Here is what FEMA says to prepare for in the case of a fire.  You would be smart to have these emergency preparedness essentials on hand for any emergency.  Give it a read and then take action.

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Step 1: Get a Kit

Get an Emergency Supply Kit which includes items like non-perishable food, water, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, extra flashlights and batteries. You may want to prepare a portable kit and keep it in your car. This kit should include:

• Copies of prescription medications and medical supplies;
• Bedding and clothing, including sleeping bags and pillows;
• Bottled water, a battery-operated radio and extra batteries, a first aid kit, a flashlight;
• Copies of important documents: driver’s license, Social Security card, proof of residence, insurance policies, wills, deeds, birth and marriage certificates, tax records, etc.

Step 2: Make a Plan

Planning Your Escape

• Make a Family Emergency Plan. Your family may not be together when disaster strikes, so it is important to know how you will contact one another, how you will get back together and what you will do in case of an emergency.
• Plan places where your family will meet, both within and outside of your immediate neighborhood.
• It may be easier to make a long-distance phone call than to call across town, so an out-of-town contact may be in a better position to communicate among separated family members.
• You may also want to inquire about emergency plans at places where your family spends time: work, daycare and school. If no plans exist, consider volunteering to help create one.
• Be sure to consider the specific needs of your family members
• Notify caregivers and babysitters about your plan.
• Make plans for your pets
• Take a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) class from your local Citizen Corps chapter. Keep your training current.
• Plan your escape
• Review escape routes with your family. Practice escaping from each room.
  • Make sure windows are not nailed or painted shut. Make sure security gratings on windows have a fire safety opening feature so they can be easily opened from the inside.
  • Consider escape ladders if your residence has more than one level, and ensure that burglar bars and other antitheft mechanisms that block outside window entry are easily opened from the inside.
  • Emergency escape masks/smoke hoods have the potential to reduce fire-related deaths and injuries by protecting users from smoke inhalation and many other toxic gases, provided they are used properly and perform effectively.
  • Teach family members to stay low to the floor (where the air is safer in a fire) when escaping from a fire.
  • Clean out storage areas. Do not let trash, such as old newspapers and magazines, accumulate.

Step 3: Be Informed

Prepare Your Home

Install Smoke Alarms

• According to FEMA, properly working smoke alarms decrease your chances of dying in a fire by 50 percent.
• Place smoke alarms on every level of your residence. Place them outside bedrooms on the ceiling or high on the wall (4 to 12 inches from ceiling), at the top of open stairways or at the bottom of enclosed stairs and near (but not in) the kitchen.
• Test and clean smoke alarms once a month and replace batteries at least once a year – a good way to remember to do this is to replace the batteries during National Preparedness Month which occurs every September. Or, as you set your clock back for daylights saving time, remember to check and replace your smoke detector batteries.
• Replace smoke alarms once every 10 years
• Find out how to keep food safe during and after and emergency at http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/emergency/index.html.
• More information on smoke alarm safety and an interactive quiz at USFA.DHS.gov

http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/fires.html
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These are great videos for younger families to learn about fire safety...

Summary of Current Economic Events

Here's a summary on the economic current events.

More Utahns turn to government for financial help
July 27th, 2009 @ 10:39am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The number of Utahns getting financial help from the government has gone up 30 percent since last year.

In May, 6,797 Utah households were on public assistance. A year earlier the number was 5,219.

To qualify for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a family of three can make no more than $1,050 per month. The state has not increased the income limits since the 1990s.

However, the state is planning to temporarily extend the eligibility time period for help. Starting as early as September, the change would affect residents who have recently been laid off, have essentially no other income and have previously maxed out the 36-month time limit for TANF.

It's not clear how many people the change would affect.

View Source Here

"WASHINGTON -- The number of newly laid-off workers seeking jobless benefits rose last week, though the government said its report again was distorted by the timing of auto plant shutdowns.

Unemployment insurance claims have declined steadily since the spring, but most private economists and the Federal Reserve expect jobs to remain scarce and the unemployment rate to top 10 percent by year-end."

-- Read From Source Here

"The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the proposal now under consideration will cost over 10 years a little more than $1 trillion, depending on the final deal. House Democrats have vowed to find a way to pay for that cost despite an acknowledgement by a Congressional Budget Office official that the deficit will increase $239 billion because of Medicare payments to doctors.

But fully phased-in coverage of Americans under the plan will only occur for six of the 10 years measured by the CBO. That's because the Democratic plan in the House will start collecting revenues in 2011 but won't start providing coverage until 2013 and won't be fully implemented until 2015."

-- See Source

"Though Americans still blame former President George W. Bush for the ailing economy, President Obama faces dropping approval ratings amid doubts that he has a clear plan for fixing the economy."

-- Read Source Here