The Merrill Fire Department (MFD) is once again engaging in a fire prevention education in the schools. “Our goal is fire prevention education of pre-school through fifth grade that will continue to protect you and your families,” said Josh Klug, MFD Fire Chief.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) announced “Smoke alarms: Make them work for you!” as the official theme for Fire Prevention Week, October 6–12, 2024. “Smoke alarms can make a life-saving difference in a home fire, but they have to be working in order to deliver the needed protection,” said Lorraine Carli, Vice President of the Outreach and Advocacy division at NFPA. “This year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign reinforces the critical importance of smoke alarms and what’s needed to install, test, and maintain them properly.”
Having working smoke alarms in the home reduces the risk of dying in a home fire by more than half (54 percent). However, roughly three out of five fire deaths occur in homes with either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms. More than one-third (38 percent) of home fire deaths result from fires in which no smoke alarms are present.
“People tend to remove smoke alarm batteries or dismantle them altogether when they don’t know how to fix the issue. These actions put them at serious risk in the event of a home fire,” said Carli.
“The MFD utilizes a progression of education where we start at the pre-school level showing the students the ‘Friendly Firefighter’ dressed in all of his fire gear and continue educating the same students annually for seven years,” Klug said. “Each year we review what was learned the previous year and add in new fire prevention and safety techniques such as checking and maintaining smoke detectors twice each year. We also have students, along with their families, create and practice an escape plan to get out of their homes safely.”
“Of course the Fire Pup comes to visit the Kindergarten classes to help instill our message and make a memorable impression on our young learners,” he said. “Our second graders get a fun video safety lesson from Red-E-Fox explaining the use of our 911 system.”
“Through the years of educating our community’s youth, we are also empowering them through homework assignments to bring their safety education into their home, causing moms, dads, and families to complete home safety checklists, check smoke detectors, and plan escape routes for each family member, among several other take home assignments.”
Merrill Fire Department’s “Fire Prevention Week” usually takes three weeks to complete. For their 2024 fire prevention education, 21 shift personnel will personally talk to and educate more than 1,000 students plus the teachers and school staff will enjoy a refresher annually. “Our fire prevention and safety messages will then be taken into many of the homes in our community by our Junior Firefighters (students),” Klug said.
