National Fire Prevention Week

The power to save a life

If you could save a life,

If you could prevent a disaster,

If you could protect children,

Would you?

The power to save a life is in your hands.  In a very real sense.  This is not an exercise in the  theoretical or hypothetical.  This is tangible, practical, real life actions that every person can take to save a life.  National Fire Prevention week is about doing the basics, the fundamental things that keep our homes, our children and our neighborhoods safe.

You may never see the electrical wiring inside your wall that was chewed by a mouse.  You might not realize that creosote has built up inside your chimney.  You may not know that your heating unit is about to malfunction.

BUT YOU CAN:

• Install a smoke detector on every level of your house, especially outside of all bedrooms
• Change the smoke detector batteries every six months (choose daylight savings time as your clue to remember, or get up and go do it right now while you’re thinking about it!)
• Have your chimney cleaned
• Have your heating unit serviced and cleaned
• Check on elderly parents or college aged students and make sure that their smoke detectors are functioning, installed in all appropriate areas, and have working batteries.

It’s too easy.

These are such simple things.  They are easy to accomplish.

Your fire department will even provide you with smoke detectors if you cannot afford them.

And if you don’t live close enough to mom and dad to check on them yourself, you can actually call their local fire department and schedule a smoke detector inspection for them!

Let’s face it.

We don’t have control over everything.  We don’t have control over the neighbor in the townhouse next door who leaves the stove burner on.  We don’t have control of the neighbor in the upstairs apartment who smokes in bed.  We don’t have control over the house that’s only 50 feet away that overloaded their circuits with Christmas lights.

We have to control what we are able to control.

In your house,

In your hallways,

Where your children sleep,

Make sure the smoke detectors are working.