Attleboro Fire Department: Attleboro Fire Department Shares Safety Tips During Lightning Safety Awareness Week

Press release from the Attleboro Fire Department:

Taylor O'Neil

June 22, 2021

Chief Scott Lachance and the Attleboro Fire Department

The National Lightning Safety Council has designated June 20-26 as Lightning Safety Awareness Week, a time for the public to learn valuable safety information about preventing a lightning strike and what to do if you or someone you know is a victim of a lightning strike.

The National Lightning Safety Council has designated June 20-26 as Lightning Safety Awareness Week, a time for the public to learn valuable safety information about preventing a lightning strike and what to do if you or someone you know is a victim of a lightning strike. Every year lightning kills thousands of people worldwide, and the Outdoor Safety Tips Be aware : Check the weather forecast before participating in outdoor activities. If the forecast calls for thunderstorms, postpone your trip or activity, or make sure adequate safe shelter is readily available. Go indoors : Remember the phrase, “When thunder roars, go indoors.” Find a safe, enclosed shelter when you hear thunder. Safe shelters include homes, offices, shopping centers and hard-top vehicles with the windows rolled up.

Seek shelter immediately even if caught out in the open: If you are caught in an open area, act quickly to find adequate shelter. The most important action is to remove yourself from danger. Crouching or getting low to the ground can reduce your chances of being struck, but does not remove you from danger.

Seek shelter immediately even if caught out in the open : If you are caught in an open area, act quickly to find adequate shelter. The most important action is to remove yourself from danger. Crouching or getting low to the ground can reduce your chances of being struck, but does not remove you from danger. Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks. Never lie flat on the ground. Crouch down in a ball-like position with your head tucked and hands over your ears so that you are down low with minimal contact with the ground. Never shelter under an isolated tree. Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter. Immediately get out of and away from ponds, lakes, and other bodies of water. Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.). Separate Don’t stay in open vehicles, structures, and spaces

Don’t stay near tall structures: Do not lie on concrete floors during a thunderstorm. Also, avoid leaning on concrete walls. Lightning can travel through any metal wires or bars in concrete walls or flooring.

Don’t stay near tall structures Indoor Safety Tips Avoid water Avoid electronic equipment

Avoid corded phones: Corded phones are not safe to use during a thunderstorm. Do not use them. However, it is safe to use cordless or cellular phones during a storm.

Avoid corded phones here

This press release was produced by the Attleboro Fire Department. The views expressed here are the author’s own.