October Is Fire Prevention Month

By Steve Rensberry, Editor

The month of October is set aside each year as Fire Prevention Month. The goal is simply to raise awareness about fire safety and the importance of being prepared. Few things are more damaging than a fire, whether its your house, vehicle, garage, or farm field, and staying on guard and taking precautions just make good sense.

All of us in this area are fortunate to have the fire departments, alert systems, and emergency response teams that we have — part and parcel of living near a major metropolitan area I suppose.

Fire Prevention Month has a long history, with the National Fire Protection Association first designating the second week of October as Fire Prevention “Week” in 1922, in commemoration of the Great Chicago fire, which happened in 1871.

The year’s campaign, organized by the National Fire Protection Association, “Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape.”

“For Fire Prevention Month this year, First Alert is urging families to improve their home’s safety by checking their alarms, testing the alarms regularly and adding reliable protection when replacing expired alarms,” the company “First Alert” states on it website.

According to the company:

• Carbon monoxide is the No. 1 cause of accidental death

• Three out of every five home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no working smoke alarms.

• Fewer than 50 percent of homeowners have an escape plan.

• Only 4 percent of people report having CO alarms in their home.

Making sure you have good working fire alarms and CO alarms in your house would seem like a good first step to take, given the company’s data.