This upcoming week WPFD firefighters will visit area schools to educate our communities children about fire safety and preparedness. Our topic for this years national Fire Prevention Week will discuss “It’s Fire Prevention Week! Prevent Kitchen Fires!”. Firefighters, dressed in our safety gear, will be visiting schools with working fire department vehicles to provide educational presentations, hand out safety materials, safety coloring books, and more. We hope to start the valuable conversations that educate the public about smoke alarm recommendations and motivate everyone to install smoke alarms in their homes in key locations, check them regularly/tested properly, and change batteries yearly (or every 6 months) to always have a working smoke detector.
A message from Fire Chief Wheeler:
Stand By Your Pan
How often has the doorbell rung or a child interrupted you while you were cooking, causing you to forget about the chicken you left sizzling on the stove – until smoke filled the house?
If this scenario or a similar one sounds familiar to you, you may want to think about it a little more because it’s likely that you, a friend or family member has run the risk of having a dangerous fire. As chief of the West Pulaski Fire Department, I often talk to people about the ways they can stay safe in their homes. Too often, we have that talk after they’ve suffered a damaging fire.
It’s my hope that people reading this article won’t have to learn the hard way. If I could give just one fire warning, I’d say, “Keep an eye on what you fry!”
Why? Because cooking is the leading cause of home fires, according to the nonprofit National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The latest statistics from NFPA say U.S. Fire Departments responded to an estimated annual average of 156,600 cooking-related fires between 2007-2011.
We’re joining forces with NFPA and thousands of other fire departments across North America to commemorate Fire Prevention Week, October 6-12th, “Prevent Kitchen Fires.” The theme reminds us that leaving cooking unattended and other unsafe kitchen practices are a recipe for disaster.
Continue reading Fire Prevention Week October 6th-12th →
