August 2015

Volunteer firefighter Melanie Brown is willing to climb great heights to make sure that everyone who passes by Shanty Bay Fire Station # 1, north of Toronto, sees this year’s Fire Prevention Week banner and knows the Fire Prevention Week theme: “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep. Every Bedroom Needs a Working Smoke Alarm.”

Back on terra firma, Brown will join her colleagues with Oro-Medonte Fire and Emergency Services in providing the public with FPW-related information and activities.

In October, the department plans to provide smoke alarm and CO alarm information at a farmer’s market, visit schools to hand out FPW materials, and host an FPW finale at department headquarters featuring a barbecue and educational information.

Volunteer firefighter Melanie Brown is willing to climb great heights to make sure that everyone who passes by Shanty Bay Fire Station # 1, north of Toronto, sees this year’s Fire Prevention Week banner and knows the FPW theme: “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep. Every Bedroom Needs a Working Smoke Alarm.”

Back on terra firma, Brown will join her colleagues with Oro-Medonte Fire and Emergency Services in providing the public with FPW-related information and activities.

In October, the department plans to provide smoke alarm and CO alarm information at a farmer’s market, visit schools to hand out FPW materials, and host an FPW finale at department headquarters featuring a barbecue and educational information.

The National Fire Protection Association and Safe Kids Worldwide are teaming up in a formal partnership to promote fire and life safety, bringing together the strengths of both organizations.

To kick off the partnership, the organizations are co-hosting a webinar on Tuesday, September 1, 2015, at 2:30 p.m. EST. The webinar will give an overview of how the organizations will work together to support Fire Prevention Week and offer participants strategies for promoting this year’s FPW theme: “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep. Every Bedroom Needs a Working Smoke Alarm.”

Participants will get a guided tour of the Fire Prevention Week website and learn about free and for-purchase materials, and how to enhance their fire-safety activities. There will also be an opportunity to ask presenters questions and share thoughts on Fire Prevention Week.

Fire Prevention Week 2015 is October 4-10. However, fire departments and Safe Kids coalitions throughout the United States will begin outreach in September and continue through the end of October.

Webinar presenters are NFPA Division Manager Judy Comoletti, NFPA Senior Project Manager Amy LeBeau, and NFPA Regional Education Specialist Kelly Ransdell.

Register for the webinar.

The Fire Marshal’s Public Fire Safety Council Distribution Center, in Brockville, Ontario, is busier than ever these days with Fire Prevention Week less than six weeks away.

FPW materials have been received and work is underway assembling kits. Summer student Tobin Wade (pictured above) has been organizing packages of brochures, as well as stickers, banners, posters, and other items for distribution to fire departments across Canada.

A new offering for the 2015 FPW campaign is the Fire Safety Sports Box, filled with all kinds of items that kids and teens love–bracelets, water bottles, temporary tattoos, and fire safety brochures.

Smoke alarms likely helped save the life of an 8-year-old girl in Camanche, Iowa. According to KWQC-TV6, Alysia Schomer wanted to stay home on a recent Saturday while the rest of her family went a few blocks away to a parade in town. During a nap she woke up to the sound of a smoke alarm. There was a fire on the kitchen stove and the room had filled with smoke. Alysia says she got out right away and then found help.

“I saw the fire trucks in front of my house and I just couldn’t get here fast enough,” said her mother, Kristie Schomer.

According to the Camanche Fire Department, the smoke alarms in the family’s home were installed a few years ago as part of a fire department program.

“We’ve had smoke alarms save numerous lives but it’s the first time we can actually document that, yes, this is a residence that actually participated in our program,” said Camanche Fire Chief Dave Schutte.

Over the last few years firefighters have installed several hundred smoke alarms in town. NFPA’s Smoke Alarm Central is a complete source of smoke alarm information. The smoke alarm installation guide is an excellent resource for fire departments looking to launch an installation program. In addition, the smoke alarm community toolkit includes everything needed to motivate residents to install and maintain smoke alarms.

It’s believed the fire started when the family dog tried to go after a pizza box on top of the stove, accidentally turning on a burner.

I was shopping in the home department at one of the big box stores during the weekend and had to squeeze my cart past aisles filled with parents and their teenagers, shopping for sheets and comforters, lamps, and pillows, small appliances, and furnishings, all designed to make the dorm room or off-campus apartment comfortable.

Another items that’s essential to include on the college student’s packing list is fire safety information. NFPA’s College Campus Fire Safety tips sheet provides information on smoking, candle, and cooking safety, as well as escape planning, and pointers on smoke alarm safety.

The tips sheet, which can be customized with the fire department’s or organization’s name and contact information, can be downloaded, printed, and shared.

In addition, the Campus and Dorm Fires section of the NFPA website includes details about the Campus Fire Safety Sweepstakes and Contest,in which NFPA, The Center for Campus Fire Safety, the University of New Haven Fire Science Club, and Domino’s Pizza® are teaming up.

The contest starts September 1, the beginning of Campus Fire Safety Month, and is designed to promote on- and off-campus fire safety for students.

The August issue of Safety Source, NFPA's public education enewsletter, is now available for viewing. In this issue, you will find;  

• New campus fire-safety page
• Sparky video: All sketched out for Fire Prevention Week
• Local fire departments can take the Fire Prevention Week Challenge
• Firefighter fatalities in 2014
• NFPA tools help with disaster preparedness

Don't miss an issue! Sign up now and be the first to get the latest information on happenings in the public education division, activities, fire statistics, trends, educational tips, Sparky the Fire Dog® and more.

Firefighters concerned with the number of fire-related deaths in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, this year, spent time one evening last week installing smoke alarms in homes.

According to Tuscaloosa News, Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue Service firefighters visited homes in a neighborhood where two men died in a fire earlier this month. According to Fire Marshal Gene Holcomb (left), the deaths could have been prevented if there had been a working smoke alarm in the home.

The department has conducted “Get Alarmed, Tuscaloosa!” for 10 years, installing more than 1,300 smoke alarms and visiting close to 7,000 homes. Installations will be conducted in other Tuscaloosa neighborhoods throughout the rest of August.

NFPA’s Smoke Alarm Central is a complete source of smoke alarm information, a gateway to safety tips sheets, videos, reports, and a guide to installing and maintaining smoke alarms. In addition, NFPA’s community toolkit on smoke alarms includes everything public educators need to conduct a successful smoke alarm awareness campaign.

Take the Fire Prevention Week (FPW) 2015 Challenge. Help us reach more people with this year’s crucial message “Hear the Beep Where You Sleep. Every Bedroom Needs a Working Smoke Alarm." NFPA is looking for fire departments across the United States to show us your best FPW activity for a chance to win a Fire Safety Sports Box, which includes one Sparky's® Team Up For Fire Safety Flag, All-Star Fire Safety brochures, Sparky’s Team Up for Fire Safety soft slap bracelets, drawstring sports bags, water bottles and more.

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Conduct a 2015 Fire Prevention Week activity. Be creative or choose one of the activities we have provided.
2. Take a photo of your activity.
3. Complete the online 2015 Fire Prevention Week Challenge application (available September 15) to enter the random drawing for a Fire Safety Sports Box (10 to be awarded).

*Conducting an activity also fulfills the requirements of FEMA’s Preparathon!® campaign, which works to increase the number of Americans who understand the disasters most relevant to their community, while educating them on ways to be safe and mitigate damage.

Rules

• Local fire departments and state fire marshals’ offices are eligible to enter.
• 10 random winners will receive a Fire Safety Sports Box.
• All entries must be received by midnight October 31, 2015.
• See the complete list of official rules.

A zip-lining Sparky the Fire Dog®, firefighters grooving to the beat, TV personalities leading a crowd in a spectacular performance of singing and dancing. All of these elements came together in Ontario for the Barrie Fire and Emergency Services and Simcoe County Fire Department flash mob video launch of Fire Prevention Week 2013.

Although the campaign was two years ago, it is well worth revisiting as communities prepare for this year’s Fire Prevention Week.

More than 100 people participated in the flash mob performance in City Hall courtyard: kids, parents, firefighters, city employees, and home safety experts. The video reminds everyone to test their smoke alarms every month and about the importance of escape planning–to get low and go under smoke, get outside to the meeting place, and call 9-1-1.