Hidden fire dangers in your home

ESTERO, Fla.- Every 30 minutes, a building burns in the Sunshine State, Phillip Green, a fire marshall for Estero Fire Rescue, said.

You may think a new home is a safer one, but everything from the wood holding up your home, to the bed you sleep on could be fueling the flames should your house catch fire.

“The odds of the home being fully salvageable are much less than they were of homes if they were built 20, 25, 30 years ago,” Green said. “I think a lot of people have a misconception about how much time they have to get out.”

Some reports suggest in the past, you may have had up to 20 minutes before your home was a total loss, but that number today dropped to no more than 4 minutes.

“Natural materials burn so much slower than the artificial and synthetic stuff that you see in our house now,” Green said.

Don’t let the age of older homes fool you, some were built with Florida pine, a stronger wood than most homes are built with now.

“There’s a lot to burn through,” said Marlene Fernandez with the Estero Historical Society. “Some of the beams are pretty good sized beams in these old buildings.”

Older homes didn’t burn down nearly as quick as homes do today because the wood that was used to build them is much more dense than the wood used now.

“Nothing’s built to endure today. It’s all throw away, even homes,” Fernandez said.

It doesn’t stop at your walls, even your furniture is more flammable than ever before.

“Now everything is plastic, that puts out more heat and tends to burn a lot quicker,” Green said.

The roofs of homes also play a major role. Though tile may look nicer, it can also be dangerous. When there’s a fire, tile turns your attic into an oven.

“It holds in the heat, it makes it harder to ventilate,” said Brent Althouse, a battalion chief for Estero Fire and Rescue.

Working for the department for more than 30 years, Althouse says he’s seen how fires have changed.

“It would take a lot longer for the house to actually burn down or collapse because the timbers were so thick and so durable,” Althouse said.

The solution now is to play defense, have a plan and make sure your home has plenty of working fire alarms, or even a sprinkler system if you can afford it.

“The truth is that when your smoke detector activates, or the sprinkler activates you know, you’ve got minutes to react to get out,” Green said.

Estero Fire and Rescue reminds residents to replace the batteries in smoke detectors at least twice a year. They also recommend developing a plan with your family and practicing its execution so you’re prepared in the event of a fire.