October 5 - 11 marks National Fire Prevention week. Asheville Fire and Rescue will be in full support not only during this week, but for the whole month. Each year there is a theme to promote and this year it is "Prevent Home Fires". In order to endorse this message Asheville Fire and Rescue, along with fire departments across the states, will be educating the public on ways to prevent home fires. Preventative measures include: to never leave cooking unattended, do not overload circuits, use candles with care, give space heaters space, wet all ashes before discarding and several more safety tips. Fire departments responded to nearly 400,000 home fires in 2006 across the United States. Asheville Fire and Rescue is helping to spread the word to our community that, with a little extra caution, preventing the leading causes of home fires - cooking, heating, electrical and smoking-materials - is within their power.
Throughout the month of October, citizens may see firefighters out in the community at several locations. We really focus on educating our children and do so by transporting our fire safety trailer to the elementary schools. This trailer educates children on fire safety within the home and how to do a fire evacuation. Asheville Fire and Rescue will also be giving various presentations to different organizations and business regarding fire safety, how to keep their place of business fire safe, how and when to use a fire extinguisher and more fire related subjects. The firefighters will be traveling to different schools to talk about their professions for career days and often just allow younger children to sit on the truck and view the turn out gear a firefighter wears during a fire. Regardless of the program, the idea is to educate and interact with the public in a way to help prevent fires and to create a positive relationship between the citizens of Asheville and the Asheville Fire and Rescue Department. For more information on what programs Asheville Fire and Rescue offers, or to learn more about the department
visit www.Ashevillenc.gov/Fire or
call 828-259-5636
