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By Elizabeth O. Bryson
FORT IRWIN, Calif.– Fort Irwin firefighters hosted an open house in honor of Fire Prevention Week, sharing safety strategies and fire prevention tips with Fort Irwin community members October 11, 2023, at Fire Station Four, here.
October is also Fire Prevention Month, so first responders on Fort Irwin are pulling out all the stops to put a focus on this year’s theme, kitchen safety; they will be hosting community events and visiting schools throughout the month in order to raise awareness about one of the most common causes of household fires, cooking.
During the open house, firefighters grilled hot dogs and treated kids of all ages cotton candy, snow cones and giveaways that featured fire safety, including books, stickers and plastic fire helmets.
National Fire Prevention Association mascot, Sparky the fire dog, greeted attendees and posed for photos with families.
Fort Irwin Department of Emergency Services acting director Arturo Calzadillas Jr. was at the event.
“The turnout from the Fort Irwin installation is priceless to us,” Calzadillas said. “Each year we get about 400 people at this event… we love having them come meet our firefighters and get to know our first responders as a part of their community in a positive atmosphere.”
Fort Irwin firefighters gave participants inside access to the firehouse bay and a variety of fire and rescue apparatus and hosted activities designed to foster fire prevention in the home.
Kevin Murphy, Fort Irwin Department of Emergency Services, fire prevention chief, was this year’s organizer.
“Community outreach is very important to us,” Murphy said. “Our goal is to teach kids safety at a young age so they remember and apply those lessons as they grow up.”
Fire prevention team members escorted community members through an educational fire prevention trailer, where they learned about kitchen safety and practiced the proper method to exit a home where fire and smoke are present.
“Most people my age remember the ‘stop, drop and roll’ campaign… that was very successful in its day and now we have expanded on it with all sorts of learning activities and programs,” Murphy said.
“If you teach children early on you can have an impact for life,” Murphy said. “There is simply nothing more important than keeping our children safe.”
According to the National Fire Protection Agency, National Fire Week has been observed since 1922 during the week of October 9th in order to commemorate the date of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871; Fire Prevention Month is celebrated annually throughout the month of October.
| Date Taken: | 10.11.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.17.2023 11:47 |
| Story ID: | 455964 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 76 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fun at Fire Station Four: Fort Irwin Fire Open House, by SSG Elizabeth Bryson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
