The Crookston Fire Department will hold their annual open house on Saturday, October 6. The open house will be from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and the public is encouraged to take in the activities. “We’ll be providing ladder truck bucket rides, thermal imaging demonstrations, station and equipment tours, kids get to try on gear, spray water,” said Crookston
Firefighter Brian Hanson. “We’ll have some guessing games on the weight of a pumpkin and door prizes. We’ll also have a kids ID program provided by the Minnesota Masons, which takes the kids fingerprints in case a child is ever lost or taken.”
They will have safety brochures and you can sign-up for a free in-home fire safety inspection. “You can sign up for the free inspection where a firefighter will come to your house and look at smoke and CO detectors to make sure we’re prepared for winter time,” explained Hanson. “We’ll also look at how to use a fire extinguisher during the open house.”
Fire prevention week will officially kick off on Sunday, October 7. The theme for 2018 is “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere.” The basis is to educate people about three basic but essential steps to take to reduce the likelihood of having a fire and how to escape safely in the event of one.
– LOOK for places a fire could start. Takes a good look around your home, identify potential fire hazards and take care of them.
– LISTEN for the sound of the smoke alarm. You could have only minutes to escape safely once the smoke alarm sounds. Go to your outside meeting place, which should be a safe distance from the home and where everyone should know to meet.
– LEARN two ways out of every room and make sure all doors and windows leading outside open easily and are free of clutter.
Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of October 9 in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871 and caused devastating damage. This horrific conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures and burned more than 2,000 acres of land.
Tune into KROX news next week for daily fire prevention tips from the Crookston Fire Department.
