SOUTHWICK/GRANVILLE/TOLLAND – On Oct. 2, the Massachusetts Department of Fire Services announced that Oct. 9 through Oct. 15 will be Fire Prevention week throughout the state and several area towns and cities will be hosting events for their respective communities this week and throughout the month.
Among those departments is Southwick, who won’t be having an event this week but will certainly be coordinating a program with the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District in order to bring fire prevention awareness into the schools.
Fire prevention consists of a number of things and Southwick Fire Chief Russ Anderson discussed the importance of some ideas such as, making sure that families develop an escape plan in case there’s a fire in their home and selecting a meeting place afterwards. As the cold weather is approaching us, Anderson mentioned how careful people should be with candles, wood stoves, ashes, as well as keeping objects a minimum of three feet away from space heaters.
The Massachusetts Department of Fire Services has announced this week as Fire Prevention week. (Photo courtesy of Mass Department of Fire Services)
Although Southwick Fire may not be having an event next week, Anderson is appreciative of a having an entire week dedicated towards what his department focuses on year round.
“Having a specific time frame that focuses on those safety issues is key,” said Anderson. “It’s definitely an asset.”
Just minutes down the road in Granville, their fire department is hosting a fire prevention event on Oct. 14 from Noon until 6 p.m. at the Gran-Val Scoop. In a story done by The Westfield News on Sept. 29, members of the Granville Fire Department will be going over three different topics that cover fire prevention. These topics will each last an hour and done two times each in order to reach as many residents as possible. The three areas that will be covered are smoke alarm education, an SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) demonstration, and home fire safety discussion.
Closing out the month of October, Granville Fire, partnering with the American Red Cross, will be installing free smoke alarms to Granville residents on Oct. 28. To qualify, a resident’s home has to be built before 1975 and their smoke alarms needs to be 10 years old or older.
Granville Fire Chief Matt Ripley is also glad to see a week dedicated towards fire prevention.
“We advocate for it year round,” said Ripley. “We’re definitely happy there’s a week dedicated just for fire safety and fire prevention.”
While Granville is still a few weeks away until their smoke alarm program, Tolland Fire just had their smoke alarm event with the American Red Cross on Sept. 23 and ended up installing brand new smoke alarms in 15 homes in town.
Like Anderson and Ripley, Tolland Fire Chief Eric Munson touched on the basic aspects of fire prevention that are important for the public. Whether it’s smoke detectors, carbon monoxide, cleaning out fireplaces, and practicing home evacuations, Munson understands how crucial it is to have educational events that can benefit the community.
“Getting people in that mindset is very important and saves lives,” said Munson. “It gets that information out for people to think about it.”
For more information about the state-wide initiative, contact the Massachusetts Department of Fire Safety at 978-567-3100.
