Individuals often keep tarps on hand in case of emergencies, typically due to a hurricane or tornado. But, while a polyethylene can prevent a home from further water or mold damage, it can do the same in other emergency situations, including car wrecks and fires. This week, two news items, one in the Cedar Valley Daily Times and the Utica Observer-Dispatch, mention how tarps were used in such emergency situations. About a month ago, we saw tarps being used in a fire inside a library in Canada to protect books, and tarps can be used for a similar use in other buildings and places. As far as cold protection is concerned, tarps won’t keep out the cold – but if you put a heater in a portable garage or similar tarp structure, the heat will stay inside – but they keep out the wind and, because of this, tarps are used in emergency situations in which wind might be an impediment.
In the cold, such as the article appearing in the Cedar Valley Daily Times, ambulance workers in North Benton, IA bring tarps with them to crash sites. Wrapping the crash site with them, according to the linked article, keeps the wind out, and the rescue workers can help the crash victims better without the interference of wind. As parts of the United States have been experiencing more-than-average snowfalls and faster-than-average winds, more forces of nature could impede rescue efforts.
For a different emergency use, tarps are taken along by fire departments in Utica, New York to reduce water damage from fires. Automated sprinklers in homes or buildings can go off and this can result in water damage to rooms and any objects inside. Workers in such instances drape fire-retardant tarps over the future to prevent objects or the building from water damage as they put out the fire inside.
