Photo By Spc. Brendon Donahue | A JBLM firefighter hands out fire hats, toys, coloring books and fire safety material...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash.-- The Joint Base Lewis-McChord Fire Department is touring schools and other public places this week to promote awareness of common fire hazards and to encourage best practices of fire safety to the public during National Fire Prevention Week, October 10-16, 2023.
“Fire Prevention Week is when we take time to really bring out the importance of fire prevention and what it is exactly,” said Neftali Contreras, a firefighter with the JBLM Fire Department, who was manning a booth at Lewis Main Exchange with his colleagues on Thursday morning.
His team was busy handing out fire safety pamphlets to parents, along with coloring books, toys, and small fire hats for kids. Many passersby were also stopping to have conversations with the fire safety professionals to ask specific questions or learn more about what they could do to prevent fires.
“We have tips and tricks, coloring books and fire hats here at the booth, but its not just for the kids, it's for the parents as well,” Contreras said.
The slogan for the 2023 Fire Prevention Week is “Cooking safety starts with you. Pay attention to fire prevention,” highlighting the most common cause of house fires.
“The number one cause of fires is unattended cooking,” Contreras said. “Some people don’t know how to properly put out a grease fire, and they may try to dump water on it, which will actually cause a chemical reaction that drastically increases the size of the fire. Once that fire gets going, it can be very difficult to put out, since fires typically increase to four times their original size in under a minute.”
Contreras said his biggest piece of advice is to educate yourself on fire safety so you can prevent falling victim to a house fire.
“Always be aware, have an exit plan, and be sure not to cover up any exits in your home. But keep your doors shut at night. Closing exterior doors shuts off the airflow path that can help prevent smoke from going into your room in case of a fire, which could potentially suffocate you.”
Since 1922, the National Fire Protection Association has spearheaded Fire Prevention Week during the week of October 9th to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871 and killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 people homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land, according to the National Fire Prevention Association’s website.
In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge declared Fire Prevention Week a national observance, making it the longest-running public health observance in the U.S.
| Date Taken: | 10.12.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.12.2023 17:45 |
| Story ID: | 455669 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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