways are more than 70% more likely to escape a fire unharmed.

Learn more about MCFR's Get Alarmed smoke alarm program here.

Marion County Fire Rescue provides and installs one dual-mode smoke alarm for residents of Marion County who cannot afford to purchase their own, free of charge. MCFR also expanded its Get Alarmed smoke alarm program to include deaf/hard-of-hearing alarms in 2008.