Fire Prevention Week teaches BLAZE members household safety

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Keith Holcomb
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Fire Prevention Week is a nationally recognized week and gives fire and emergency members a chance to teach their communities ways to stay safe and prevent unwanted fires from starting.

“Fire prevention week was enacted by President Calvin Coolidge, it was in response to the Great Chicago Fire,” said Peter J. Delillo, 14th Civil Engineer Squadrons fire inspector. “Calvin Coolidge designated one week a year for fire protection specialists to teach the communities how to help prevent fires.”

This years’ theme is “Every Second Counts: Plan 2 Ways Out,” in reference to always having two means of escape when inside of a building. This for most people will mean understanding two separate ways to evacuate their home because they spend the most time there.

“Another thing we will be speaking about this year is spontaneous combustion,” Delillo said. “We want people to understand how mixing regular household waste and yard waste or organic waste increases the risk of starting a spontaneous combustion fire.”

The National Fire Protection Association completed a four-year study, where the results showed more than 4,400 house fires were attributed to spontaneous combustion directly caused by improperly stored materials.

“This week is filled with events primarily to bring the fire department closer to the community, so they know we are here and they know what we can do,” Dilillo said. “We want people to be comfortable when they are dealing with us, a lot of times they only see us during emergencies and that can be scary.”

Another thing the NFPA tries to stress to communities is the importance for children to know their home addresses.

This allows children to call 911 and communicate effectively with the dispatcher to quickly send help to the location with the emergency taking place.

“You know there’s no call that’s the same,” said William O’Meara, Assistant Chief of Health and Safety for fire and emergency services. “Every day we walk into something different and it makes the job interesting, we help out with so many different kinds of situations, when people have an emergency it’s nice to be the first people they call.”

The fire station on Columbus AFB has the capabilities to handle any sort of fire or accident on base, as well as some medical capabilities, allowing them to stabilize individuals before being taken by an off-base medical response team to the nearest hospital.

The NFPA has an easily accessible website for teaching the community at any time, http://www.nfpa.org/. Parents can find ways to create fun and interesting ways for children to learn fire prevention and safety, as well as how to escape when a fire is in the home.