Woodside Fire News

Winter holidays are a time for families and friends to get together. Winter holidays are a time for families and friends to get together. But that also means a greater risk for fire. Following a few simple tips will ensure a happy and fire-safe holiday season. Holiday Decorating • Be careful with holiday decorations. Choosedecorations that are flame resistant or flame retardant. • Keep lit candles away from decorations and otherthings that can burn. • Some lights are only for indoor or outdoor use, butnot both. • Replace any string of lights with worn orbroken cords or loose bulb connections....

Sand Bag Resources-San Mateo County / Operational Area Woodside – Sand and bags are available in the parking lot of Town Hall, 2955 Woodside Road (Cross Street is Whiskey Hill) Portola Valley - Sand, bags and shovels at Portola Valley Town Center, by the drive way near the tennis courts Redwood City - Southeast corner of the public parking lot at the City Corporation Yard at the corner of Broadway and Chestnut Street Click on link to see San Mateo County Resource Sandbag List and proper filling of sandbags Master Sandbags County_OA Winter 2018-2019.pdf Proper_Placement_of_Sandbags.pdf

CVS now has 13 new disposal kiosks for residents to safely dispose of unwanted and expired medicine. Visit www.smchealth.org/RxDisposal for a list of the San Mateo County Health System's 49 kiosks conveniently located throughout San Mateo County. San Mateo County now has over 50 medicine disposal locations available for residents to dispose of medicine safely. By taking your unwanted or expired medicine to one of the convenient kiosks listed below, you are protecting the environment, preventing overdoses and errors, and helping keep drugs away from kids and teens. Click on the link to find your nearest location: smchealth.org

Kidde Recalls Dual Sensor Smoke Alarm Due to Risk of Failure to Alert Consumers to a Fire. Kidde announced on March 1, 2018 a recall of over 400,000 dualsensor smoke alarms (models PI2010 and PI9010) in the United States. Kidde stated that a yellow cap left on during the manufacturing process can cover one of the two smoke sensors. This compromises the smoke alarm’s ability to detect smoke, which poses a risk of consumers not being alerted to a fire inside their home. Kidde recommends consumers should inspect their smoke alarms by removing the alarm from the wall/ceiling and inspecting...

Kidde Recalls Almost 38 million Fire Extinguishers FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Woodside, CA) - Kidde announced on Nov. 2, 2017 a recall of almost 38 million fire extinguishers sold in the United States. The extinguishers may not operate correctly if they become clogged and can potentially require excessive force to discharge them. As well, the nozzle can detach with enough force to cause injury. Kidde recommends consumers should immediately contact Kidde to request a free replacement. Currently Kidde is aware of one death after emergency responders could not get the recalled fire extinguisher to work. There have been almost 400 reports...

Welcome to the 2018 Community Information Handbook.   A list of helpful information for residents of San Mateo County. This handbook provides a hard copy for users, while a more in-depth listing of services are available at  www.smc-connect.org .  In addition to the agencies in this handbook, you can find information on over 1,500 non profit agencies, government programs and community organizations.  The easy to use web brower works on various platforms: desktops, tablets, and smartphones, and is available in five different languages.   Click on the PDF below for quick viewing.  2018 SMC Handbook.pdf

Woodside Fire Protection District and CERPP is offering a FREE Smoke Alarm Program! Protect your family and yourself! Our program goal is to increase the number of residences with working smoke alarms at NO COST to the resident(up to 3 maximum per household). To Find out more information please click on the link below. Smoke Alarm Program

All residents of San Mateo County are invited to join us in the development of the San Mateo County Hazard Mitigation Plan. • We want to hear about what concerns you the most and what impact disasters have had on you and your family. • We want your feedback throughout the planning process. • We want your edits and suggestions to the plan as drafts become available for review. Take the first step by submitting your response to the San Mateo County Hazard Mitigation Public Survey! Click on the link below to take you to the survey. San Mateo County...

With the onset of summer months comes increased wildfire risk.  As temperatures peak, humidity drops and the summer winds blow, the potential for wildland fires grows exponentially.  Despite the efforts of the fire services, many homes are lost each year due to wildland and wildland urban interface fires.  It is imperative that you prepare now to protect your home from such occurrences.

To assist homeowners and residents with creating Defensible Space, we have added several useful videos to our Defensible Space page. 

Fire Department personnel will soon be out in the neighborhoods reminding homeowners of the requirement for property owners to create defensible space around their homes.   The Defensible Space area is the area where you’ve modified the landscaping to give your home the best chance to survive during a wildfire – greatly improving the odds for firefighters who are defending your neighborhood.  “Defensible Space” area should be a minimum of 100 feet of clearance around your home (or up to your property line).  If your home is on a slope or subject to high winds, extend the distance of this zone...

May 6-12 is Arson Awareness Week. This year’s theme is Prevent Youth Firesetting. During the month of May, USFA will focus public attention on the importance of a collaborative effortwith fire and emergency service departments, law enforcement, mental health, social services, schools, and juvenile justice to help reduce the occurrence of juveniles engaged with fire. Did You Know? Fires started by children playing accounted for an average of 56,300 fires with associated losses of 110 civilian deaths, 880 civilian injuries, and $286 million in direct property damage per year between 2005 and 2009. Younger children are more likely to set fires in homes, while older children and teenagers are more likely to set fires outside. Lighters were the heat source in half (50 percent) of child-playing fires...

Good Timing: Change Batteries, Replace Old Smoke Alarms Daylight Saving Time is a great opportunity to remind residents to replace the batteries in their smoke alarms, but there is more that can be done.  Many residents are putting new batteries into smoke alarms that are 10-years-old or older.  This can be extremely dangerous.  Smoke alarms that are 10-years-old, or older, are no longer reliable. The USFA's  Install. Inspect. Protect.  smoke alarm campaign offers fire departments and thepublic free  smoke alarm fact sheets, posters, pre-written articles and community presentation materials in English and Spanish .  The time change creates the perfect opportunity to take advantage of these materials in community presentations,...

The facts speak for themselves: the relative risk of Americans over the age of 65 dying in a fire is 2.6 times greater than that of the general population. The risk worsens as age increases. People age 85 and older die in fires at a rate 4.4 times higher than the rest of the population. The leading cause of fire deaths in older adults is smoking and the leading cause of fire injuries in older adults is cooking. There are a number of precautionary steps older Americans can take to dramatically reduce their chances of becoming a fire casualty, including: Don’t leave smoking materials unattended and never...

A new state law went into effect on July 1, 2011, requiring all California homeowners with an attached garage or fossil fuel source to install a carbon monoxide detector.  Follow this link and read the article for information from the State Fire Marshals Office.

According to CalFire, 90% of all California homes are without carbon monoxide detectors, a device that saves lives. Fuel fired appliances, such as cooking stoves, heaters, and gas dryers can produce this odorless gas without the homeowner knowing it. When these appliances aren’t working properly, they can give off deadly amounts of carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is odorless, colorless and tasteless, so it’s easy to ignore the warning signs.