October 14, 2023 • 29 mins
Ryan Gorman hosts an iHeartRadio nationwide special featuring Claudia Romo Edelman, Founder & CEO of the We Are All Human Foundation. Claudia Romo Edelman joins the show for Hispanic Heritage Month to discuss the contributions of Hispanics to the U.S. economy and culture. Ivanette Bonilla, Director of Communications for Kidde & Captain Michael Cozo, FDNY Foundation Representative, also joined the show. Ivanette Bonilla and Captain Kozo discuss Fire Prevention Week, including the importance of functioning fire alarms in homes and businesses and why fires spread more rapidly. Finally, Andrea Vastis, Senior Director for Public Education at the National Fire Protection Association, checked in. Andrea Vastis shares numerous fire safety tips for Fire Prevention Week, focusing on cooking safety before the holidays.
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(00:00):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you this week. Here's Ryan Gorman. Thanks so much for joining us here
on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman, and we have a few very important
conversations lined up for you for fireSafety Prevention Week. We'll be joined by
Kidda and a member of the FDNYFoundation for some safety tips, Plus the
(00:24):
senior director for Public Education at theNational Fire Protection Association's going to check in
to focus on the dangers of cookingfires. So some really vital information on
the way for you. But rightnow, to get things started, we're
going to focus for a few minuteson Hispanic Heritage Month. And joining me
to discuss this is Claudia Romo Edelman, founder and CEO of the We Are
(00:47):
All Human Foundation and co host ofthe podcast A La Latina, which you
can find on iHeartRadio. You canalso find her at Hispanicstar dot org.
Claudia, thank you so much forcoming on the show. And were to
begin is with labels because this canbe confusing for a lot of people.
Can you explain the difference between HispanicLatino and LATINX absolutely, and thank you
(01:11):
so much for having me. Andthat is one of the most frequent questions
that I get and the one thatparalyzes a lot of allies that they don't
want to call us or they don'twant to engage in the community because they
are like, I'm not sure whatto use. So let's let's dise mentle.
This is Panic some from the wordEspanol or from the region sain.
It doesn't reflect the community of Latinoor Hispanics that live in the in the
(01:34):
country. Latino refers to geography.Latin America has nothing to do with great
LATINX or Latin ex is a genderneutral form of the word Latino or Latina.
The reality, Ryan is that reallyonly three percent of the Latino population
even knows that those labels exist.So for me, I use them interchangeably,
(01:56):
and you can call us whatever youwant as long as you pay as
well. Honestly, just whatever youwant. But the reality is that labels
are labeled and as thoughts can bedistracting, if not confusing, So feel
free to use whatever feels comfortable forme. Hispanic or Latino or Latina are
the ones that I use the most. Hispanics are critical to the United States,
but so few of us truly understandthe contributions of the Hispanic community.
(02:21):
What is everyone listening right now Latinoor not need to know? And what
might surprise us? Well, there'sfive things that I hope that will surprise
everybody and that will change your mindto understand just one basic principle that Hispanic
progress is American progress, and thatwhat is good for us Latinos is good
for the America. Number One,we Latinos. We are the people,
(02:43):
sixty two million people, twenty percentof the population. But that is today,
because tomorrow we will be a thirdthirty percent of the entire population.
By twenty fifty, one in everythree Americans will be Latinos. Can you
imagine right yet? Hello hello orhello hello? Or we're pushing that through
the massive population growth that we drivefifty one percent. So we're the most
(03:07):
common integrational marriage. And if you'renot a Latino, or if you're not
related to a Latino, do notworry. Probably you will be tomorrow.
And that is really related to theSecond Pact, which is not only the
people, but also the youth,the youngest cohort of the entire population of
the entire country. Our average ageis twenty eight years old. Latina is
(03:29):
twenty six years old. That isten years younger than the rest of the
population. And I just want tosay one data point that I think it
is really surprising, which is notthe average, not the media, the
motive, which means the most commonThe most common age RYAN of sixty two
million Latinos today is nineteen. Sothat's the data point that I want everybody
(03:51):
to remember. Latinos the most commonage is nineteen. The most common age
of non Latino sixty one. Sothere's four decades in which Latinos will be
the few for consumers, the futuretax payers, the future employees, employers,
and so it is really important tounderstand how young Latinos are twenty percent
of the gen Z, twenty eightpercent of alpha. The younger you look,
(04:12):
the more Latinos you will find,and that is a great thing because
we're also the economic power. Sothe third thing I want everybody to remember
is that the Latino the size ofthe Latino economy is three point two trillion
dollars. That means that if wewould be a Standardoun economy, would be
the fifth largest economy in the world, generating fourteen percent of the GDP of
America. That's massive, and we'realso the purchasing power. The wallet of
(04:38):
Latinos is increasing three point four trilliondollars ten years ago. We used to
consume oil, mazzola five years ago, lipsticks, today's homes and electric cars.
So Latinos are the use the people. They use the economic power,
the purchasing power. And the lastthing is the entrepreneurs. One in every
(04:58):
five entrepreneurs in this country is aLatino. We're generating more than four point
five million small businesses where the jobreaders number one. Latinos generates small businesses
six times faster than any other groupin America. So that's why I say
that Hispanic progress is American progress,and that's a great thing for everybody.
Final question for you, can youspend a little time talking about the impact
(05:21):
of the contributions Hispanics are having hereon the United States and that's only going
to continue to grow Based on thenumbers that you were just talking about.
It is massive and that is oneof the most important things that my foundation
is trying to work on, whichis to change the perception of Latinos from
invisible to visible, from negatives topositives, and from takers to makers.
(05:43):
Latinos do not know of their owncontributions to the country. Seventy seven percent
of Latinos do not know what Ijust said, how many we are,
how young we are. And obviouslythe self recognition of Latinos is also spread
out to the social recognition of Latinosthat is based on stereotypes, and that
is really affecting us because in thelast five years Ryan the pride of Latinos
(06:04):
has increased. So we're feeling ourlanguage coming up, like the usage of
faniol is growing. Every time we'reidentified with our family, our posts.
For our food, there's more torfilla, all them bread, there's more salts.
That's all that gets up. Andyet there's a risk of feelings I'm
not included in the American narrative.So we're feeling not reflected in big brand
(06:27):
by big brands and media. Andthat is why it's so important that we
open the eyes of everybody so programslike yours, so that everybody understands like
Latinos are positive contributors to the country, that America is made of stars and
we Hispanics were one of them.Hispanic Starts and Ready to Shine. Claudia
Romo Edelman, founder and CEO ofthe We Are All Human Foundation and co
(06:48):
host of the podcast A La Latina, which you can find on iHeartRadio.
You could also find her at Hispanicstardot org. Claudia, thank you so
much for coming on the show forHispanic Heritage Month. We really appreciate it
and thank you for the opportunity.All Right, it's Ryan Gorman here on
iHeartRadio Communities and now let's bring inour next guest for Fire Safety Prevention Week.
(07:08):
I'm joined by Ivanette Bonia, directorof Communications for KIDDA, and I'm
also joined by Captain Michael Kozo fromthe FDNY Foundation. I want to thank
you both so much for coming onthe show. And Ivan, let me
start with you. This is nowthe second year for Kitta's Cause for Alarm
program. Can you tell us alittle bit about it and what the focuses
this year. Thanks for having usas a leader in home fire safety.
(07:30):
KIDDA really understands and we've seen withdata that safety isn't the same for everyone
for communities, some communities are justmore vulnerable than others to home fired tragedies.
Whether it's the elderly, our kids, and other communities like the black
community that are nearly twice as likelyto be impacted by home fire debts versus
(07:51):
others. So we know that atthe same time, with the right fire
safety education and the appropriate safety deviceslike, for example, smoke alarms,
these fire fatalities can be prevented.And that's why this is so important for
us to help raise awareness and shareimportant resources on home safety. And this
(08:13):
is the reason why we launch Causefor Alarm because we want to be able
to close that fire safety gas andkeep all communities safe in their homes.
So it's really important for us andwe're really excited. This is our second
year to Close for Alarms. Wehelp provide families with support and that includes
educational resources and pools that they canuse to make sure that they're prepared and
(08:37):
that they help avoid those risks ofthings that we do at our homes that
we don't even realize could be firehazards. Also to learn about product solutions
and the things that they need tohave in their homes like smoke alarms or
cover monoxide alarms or even fire extinguishersof stape ladders. Things like that to
help ensure that everyone feels protected andalso just prepare speaking, you know,
(09:01):
to families about what's how to prepareto avoid and when the alarm goes off,
what to do right at the sametime. So we really want to
invite everyone to rally behind this causebecause we feel that together we can helpep
more people safe. And people canlearn more about the campaign at our website.
It's a custoer alarm dot org andthere's a lot of great resources there
(09:22):
for everyone. Again, the websitehas caused for Alarm dot organ I did
not know that children were at greaterrisk from fires. Can you tell us
a little bit more about that.I know it's pretty stocking when you when
you see the statistics, and asI mentioned, everyone, no matter who
you are, how old you are, you know you should feel safe and
(09:45):
protected at home. But in theUS, the reality is that at least
one child dies every day in ahouse fire. Pretty daggering statistics there.
And when you look at the datafrom the NFPA or the National Fire Protection
Associations and you see that three outof five home fire ducts take place in
homes with no working smoke alarms,and we know at the same time that
(10:07):
having working smoke alarms in your homecan actually double the chances of escaping a
home fire safely. So really importantto help keep your family safe but also
help keep our firefighters safe. Rightif you have the right fire safety equipment
in your home, that also alertsyou so that you can get out of
the how fast and so you know, when we think of children in particular,
(10:33):
Ryan you were asking about, youknow, they're more vulnerable. We
take a look at preparedness right.Fire safety is really all centered around being
prepared, whether it's the education orthe tools and devices. So when while
children are very likely to be preparedin the event of a fire at school,
for example, kids actually practiced upto one hundred and fifty six fire
(10:56):
trills on average during the case throughspell school experience, but the reality is
that they are less likely to knowwhat to do if the smoke alarms goes
off at home or the risk isactually higher. In fact, in the
US, there's only twenty six percentof American families that have developed and practiced
(11:18):
a home fire escape plans, Soyou can see there's a bit of a
gap there in terms of how wellkids are prepared fired in schools, RISUS
homes where the risk is substantially higher. So it's really important that that children
know how to recognize fire dangers andknow what to do when they hear a
smoke alarm at home, which thereality is, you know, they need
(11:39):
to get out, fact right outof the home and not tied. Because
we know that there's been tragedies wherechildren high whether because they're scared or because
they feel they're going to get introuble. So it's really important for parents
and families to have those conversations sothat when the time comes, hopefully it
never comes right, but we neverknow, they know what to do and
children can react, you know,and the families can can be safe.
(12:03):
I'm Ryan Gorman join now for FireSafety Prevention Week by Ivan ep ononea director
of communications for KIDDA. You canlearn more about their program at causefo Alarm
dot org. And I'm also joinedby Captain Michael Kozo from the FDNY Foundation.
You can learn more about that organizationat FDNY Foundation dot org. So,
Captain Cozo, how does all ofthis impact our firefighters here? Thanks
(12:26):
for having me Ryan, Just abrief explanation on how it affects the firefighters.
Just so you know, today's firesburn a lot hotter and faster than
they have ever in the past.When a family lacks a working smoke alarm
or a home fire escape plan,not only does that impact the family itself,
(12:46):
but it also puts the firefighters ateven greater risk. According to UL,
homes today are on average about fiftysix percent larger than homes built in
nineteen seventy, which is significantly largerwhen you think about it, And these
buildings are built with synthetic materials makingup much of today's furnishing. These synthetic
(13:07):
materials burn extremely fast, faster andhotter than traditional materials such as cotton,
wool or linen. Also, themodern open floor plan that you see today
in our homes provides a lot moreoxygen to fuel the fire and doesn't provide
any barrier to the flame, rightbecause it's just wide open area in the
(13:31):
home. When you think about it, thirty years ago, once the fire
started, your average escape time wasseventeen minutes. Now it's less than two
minutes. Wow, what a tremendousdifference. Right, and again firefighters are
having we have to rush into theserapidly burning homes to rescue people, which
(13:52):
is again putting us at risk aswell as well as the people that are
in there. But again, ourtime to get in there and get people
out is drastically reduced due to thesematerials. Now that is just a stunning
statistic. Again, thirty years ago, once the fire started, the average
escape time seventeen minutes, now lessthan two minutes. One of the most
(14:13):
important considerations for families thinking about firesafety in their home. Well, learning
the basics of fire safety and beingprepared is definitely the first step in fighting
a fire, and it just sohappens to be the most important as well.
Right, So, I'm going tolist a few safety tips that KIT
and the FDNY recommend. We dorecommend that you create and regularly practice in
(14:37):
a scape plan with your family.When you're doing that, you want to
remember the twos, the Lord ofthe twos, No two ways out of
every room. You want to practicetwo times a year, practice at two
different times during the day and anight. This way, you're really,
you know, challenging yourself. Youknow it's easier, maybe a little easier
(14:58):
during day. You want to doit at night. People are sleeping,
maybe wake everybody up. You know, in a common environment, you don't
have to get everybody panicked and chaotic, but you just want everybody to be
into that mode and to practice themuscle memory of what they're going to do
if the alarm does go off.When you hear the smoke alarms, you
want to get out of the houseimmediately. Remember beefs that last. You
(15:20):
want to get outstands right, Andthat's one of the sayings that we go
with. You want to make surethat you're checking your batteries and your fleate.
You replace your smoke alarms every tenyears. You want to place your
fire extinguishers within reach on every levelof your home, and you want to
make sure that you install corbon monoxidealarms on each floor and near bedrooms.
(15:41):
You should have at least one comboalarm on every level of your home and
the smoke alarm in every bedroom.So you definitely want to make sure that
you are well prepared and that you'recovered with these alarms in case anything does
go does go on in your homewhile you're sleeping or anything else that's these
alarms going to be your first signingthat something is going wrong. And going
(16:03):
to alert everybody to get up andenact that safety plan. And I have
that. Let me turn back toyou for a moment. One final question,
how can people get involved and participatethis October, this October and every
day to be honest, So KIDAactually created as a part of the cost
per Alarm campaign a jingle that alsocomes with a video on YouTube, and
(16:29):
it really is intended to help familiesremember what to do, how to prepare,
and what to do in the eventthat the smoke alarm does go off.
So in terms of having people getinvolved in the campaign, there's three
easy ways that people can can getinvolved now through November and like I said,
from then on as well from aneducation standpoint. So, first's sharing
(16:51):
the jingle that beeps that lack getout fast jingle. Share that in social
media using the hattag Cause for Alarmand help us spread a wadwareness of the
importance of fire safety. That's onething. The second one is purchasing a
kid alarm from September through November ofthis year twenty twenty three at participating retailers.
(17:11):
That purchase will trigger a dollar contributionfrom Kidda for Alarm donations to families
and need up to a retail valueof one million dollars. So by you
getting alarms for your home, youcan actually help others that might not have
the financial means to get alarms fortheir family. So that's the second way
you can help. And the thirdone is learning learning about fire safety,
(17:36):
learning about the dismissions to provide afamilies with the necessary educational resources and product
solutions needed to have a safe andhealthy home. And you can do that
by visiting the Cause for alarm dotorg website. Again, Cause for alarm
dot org, there's a lot oftools resources. You'll see the jingle theyre
you can find out more information ofwhere to purchase your kid alarms to trigger
(17:59):
the donator. So again three zways, share the jingle, purchase the
alarm at participating retailers to trigger adonation to communities and needs, and then
they're learning more about fire safety andleveraging all the great fools we have On
our KIDA website at posital alarm dotorg. I'm a et Bonia, Director
of Communications for KITA. You canlearn more about the work they're doing for
(18:21):
Fire Safety Prevention Week at causefour alarmdot org and Captain Michael Kozo from the
FDNY Foundation. You can find outmore about that organization and support their work
at FDNY Foundation dot org. Thankyou both so much for ticket a few
minutes to come on the show.And Captain Cozo, thank you so much
for your service to your community.Absolutely thanks for having me. Ron,
thank you so much. Ryan.All right, and now let me bring
(18:42):
in our final guests for Fire SafetyPrevention Week. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined
now by Senior Director for Public Educationthe National Fire Protection Association Andrea Vastis.
You can learn more at Fire Preventionweekdot org. Andrea, thanks so much
for coming on the show. Andlet's start with the creation of Fire Prevention
Week. This goes back right away. Yes, it does. Actually.
(19:06):
Fire a Prevention Week started in nineteentwenty two, and a big piece of
it was that things events like theGreat Chicago Fire in the late eighteen hundreds
demonstrated that we had systemic issues withfire, but that people need to know
what to do to prevent fire andto respond to fire. And so Fire
Prevention Week started in nineteen twenty two, and in nineteen twenty five President Coolidge
(19:30):
actually proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a nationalobservance, so it is now the longest
running public health observance in the US. What are some of the most common
issues that we see that lead tofires? You know, so much of
this really has to do with somevery simple things. I often will call
it the trifecta in terms of homefire prevention for people. Number one is
(19:55):
always having a working smoke alarm,because if there is a fire, you
need to be alerted to the fire. Number two is having a home escape
plan because again, if there isa fire, we need to be able
to get out quickly, get outsafely, make sure everyone is accounted for.
And then third is how we're goingto prevent the fire in the first
place. And there are so manydifferent things that we can do. This
(20:18):
year's theme, Cooking Safety, startswith you pay attention to fire prevention really
has to do with the fact thatcooking is still the number one cause of
home fire and home fire injuries inNorth America. And so much of it
has to do with this large portionthat's just called unattended cooking. People are
either walking away from the stove thinkingthey have more time, they get distracted,
(20:45):
and so so much of it arejust a little things that we can
pay attention to that could make abig difference in preventing the fire from starting
in the first place. I wantto go back to the fire alarm issue
for a moment, because I'm suremany of us have been there. They
start beeping, and yes, youhave that tendency to just either rip it
out of the wall or take thebatteries out and just stop the beeping.
(21:07):
But it's really important to make surethat those are functional because that can be
a lifesaver. Absolutely. I mean, I think this is the piece of
it is. You know, thissmoke alarm is you should have one in
every bedroom, one outside the sleepingareas, and on each level of your
home. Don't put one in yourkitchen, don't put one in your bathroom
(21:27):
because they'll just go off needlessly andthat starts to frustrate people. And then
it's just about making sure that they'reworking properly. You know, if your
smoke alarm is chirping, say chirpmeans change, That means it's time for
a new battery. If that smokealarm is ten years old, that chirp
(21:48):
or just the fact that it's tenyears old means it's time for an entirely
new unit. And I think that'sthe piece is people underestimate a fire how
often if I could happen, andhow quickly it can grow. So the
idea of like, well, I'llget to it later, do not wait
for later. This is not oneof those things you can put off.
I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by AndreaBastis, Senior director for Public Education at
(22:14):
the National Fire Protection Association. Thispast week is Fire Prevention Week, and
you can learn more Firepreventionweek dot org. I had a family friend not long
ago who's home caught on fire,and what you just mentioned is what really
stood out to this person the speedat which the fire moved. And if
(22:37):
you don't have all of these thingsin place and all of this thought out,
including that exit plan that you mentioned, I think a lot of people
would be surprised at how quickly youcan end up in a situation that you
can't get yourself out of. Youknow, Ryan, it's a really good
point. This year's Fire Prevention Weekfocus is on cooking safety. Last year,
(22:59):
when it was our hundredth anniversary,we were thinking to ourselves, what
is different one hundred years later,one hundred years later? Fire is faster.
Once upon a time, people hada good eleven minutes or so to
safely get out of their home.We are down to about two minutes.
Wow, could be even less toget out of your home safely because today's
home furnishings are made with synthetics thatproduce more and more toxic smoke. Open
(23:25):
floor plans, lightweight construction materials meansmore fire, more smoke, hotter,
faster. So we've got to realizethat you have maybe two minutes to safely
get out of your home. Andif everyone in the home doesn't know they're
two ways out and have that meetingplace outside, which is critical. That
(23:48):
is why, unfortunately we see alot of tragedies because we can't suppress our
way out of this. People needto take action. What are the recommendations
for keeping something like a fire extinguisherhandy in case of fire were to break
out, So we'll be honest withyou. A fire extinguisher, a portable
fire extinguisher is fine for a small, contained fire, like in a waste
(24:11):
basket, something like that. Ina cooking fire. Only certain types of
fire extinguishers are rated for cooking firesbecause most cooking fires are with Greece,
So the wrong portable fire extinguisher andused incorrectly can actually make that fire spread
and grow faster. So in theevent of a cooking fire, we don't
(24:33):
want people being firefighters. There's ajob for that already, right when in
doubt, get out, call nineto one one. Let the fire department
do their job. Let's talk moreabout these cooking fires that you're focused on
for Fire Prevention Week this year.What are some of the different tips that
(24:55):
you have available to help prevent thesecooking fires, aside from what you had
mentioned earlier, just honestly paying attentionto what you're doing. Thank you,
Yes, you know. I havelong said if everybody stays with their cooking
and had a good lid or cookiesheet to the side of them in case
(25:15):
of a flare up, we wouldmake a huge difference because staying with your
cooking and having a lid nearby,being able to if there's a flare up
it starts to smoke, sliding thatlid on it, turning off the heat,
that makes a huge difference because you'veextinguished it, you've taken out the
oxygen, you've taken off the heat. Those are those are critical tips.
(25:37):
I will say the other kinds ofthings that are so important are things like
turning the handles inward on your stovetop. So again, many of these cooking
fires happen on the stove. Soif you have a fry pan or any
kind of a pan, those lid, those handles need to be turned inward
because it's so easy to knock intoit. Now cause a spill, a
(26:00):
fire, grease, or a burn. And then we have our messaging around
kids. The kitchen is the heartof the home and we know that,
and we want families to enjoy theircooking and get kids involved. Kids need
to be three eight feet away onemeter away from the stove or anywhere hot
(26:21):
foods and liquids are being served.We actually see the majority of scald burns
and cooking fire burns are in kidsunder the age of five, and it
is because they are getting too close. You know, they're curious, they're
touching things, they're knocking things over. So stay with your cooking, keep
that lid nearby, turn the handlesinwards, keep those kids three feet one
(26:45):
meter away. And then you know, I'm a big fan set of timer.
If you've got something simmering on thestove or something on the stove.
I often work for my own kitchencounter my island, right, and so
I'm multitasking because it's what we do. If I have something on the stove
and I think I'll go back andcheck on it, no, I forced
myself to check on it. Iset the timer and increment and I'm right
(27:08):
there with it. But it's soeasy for people to get distracted that you
know, those are the pieces ofadvice that we can give you that that
really do make a difference. Andthere's really no excuse not to set a
timer because there's one right on yourphone, so that's very easy to access
one and set it to keep yourselfand your family safe. Final thing I
(27:32):
want to get to at Firepreventionweek dotorg. There are a number of great
resources and tools, especially for kidsto educate and prevent fires. Can you
just explain some of what is availableon the website for people to check out?
Absolutely? So. Our homepage hasthe menu of options, but we
(27:55):
have videos that teach about cooking safety, home escape planning, and actually give
you a little history of that greatChicago fire, so that you can learn
a little bit about the history offire and where we come from. We
have a number of assets that peoplecan download and use. We have our
(28:15):
Family Action Plan, We have tipsheets on cooking. We actually have a
new tip sheet on cooking appliance safetybecause we know a lot of people are
now using things like air fyers andinstant pots and again the electric cooking appliances.
We have all sorts of coloring sheetsand fun activities, so there's really
(28:36):
something for all ages and they canIt's a great way to engage kids in
learning about fire safety in a safeway and it's not scary. And for
adults, you know, we havea number of assets for you to just
teach you how to make that homeescape plan. You know what you need
to know about your smoke alarms,and then your basic good safe cooking tip.
(29:02):
Andrea vastis Senior director for Public Educationat the National Fire Protection Association.
This week has been Fire Prevention Weekand you can learn more at Firepreventionweek dot
org. Andrea, thank you somuch for taking a few minutes to come
on the show. We really appreciateit. Thank you, Ryan, I
appreciate it being here, all right, And that'll do it for this edition
(29:22):
of iHeartRadio. Communities as we wrapthings up one to offer big thanks to
all of our guests and of courseto all of you for listening. If
you want to hear previous episodes ofthis show, we're on your iHeartRadio app.
Just search for iHeartRadio Communities. I'myour host, Ryan Gorman. We'll
talk to you again real soon
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you this week. Here's Ryan Gorman. Thanks so much for joining us here
on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm Ryan Gorman, and we have a few very important
conversations lined up for you for fireSafety Prevention Week. We'll be joined by
Kidda and a member of the FDNYFoundation for some safety tips, Plus the
(00:24):
senior director for Public Education at theNational Fire Protection Association's going to check in
to focus on the dangers of cookingfires. So some really vital information on
the way for you. But rightnow, to get things started, we're
going to focus for a few minuteson Hispanic Heritage Month. And joining me
to discuss this is Claudia Romo Edelman, founder and CEO of the We Are
(00:47):
All Human Foundation and co host ofthe podcast A La Latina, which you
can find on iHeartRadio. You canalso find her at Hispanicstar dot org.
Claudia, thank you so much forcoming on the show. And were to
begin is with labels because this canbe confusing for a lot of people.
Can you explain the difference between HispanicLatino and LATINX absolutely, and thank you
(01:11):
so much for having me. Andthat is one of the most frequent questions
that I get and the one thatparalyzes a lot of allies that they don't
want to call us or they don'twant to engage in the community because they
are like, I'm not sure whatto use. So let's let's dise mentle.
This is Panic some from the wordEspanol or from the region sain.
It doesn't reflect the community of Latinoor Hispanics that live in the in the
(01:34):
country. Latino refers to geography.Latin America has nothing to do with great
LATINX or Latin ex is a genderneutral form of the word Latino or Latina.
The reality, Ryan is that reallyonly three percent of the Latino population
even knows that those labels exist.So for me, I use them interchangeably,
(01:56):
and you can call us whatever youwant as long as you pay as
well. Honestly, just whatever youwant. But the reality is that labels
are labeled and as thoughts can bedistracting, if not confusing, So feel
free to use whatever feels comfortable forme. Hispanic or Latino or Latina are
the ones that I use the most. Hispanics are critical to the United States,
but so few of us truly understandthe contributions of the Hispanic community.
(02:21):
What is everyone listening right now Latinoor not need to know? And what
might surprise us? Well, there'sfive things that I hope that will surprise
everybody and that will change your mindto understand just one basic principle that Hispanic
progress is American progress, and thatwhat is good for us Latinos is good
for the America. Number One,we Latinos. We are the people,
(02:43):
sixty two million people, twenty percentof the population. But that is today,
because tomorrow we will be a thirdthirty percent of the entire population.
By twenty fifty, one in everythree Americans will be Latinos. Can you
imagine right yet? Hello hello orhello hello? Or we're pushing that through
the massive population growth that we drivefifty one percent. So we're the most
(03:07):
common integrational marriage. And if you'renot a Latino, or if you're not
related to a Latino, do notworry. Probably you will be tomorrow.
And that is really related to theSecond Pact, which is not only the
people, but also the youth,the youngest cohort of the entire population of
the entire country. Our average ageis twenty eight years old. Latina is
(03:29):
twenty six years old. That isten years younger than the rest of the
population. And I just want tosay one data point that I think it
is really surprising, which is notthe average, not the media, the
motive, which means the most commonThe most common age RYAN of sixty two
million Latinos today is nineteen. Sothat's the data point that I want everybody
(03:51):
to remember. Latinos the most commonage is nineteen. The most common age
of non Latino sixty one. Sothere's four decades in which Latinos will be
the few for consumers, the futuretax payers, the future employees, employers,
and so it is really important tounderstand how young Latinos are twenty percent
of the gen Z, twenty eightpercent of alpha. The younger you look,
(04:12):
the more Latinos you will find,and that is a great thing because
we're also the economic power. Sothe third thing I want everybody to remember
is that the Latino the size ofthe Latino economy is three point two trillion
dollars. That means that if wewould be a Standardoun economy, would be
the fifth largest economy in the world, generating fourteen percent of the GDP of
America. That's massive, and we'realso the purchasing power. The wallet of
(04:38):
Latinos is increasing three point four trilliondollars ten years ago. We used to
consume oil, mazzola five years ago, lipsticks, today's homes and electric cars.
So Latinos are the use the people. They use the economic power,
the purchasing power. And the lastthing is the entrepreneurs. One in every
(04:58):
five entrepreneurs in this country is aLatino. We're generating more than four point
five million small businesses where the jobreaders number one. Latinos generates small businesses
six times faster than any other groupin America. So that's why I say
that Hispanic progress is American progress,and that's a great thing for everybody.
Final question for you, can youspend a little time talking about the impact
(05:21):
of the contributions Hispanics are having hereon the United States and that's only going
to continue to grow Based on thenumbers that you were just talking about.
It is massive and that is oneof the most important things that my foundation
is trying to work on, whichis to change the perception of Latinos from
invisible to visible, from negatives topositives, and from takers to makers.
(05:43):
Latinos do not know of their owncontributions to the country. Seventy seven percent
of Latinos do not know what Ijust said, how many we are,
how young we are. And obviouslythe self recognition of Latinos is also spread
out to the social recognition of Latinosthat is based on stereotypes, and that
is really affecting us because in thelast five years Ryan the pride of Latinos
(06:04):
has increased. So we're feeling ourlanguage coming up, like the usage of
faniol is growing. Every time we'reidentified with our family, our posts.
For our food, there's more torfilla, all them bread, there's more salts.
That's all that gets up. Andyet there's a risk of feelings I'm
not included in the American narrative.So we're feeling not reflected in big brand
(06:27):
by big brands and media. Andthat is why it's so important that we
open the eyes of everybody so programslike yours, so that everybody understands like
Latinos are positive contributors to the country, that America is made of stars and
we Hispanics were one of them.Hispanic Starts and Ready to Shine. Claudia
Romo Edelman, founder and CEO ofthe We Are All Human Foundation and co
(06:48):
host of the podcast A La Latina, which you can find on iHeartRadio.
You could also find her at Hispanicstardot org. Claudia, thank you so
much for coming on the show forHispanic Heritage Month. We really appreciate it
and thank you for the opportunity.All Right, it's Ryan Gorman here on
iHeartRadio Communities and now let's bring inour next guest for Fire Safety Prevention Week.
(07:08):
I'm joined by Ivanette Bonia, directorof Communications for KIDDA, and I'm
also joined by Captain Michael Kozo fromthe FDNY Foundation. I want to thank
you both so much for coming onthe show. And Ivan, let me
start with you. This is nowthe second year for Kitta's Cause for Alarm
program. Can you tell us alittle bit about it and what the focuses
this year. Thanks for having usas a leader in home fire safety.
(07:30):
KIDDA really understands and we've seen withdata that safety isn't the same for everyone
for communities, some communities are justmore vulnerable than others to home fired tragedies.
Whether it's the elderly, our kids, and other communities like the black
community that are nearly twice as likelyto be impacted by home fire debts versus
(07:51):
others. So we know that atthe same time, with the right fire
safety education and the appropriate safety deviceslike, for example, smoke alarms,
these fire fatalities can be prevented.And that's why this is so important for
us to help raise awareness and shareimportant resources on home safety. And this
(08:13):
is the reason why we launch Causefor Alarm because we want to be able
to close that fire safety gas andkeep all communities safe in their homes.
So it's really important for us andwe're really excited. This is our second
year to Close for Alarms. Wehelp provide families with support and that includes
educational resources and pools that they canuse to make sure that they're prepared and
(08:37):
that they help avoid those risks ofthings that we do at our homes that
we don't even realize could be firehazards. Also to learn about product solutions
and the things that they need tohave in their homes like smoke alarms or
cover monoxide alarms or even fire extinguishersof stape ladders. Things like that to
help ensure that everyone feels protected andalso just prepare speaking, you know,
(09:01):
to families about what's how to prepareto avoid and when the alarm goes off,
what to do right at the sametime. So we really want to
invite everyone to rally behind this causebecause we feel that together we can helpep
more people safe. And people canlearn more about the campaign at our website.
It's a custoer alarm dot org andthere's a lot of great resources there
(09:22):
for everyone. Again, the websitehas caused for Alarm dot organ I did
not know that children were at greaterrisk from fires. Can you tell us
a little bit more about that.I know it's pretty stocking when you when
you see the statistics, and asI mentioned, everyone, no matter who
you are, how old you are, you know you should feel safe and
(09:45):
protected at home. But in theUS, the reality is that at least
one child dies every day in ahouse fire. Pretty daggering statistics there.
And when you look at the datafrom the NFPA or the National Fire Protection
Associations and you see that three outof five home fire ducts take place in
homes with no working smoke alarms,and we know at the same time that
(10:07):
having working smoke alarms in your homecan actually double the chances of escaping a
home fire safely. So really importantto help keep your family safe but also
help keep our firefighters safe. Rightif you have the right fire safety equipment
in your home, that also alertsyou so that you can get out of
the how fast and so you know, when we think of children in particular,
(10:33):
Ryan you were asking about, youknow, they're more vulnerable. We
take a look at preparedness right.Fire safety is really all centered around being
prepared, whether it's the education orthe tools and devices. So when while
children are very likely to be preparedin the event of a fire at school,
for example, kids actually practiced upto one hundred and fifty six fire
(10:56):
trills on average during the case throughspell school experience, but the reality is
that they are less likely to knowwhat to do if the smoke alarms goes
off at home or the risk isactually higher. In fact, in the
US, there's only twenty six percentof American families that have developed and practiced
(11:18):
a home fire escape plans, Soyou can see there's a bit of a
gap there in terms of how wellkids are prepared fired in schools, RISUS
homes where the risk is substantially higher. So it's really important that that children
know how to recognize fire dangers andknow what to do when they hear a
smoke alarm at home, which thereality is, you know, they need
(11:39):
to get out, fact right outof the home and not tied. Because
we know that there's been tragedies wherechildren high whether because they're scared or because
they feel they're going to get introuble. So it's really important for parents
and families to have those conversations sothat when the time comes, hopefully it
never comes right, but we neverknow, they know what to do and
children can react, you know,and the families can can be safe.
(12:03):
I'm Ryan Gorman join now for FireSafety Prevention Week by Ivan ep ononea director
of communications for KIDDA. You canlearn more about their program at causefo Alarm
dot org. And I'm also joinedby Captain Michael Kozo from the FDNY Foundation.
You can learn more about that organizationat FDNY Foundation dot org. So,
Captain Cozo, how does all ofthis impact our firefighters here? Thanks
(12:26):
for having me Ryan, Just abrief explanation on how it affects the firefighters.
Just so you know, today's firesburn a lot hotter and faster than
they have ever in the past.When a family lacks a working smoke alarm
or a home fire escape plan,not only does that impact the family itself,
(12:46):
but it also puts the firefighters ateven greater risk. According to UL,
homes today are on average about fiftysix percent larger than homes built in
nineteen seventy, which is significantly largerwhen you think about it, And these
buildings are built with synthetic materials makingup much of today's furnishing. These synthetic
(13:07):
materials burn extremely fast, faster andhotter than traditional materials such as cotton,
wool or linen. Also, themodern open floor plan that you see today
in our homes provides a lot moreoxygen to fuel the fire and doesn't provide
any barrier to the flame, rightbecause it's just wide open area in the
(13:31):
home. When you think about it, thirty years ago, once the fire
started, your average escape time wasseventeen minutes. Now it's less than two
minutes. Wow, what a tremendousdifference. Right, and again firefighters are
having we have to rush into theserapidly burning homes to rescue people, which
(13:52):
is again putting us at risk aswell as well as the people that are
in there. But again, ourtime to get in there and get people
out is drastically reduced due to thesematerials. Now that is just a stunning
statistic. Again, thirty years ago, once the fire started, the average
escape time seventeen minutes, now lessthan two minutes. One of the most
(14:13):
important considerations for families thinking about firesafety in their home. Well, learning
the basics of fire safety and beingprepared is definitely the first step in fighting
a fire, and it just sohappens to be the most important as well.
Right, So, I'm going tolist a few safety tips that KIT
and the FDNY recommend. We dorecommend that you create and regularly practice in
(14:37):
a scape plan with your family.When you're doing that, you want to
remember the twos, the Lord ofthe twos, No two ways out of
every room. You want to practicetwo times a year, practice at two
different times during the day and anight. This way, you're really,
you know, challenging yourself. Youknow it's easier, maybe a little easier
(14:58):
during day. You want to doit at night. People are sleeping,
maybe wake everybody up. You know, in a common environment, you don't
have to get everybody panicked and chaotic, but you just want everybody to be
into that mode and to practice themuscle memory of what they're going to do
if the alarm does go off.When you hear the smoke alarms, you
want to get out of the houseimmediately. Remember beefs that last. You
(15:20):
want to get outstands right, Andthat's one of the sayings that we go
with. You want to make surethat you're checking your batteries and your fleate.
You replace your smoke alarms every tenyears. You want to place your
fire extinguishers within reach on every levelof your home, and you want to
make sure that you install corbon monoxidealarms on each floor and near bedrooms.
(15:41):
You should have at least one comboalarm on every level of your home and
the smoke alarm in every bedroom.So you definitely want to make sure that
you are well prepared and that you'recovered with these alarms in case anything does
go does go on in your homewhile you're sleeping or anything else that's these
alarms going to be your first signingthat something is going wrong. And going
(16:03):
to alert everybody to get up andenact that safety plan. And I have
that. Let me turn back toyou for a moment. One final question,
how can people get involved and participatethis October, this October and every
day to be honest, So KIDAactually created as a part of the cost
per Alarm campaign a jingle that alsocomes with a video on YouTube, and
(16:29):
it really is intended to help familiesremember what to do, how to prepare,
and what to do in the eventthat the smoke alarm does go off.
So in terms of having people getinvolved in the campaign, there's three
easy ways that people can can getinvolved now through November and like I said,
from then on as well from aneducation standpoint. So, first's sharing
(16:51):
the jingle that beeps that lack getout fast jingle. Share that in social
media using the hattag Cause for Alarmand help us spread a wadwareness of the
importance of fire safety. That's onething. The second one is purchasing a
kid alarm from September through November ofthis year twenty twenty three at participating retailers.
(17:11):
That purchase will trigger a dollar contributionfrom Kidda for Alarm donations to families
and need up to a retail valueof one million dollars. So by you
getting alarms for your home, youcan actually help others that might not have
the financial means to get alarms fortheir family. So that's the second way
you can help. And the thirdone is learning learning about fire safety,
(17:36):
learning about the dismissions to provide afamilies with the necessary educational resources and product
solutions needed to have a safe andhealthy home. And you can do that
by visiting the Cause for alarm dotorg website. Again, Cause for alarm
dot org, there's a lot oftools resources. You'll see the jingle theyre
you can find out more information ofwhere to purchase your kid alarms to trigger
(17:59):
the donator. So again three zways, share the jingle, purchase the
alarm at participating retailers to trigger adonation to communities and needs, and then
they're learning more about fire safety andleveraging all the great fools we have On
our KIDA website at posital alarm dotorg. I'm a et Bonia, Director
of Communications for KITA. You canlearn more about the work they're doing for
(18:21):
Fire Safety Prevention Week at causefour alarmdot org and Captain Michael Kozo from the
FDNY Foundation. You can find outmore about that organization and support their work
at FDNY Foundation dot org. Thankyou both so much for ticket a few
minutes to come on the show.And Captain Cozo, thank you so much
for your service to your community.Absolutely thanks for having me. Ron,
thank you so much. Ryan.All right, and now let me bring
(18:42):
in our final guests for Fire SafetyPrevention Week. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined
now by Senior Director for Public Educationthe National Fire Protection Association Andrea Vastis.
You can learn more at Fire Preventionweekdot org. Andrea, thanks so much
for coming on the show. Andlet's start with the creation of Fire Prevention
Week. This goes back right away. Yes, it does. Actually.
(19:06):
Fire a Prevention Week started in nineteentwenty two, and a big piece of
it was that things events like theGreat Chicago Fire in the late eighteen hundreds
demonstrated that we had systemic issues withfire, but that people need to know
what to do to prevent fire andto respond to fire. And so Fire
Prevention Week started in nineteen twenty two, and in nineteen twenty five President Coolidge
(19:30):
actually proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a nationalobservance, so it is now the longest
running public health observance in the US. What are some of the most common
issues that we see that lead tofires? You know, so much of
this really has to do with somevery simple things. I often will call
it the trifecta in terms of homefire prevention for people. Number one is
(19:55):
always having a working smoke alarm,because if there is a fire, you
need to be alerted to the fire. Number two is having a home escape
plan because again, if there isa fire, we need to be able
to get out quickly, get outsafely, make sure everyone is accounted for.
And then third is how we're goingto prevent the fire in the first
place. And there are so manydifferent things that we can do. This
(20:18):
year's theme, Cooking Safety, startswith you pay attention to fire prevention really
has to do with the fact thatcooking is still the number one cause of
home fire and home fire injuries inNorth America. And so much of it
has to do with this large portionthat's just called unattended cooking. People are
either walking away from the stove thinkingthey have more time, they get distracted,
(20:45):
and so so much of it arejust a little things that we can
pay attention to that could make abig difference in preventing the fire from starting
in the first place. I wantto go back to the fire alarm issue
for a moment, because I'm suremany of us have been there. They
start beeping, and yes, youhave that tendency to just either rip it
out of the wall or take thebatteries out and just stop the beeping.
(21:07):
But it's really important to make surethat those are functional because that can be
a lifesaver. Absolutely. I mean, I think this is the piece of
it is. You know, thissmoke alarm is you should have one in
every bedroom, one outside the sleepingareas, and on each level of your
home. Don't put one in yourkitchen, don't put one in your bathroom
(21:27):
because they'll just go off needlessly andthat starts to frustrate people. And then
it's just about making sure that they'reworking properly. You know, if your
smoke alarm is chirping, say chirpmeans change, That means it's time for
a new battery. If that smokealarm is ten years old, that chirp
(21:48):
or just the fact that it's tenyears old means it's time for an entirely
new unit. And I think that'sthe piece is people underestimate a fire how
often if I could happen, andhow quickly it can grow. So the
idea of like, well, I'llget to it later, do not wait
for later. This is not oneof those things you can put off.
I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by AndreaBastis, Senior director for Public Education at
(22:14):
the National Fire Protection Association. Thispast week is Fire Prevention Week, and
you can learn more Firepreventionweek dot org. I had a family friend not long
ago who's home caught on fire,and what you just mentioned is what really
stood out to this person the speedat which the fire moved. And if
(22:37):
you don't have all of these thingsin place and all of this thought out,
including that exit plan that you mentioned, I think a lot of people
would be surprised at how quickly youcan end up in a situation that you
can't get yourself out of. Youknow, Ryan, it's a really good
point. This year's Fire Prevention Weekfocus is on cooking safety. Last year,
(22:59):
when it was our hundredth anniversary,we were thinking to ourselves, what
is different one hundred years later,one hundred years later? Fire is faster.
Once upon a time, people hada good eleven minutes or so to
safely get out of their home.We are down to about two minutes.
Wow, could be even less toget out of your home safely because today's
home furnishings are made with synthetics thatproduce more and more toxic smoke. Open
(23:25):
floor plans, lightweight construction materials meansmore fire, more smoke, hotter,
faster. So we've got to realizethat you have maybe two minutes to safely
get out of your home. Andif everyone in the home doesn't know they're
two ways out and have that meetingplace outside, which is critical. That
(23:48):
is why, unfortunately we see alot of tragedies because we can't suppress our
way out of this. People needto take action. What are the recommendations
for keeping something like a fire extinguisherhandy in case of fire were to break
out, So we'll be honest withyou. A fire extinguisher, a portable
fire extinguisher is fine for a small, contained fire, like in a waste
(24:11):
basket, something like that. Ina cooking fire. Only certain types of
fire extinguishers are rated for cooking firesbecause most cooking fires are with Greece,
So the wrong portable fire extinguisher andused incorrectly can actually make that fire spread
and grow faster. So in theevent of a cooking fire, we don't
(24:33):
want people being firefighters. There's ajob for that already, right when in
doubt, get out, call nineto one one. Let the fire department
do their job. Let's talk moreabout these cooking fires that you're focused on
for Fire Prevention Week this year.What are some of the different tips that
(24:55):
you have available to help prevent thesecooking fires, aside from what you had
mentioned earlier, just honestly paying attentionto what you're doing. Thank you,
Yes, you know. I havelong said if everybody stays with their cooking
and had a good lid or cookiesheet to the side of them in case
(25:15):
of a flare up, we wouldmake a huge difference because staying with your
cooking and having a lid nearby,being able to if there's a flare up
it starts to smoke, sliding thatlid on it, turning off the heat,
that makes a huge difference because you'veextinguished it, you've taken out the
oxygen, you've taken off the heat. Those are those are critical tips.
(25:37):
I will say the other kinds ofthings that are so important are things like
turning the handles inward on your stovetop. So again, many of these cooking
fires happen on the stove. Soif you have a fry pan or any
kind of a pan, those lid, those handles need to be turned inward
because it's so easy to knock intoit. Now cause a spill, a
(26:00):
fire, grease, or a burn. And then we have our messaging around
kids. The kitchen is the heartof the home and we know that,
and we want families to enjoy theircooking and get kids involved. Kids need
to be three eight feet away onemeter away from the stove or anywhere hot
(26:21):
foods and liquids are being served.We actually see the majority of scald burns
and cooking fire burns are in kidsunder the age of five, and it
is because they are getting too close. You know, they're curious, they're
touching things, they're knocking things over. So stay with your cooking, keep
that lid nearby, turn the handlesinwards, keep those kids three feet one
(26:45):
meter away. And then you know, I'm a big fan set of timer.
If you've got something simmering on thestove or something on the stove.
I often work for my own kitchencounter my island, right, and so
I'm multitasking because it's what we do. If I have something on the stove
and I think I'll go back andcheck on it, no, I forced
myself to check on it. Iset the timer and increment and I'm right
(27:08):
there with it. But it's soeasy for people to get distracted that you
know, those are the pieces ofadvice that we can give you that that
really do make a difference. Andthere's really no excuse not to set a
timer because there's one right on yourphone, so that's very easy to access
one and set it to keep yourselfand your family safe. Final thing I
(27:32):
want to get to at Firepreventionweek dotorg. There are a number of great
resources and tools, especially for kidsto educate and prevent fires. Can you
just explain some of what is availableon the website for people to check out?
Absolutely? So. Our homepage hasthe menu of options, but we
(27:55):
have videos that teach about cooking safety, home escape planning, and actually give
you a little history of that greatChicago fire, so that you can learn
a little bit about the history offire and where we come from. We
have a number of assets that peoplecan download and use. We have our
(28:15):
Family Action Plan, We have tipsheets on cooking. We actually have a
new tip sheet on cooking appliance safetybecause we know a lot of people are
now using things like air fyers andinstant pots and again the electric cooking appliances.
We have all sorts of coloring sheetsand fun activities, so there's really
(28:36):
something for all ages and they canIt's a great way to engage kids in
learning about fire safety in a safeway and it's not scary. And for
adults, you know, we havea number of assets for you to just
teach you how to make that homeescape plan. You know what you need
to know about your smoke alarms,and then your basic good safe cooking tip.
(29:02):
Andrea vastis Senior director for Public Educationat the National Fire Protection Association.
This week has been Fire Prevention Weekand you can learn more at Firepreventionweek dot
org. Andrea, thank you somuch for taking a few minutes to come
on the show. We really appreciateit. Thank you, Ryan, I
appreciate it being here, all right, And that'll do it for this edition
(29:22):
of iHeartRadio. Communities as we wrapthings up one to offer big thanks to
all of our guests and of courseto all of you for listening. If
you want to hear previous episodes ofthis show, we're on your iHeartRadio app.
Just search for iHeartRadio Communities. I'myour host, Ryan Gorman. We'll
talk to you again real soon
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