[0:00] I'm Patrick Ain, the communications

[0:01] manager for the city of Chanhassen, and

[0:03] I'm here with Daisy Anderson with the

[0:05] Chanhassen Fire Department, and this is

[0:07] my home. As you know, the Chanhassen

[0:09] Fire Department does a ton of wonderful

[0:11] things for our community. And one of the

[0:12] things that they have is a platform

[0:14] called Community Connect. Community

[0:16] Connect allows residents and businesses

[0:17] and the Chanhassen Fire Department to

[0:19] share vital information with each other.

[0:21] Through Community Connect, residents can

[0:23] schedule a free fire home inspection

[0:26] with the fire department, which is what

[0:27] we're going to do right now. Well, thank

[0:29] you, Patrick, for having us to your

[0:30] home. Some of the things we look for

[0:32] outside when we first arrive is that

[0:35] your address is large enough and visible

[0:37] for us to see, which I saw you had right

[0:39] down at the entrance of your driveway.

[0:41] And then we're also looking to see where

[0:43] your gas grill might be stored, that

[0:45] it's outside and that propane tanks

[0:48] aren't inside your garage. And I saw out

[0:50] on your deck. So, good job with that.

[0:53] And then if you have a fire pit that

[0:55] it's at least 25 feet from the residence

[0:57] or any structure or something that could

[0:59] catch on fire.

[1:00] I feel like I do have propane in my

[1:02] garage now that you mentioned that. Is

[1:03] that bad?

[1:04] Yeah, you don't want to store it in the

[1:06] garage.

[1:08] Failed that test. Okay, so we're in the

[1:10] kitchen. What are some red flags you

[1:11] would typically see in a space like

[1:12] this?

[1:13] Um, so typically in your kitchen, we're

[1:15] looking for things to be 3 ft away from

[1:17] your stove and oven. Um,

[1:20] lots of violations here. So something

[1:21] like this um dish cloth, we just would

[1:24] like to be a little bit farther away in

[1:26] case something catches fire, it won't

[1:28] catch that on fire. Looks like you were

[1:30] maybe cooking and thankfully it's turned

[1:32] off, but you want to make sure you're

[1:34] always intending your cooking.

[1:37] Um do you happen to have a fire

[1:39] extinguisher in the kitchen?

[1:41] I think we do.

[1:43] Not in the kitchen, but over here.

[1:46] So is this too far away?

[1:48] Wonderful. No. As long we are always

[1:51] looking for a fire extinguisher in or

[1:53] near the kitchen. So, as long as you

[1:55] don't have to dig for it and you know

[1:58] where it is and you can grab it. Your

[2:00] kitchen looks pretty good. Usually, too,

[2:02] we're looking for candles. If you have

[2:04] real candles, which maybe I don't know

[2:07] on your mantle, those are fake.

[2:08] We prefer battery operated. So, good

[2:11] job. And then also the fireplace looks

[2:13] like it's gas. So, if it were wood

[2:16] burning, we'd be asking if you were

[2:18] cleaning the chimney regularly that you

[2:20] had a protective cover for kids to not

[2:23] burn themselves on the glass.

[2:25] Let's talk fire alarms. What are best

[2:27] practices for a house?

[2:28] Yeah. So, when we come into a house, we

[2:30] just want to make sure you have a fire

[2:32] alarm on every level, every floor, and

[2:34] then in every sleeping area. So, pretty

[2:37] much every bedroom you should have one,

[2:39] and then one usually at the top or

[2:41] bottom of a stairway. We're also looking

[2:44] that you do have some night lights so

[2:46] that in the evening or people get up to

[2:49] use the bathroom that it's just not

[2:52] pitch dark in your house at night and

[2:54] cause tripping and falling. So, some

[2:56] things we'd be looking for are extension

[2:58] cords and power strips. You just don't

[3:01] want major appliances or things that

[3:04] take a lot of electricity all plugged

[3:06] into a power strip. So, if you could

[3:08] plug more things into the wall. Also, if

[3:11] you have an extension cord or a power

[3:13] strip, you want to make sure it's UL

[3:15] listed. Another major thing we're always

[3:17] looking for are space heaters. If you

[3:19] own a space heater, just make sure it is

[3:21] 3 ft away from everything and that you

[3:24] don't leave it on when you leave the

[3:26] room.

[3:27] Okay, good to know. I don't think I have

[3:29] any.

[3:30] So, another thing we're looking for in

[3:32] your utility room is that your water

[3:35] temperature is kept at 120 or less. So

[3:38] to help of not burning when you shower

[3:40] or bathe, we're al also checking that

[3:44] your furnace is inspected yearly.

[3:49] 11124.

[3:51] That's good.

[3:52] Another thing we would be looking for in

[3:54] your laundry room is that you have clean

[3:57] lint traps.

[3:59] Okay, we're going to see how we're doing

[4:01] in that regard. One, two.

[4:04] Not good.

[4:06] Well, good thing we checked.

[4:09] Okay, our children are not reading this

[4:11] sign we have here.

[4:14] And one last thing is that we just want

[4:16] to know that you know two ways out of

[4:18] every room. So, which could be a door

[4:20] and a window. And that just like we

[4:23] practice fire alarms at schools or at

[4:26] work, um that your family would practice

[4:28] a meeting place outside. So in case

[4:30] there was an emergency, you'd figure out

[4:33] if maybe it's the neighbor's house, a

[4:35] mailbox, a big tree, a place you would

[4:37] all meet. So if there was an emergency

[4:40] and we showed up and we asked, "Is

[4:42] everyone out of the house?" You'll know

[4:44] cuz you're all at your meeting place.

[4:46] Well, thank you for coming. You gave me

[4:47] a lot to think about.

[4:48] Well, thanks Patrick for having us in

[4:50] your home. You did very well. You didn't

[4:53] have very many things that were an

[4:55] issue. When we get back to the station,

[4:56] we fill out a report and we email that

[4:59] to you with everything that we talked

[5:01] about. It's just for your own use. You

[5:03] didn't pass or fail, but you can just

[5:04] see things you might want to work on or

[5:06] improve or things you did great.

[5:09] [Music]