Fire Prevention – More than just a week
Posted on 21. Jul, 2009 by Chris in Safety and Prevention
Without question one-week out of the year firefighters receive the much needed attention during fire prevention week. But is that one week enough and can we make it more than that?
For almost 100 years fire departments across the country make sure that people are aware about the dangers of fire and how to prevent them. But what usually happens after that week? In all reality the public goes back to their daily lives, the school children we visited are back to learning their ABC’s and businesses who participated are now back to making widgets. In other words the message was clear for a short time, but it will fade.
Why not use fire prevention as a way to market your department year round?
Here is a simple 1-year plan that you could use or build upon to generate more fire prevention and awareness, along with getting your department the much needed attention they deserve
January: It’s the first of the year and people have resolutions on their mind. Make fire safety one of their resolutions and offer a FREE Smoke Detector Weekend Inspection. You get to visit your community, help them prevent fire and start their new year off in a safe manner.
April/May: For many rural and volunteer fire departments, this time of year means the burning of brush and ditches. Why not invite farmers / landowners to submit a request for you to come out and burn the field safely with the understanding that a small donation would greatly be appreciated.
June/July: The summer is in full swing now and there are a host of activities you could educate the public on. You could offer free gas grill inspections or maybe even a seminar on fireworks safety and what to do in the event either of these summertime events turns into an emergency.
October/November: Obviously Fire Prevention Week will be your “big event” for the year, but let’s consider some other situations where fire dangers could arise. Many towns and cities do not allow the burning of leaves or rubbish, but most counties do allow the burning of these natural materials. Send out some of your smaller apparatus (chief’s vehicles, grass buggies, etc.) on a nice weekend looking for burn piles. Just stop in, say hello and see if you could leave them a brochure on burning safely.
December: There’s no denying that this time of year can be very dangerous for several reasons. From live trees, to Christmas lights and decorations and of course space heaters / furnaces, this time of year has a host of issues when it comes to safety. Team up with a local HVAC company and provide inspections of furnaces for free. Invite a local electrician company to come out with you on inspections of outlets where space heaters might be used.
There are plenty of ideas here to think about or choose from, could you add more? Have some ideas? Leave us your notes below and maybe others will learn from what you have done.
