National Fire Prevention Week

Fire Facts

In 2001, there were an estimated 31,200 smoking-material fires in structures, 830 civilian deaths, 1,770 civilian injuries and $386 million in property damage. Of the fire deaths, 770 occurred in the home.

Source: NFPA's The Smoking-Material Fire Problem, November 2004, by John R. Hall, Jr.

National Fire Prevention Week

Fire Prevention Week is October 7-13 2007. Visit the fire prevention week website.

Local Fire Prevention Week Events

The Columbia Fire Department and TRYPS, a local children theater troupe have again teamed up to bring fire prevention and safety messages to elementary schools.
Click here for a schedule of shows and make arraignments with your child's school to attend!
Join us for the dedication of the Percent for Art project, In Gratitude, at Fire Station 7, 400 Green Meadows Circle, on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 4:30 PM. Parking will be available at Rock Bridge Christian Church with shuttle between the church lot and Fire Station 7.

Fire Prevention Week Video Messages

The Columbia Fire Department Urges Columbia Residents
to “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned.”

COLUMBIA, Mo , October 2009 — Once a child touches a hot stove, as the cliché goes—he learns his lesson, stay away from a hot stove. This cliché does not take into account the pain and suffering from burns and burns should not be part of the learning process.

That’s why the Columbia Fire Department is teaming up with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for Fire Prevention Week 2009 – October 4-10 – to urge Columbia residents to “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned.” This year’s campaign focuses on ways to keep homes fire safe and prevent painful burns. Additionally, fire safety educators will be teaching local residents how to plan and practice escape from a home in case a fire occurs.

The statistics are staggering. Each year roughly 3,000 people dies as a result of home fires and burns, and more than 200,000 individuals are seen in the nation’s emergency rooms for burn injuries.

“The most common types of burn injuries result from fire or flame burns, scalds and contact burns,” said Steven Sapp, Fire Marshal. “Burns are painful and can result in serious scarring and even death. When we take extra caution in our homes to ensure that the curling iron is out of children’s reach or pot handles are turned away from the edge of the stove, such injuries are entirely preventable. Keeping our homes safe from fire and preventing devastating burn injuries is a healthy change we can make happen.”

By following simple safety rules, you can “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned.”

Keep hot foods and liquids away from tables and counter edges so they cannot be pulled or knocked over.
Have a 3-foot “kid-free” zone around the stove.
Never hold a child in your arms while preparing hot food or drinking a hot beverage.
Be careful when using things that get hot such as curling irons, oven, irons, lamps, heaters.
Install tamper-resistant receptacles to prevent a child from sticking an object in the outlet.
Never leave a child alone in a room with a lit candle, portable heater, lit fireplace or stove, or where a hot appliance might be in use.
Wear short or close-fitting sleeves when cooking.
Set your hot water temperature no higher than 120 degrees.
Install anti-scald valves on shower heads and faucets.

The Fire Prevention Week advice is simple:

Install working smoke alarms on each level of the home, and test them monthly to ensure they are working; replace batteries at least annually
Develop a thorough fire escape plan and practice it by holding fire drills twice a year; make sure you know two ways out of every room
Teach everyone in your household that once they are out, they must stay out until firefighters say it is safe to go back inside; get out first, then call the fire department

For more information about Fire Prevention Week, log on to the official Web site: www.firepreventionweek.org.

Fire Facts

National Fire Prevention Week

Local Fire Prevention Week Events

The Fire Prevention Week advice is simple:

Fire Prevention & Safety Resources