A 40 per cent increase this month house fires

Half the house burned. The windows exploded, appliances were incinerated, the floor and the walls have a black soot and the door of the room is now a piece of charred wood and full of holes. The fire consumed the first floor of the Galarza family-Rosero, Cotocollao located in northern Quito. Firefighters arrived at dawn on Thursday and controlled the fire in five minutes. A team of Fire Investigation determined that the fire started in the room, in an extension cord suffered three shorts. And the sparks came to a chair that was near and he began to be incinerated. The smoke from that couch was what woke Delia Rosero, 61, at midnight Thursday. It smelled a burning odor and saw a cloud of smoke coming from the first floor. Her screams woke her husband, Leader Galarza, 65, who was sleeping beside her. She tried to leave the house in the middle of the intense smoke, hardly she looked good. Opening the door of the room burned his hands because the plate was boiling.

Her husband, however, fought the fire to save their home. He pulled the gas cylinder and dipped in the water tank. From the laundry she tried to placate the flames with a thin hose. Delia's screams: "My house is on fire" woke the neighbors, who also sought buckets of water to help douse the flames. Mauricio Recalde, the research team of the Fire Brigade, believes that this disaster was averted. "The extension of light where the shorts were produced was overloaded; They were connected Christmas lights. " At this time the houses are decorated with Christmas lights, brightly lit trees and cribs, but the connections are not always adequate. Recalde said that in December there, usually up to 40tanto por ciento increase in the number of house fires and the leading cause bad connections are made without safety standards births, trees and decorative lights. In December last year, 30 fires were reported in Quito. This year they are 15. So Empresa Electrica Quito developed for these festivities a campaign about responsible use of electricity. In social networks, for example, they are given tips to reduce energy consumption and to prevent fires by mishandling connections. One of the tips is that all appliances and Christmas lights switch off when not in use. No need to pull wire but grip the plug. Recomiendano also have flammable material near the outlets. Just like the case of Galarza-Rosero family. The proximity of the sofa to be made this outlet lit; According to firefighters, a room can be incinerated between five and 15 minutes depending on the combustible material, but for a Christmas tree enough 2 minutes. Recalde ensures that a large percentage of fires are also generated by storing or handling fireworks inside homes. In these cases, the victims are usually children, who may even lose members. Another cause is the use of candles in births or Christmas trees. When they are near the chairs can be made that pledge and within minutes the whole room is consumed. A fire in a house in La Gasca gave this reason. It happened last November. The mistress of the house fell asleep and the smell of burning was what woke her.

How to avoid electrical accidents This Christmas

Buy a certified extension to cut the power if there is a short circuit. Avoid leaving the lights on all night Christmas. This overloads the extension. Do not connect more than two sets of lights plug. It will not support that energy. Disable outlets that were damaged or smeared. Perform maintenance every two years electric system throughout the house. Do not place lights in the cribs. If you go make sure the tree does not produce heat. Check that the Christmas tree has the certification of "resistance to fire". Check that the games do not have lights or worn tangled cables. Watch children not to play with the lights or handling the plugs. Be sure to blow out the candles when leaving home. Do not place near the source. Make sure that you place Christmas lights outside the house are waterproof. Move fireworks electrical connections. Do not use this Christmas starlets.