This week, October 6-12, was observed nationally as Fire Prevention Week. It was established in the early 20th Century by President Calvin Coolidge and falls on the week of October 8 to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. A blaze that killed at least 300 people and left thousands of people homeless.
Demonstrations such as “Stop, Drop and Roll” when your clothes are on fire, crawling on hands and knees to stay out of the smoke, and always getting outside and telling a grown up if they think there’s a fire, were big topics of discussion amongst the young classes.
The kids were also given the opportunity to see some real firefighters wearing real firefighter gear. They learned that although firefighters may look and sound scary, they are there to help and are nothing to be scared of. They were also shown some of the fancy equipment the rescue heroes will use when they go into a fire.
This fire prevention week, the Chadron Volunteer Fire Department reminds us to never play with fire, always have working smoke alarms in your house and test them monthly, invest in fire extinguishers to keep around your house, primarily in your garage/shed and your kitchen, and to have a preplan on what you and your family will do to escape safely if there’s ever a fire.