Celebrates Fire Prevention Week On Sunday, Oct. 2
The East Meadow Fire Department is pleased to join the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA®) in celebrating the 100th anniversary of Fire Prevention Week™. This year’s campaign, “Fire won’t wait. Plan your escape™,” seeks to educate everyone about simple yet vital steps residents can take to keep themselves and their families safe from home fires.
Since 1922, the NFPA has sponsored the public observance of Fire Prevention Week, during which children, adults, and teachers learn how to stay safe in case of a fire. The event is observed each October commemorating the Great Chicago Fire, which began on Oct. 8, 1871, and caused devastating damage, killing more than 250 people, leaving 100,000 homeless, destroying over 17,400 structures, and burning more than 2,000 acres of land.
As part of Fire Prevention Week™, the EMFD will host its annual Fire Prevention Open House on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2021, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Fire Headquarters, 197 East Meadow Avenue, on the corner of Front Street.
The annual Fire Prevention Open House, a popular community event, gives residents of all ages the chance to meet the men and women who volunteer their time to serve the community by providing essential fire, rescue, and emergency medical services around the clock, 365 days a year. Residents also get to see up-close the fire department’s different apparatus and equipment to protect the community and learn about fire safety through live demonstrations and interactive activities. EMFD volunteers are also on-hand to answer questions for those interested in joining the fire department as a firefighter or with the department’s emergency medical services company.
“We welcome everyone in the communities served by the East Meadow Fire Department to stop by our annual open house and say hello to the men and women who help keep us safe and to learn how they can stay safe in case of a fire or other emergency,” said Commissioner Keith J. Hoffman. “We also encourage men and women to consider joining the all-volunteer fire department and experience the satisfaction of making a difference in our community.”
In keeping with the theme of this year’s National Fire Prevention Association Week, the Board of Commissioners of the East Meadow Fire Department offers the following tips to help keep you and your family safe in a fire:
• Make a home escape plan mapping out all doors and windows and discuss it with everyone in the house. Tips on how to create a home fire escape plan can be found here: https://www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Staying-safe/Preparedness/Escape-planning
• Know at least two ways out of every room in the house, if possible, and ensure that all doors and windows leading outside are not blocked and open easily.
• Have a predetermined meeting place where everyone should meet. This could be a tree, a light pole, or a neighbor’s house.
• Practice your home fire drill at night and during the day with everyone in your home twice a year.
• Practice using different ways to exit the house.
• Teach children how to escape the house on their own in case an adult cannot help them.
• Always close doors behind you as you leave, which helps limit fire spreading.
• If the smoke alarm sounds, GET OUT AND STAY OUT. Never go back inside for people, pets, or personal items.
• If you are escaping through smoke, GET LOW AND GO under the smoke to your way out.
• Call the East Meadow Fire Department at 516-542-0576 from outside your home.
The East Meadow Fire Department, which covers East Meadow and parts of Levittown and Westbury (Salisbury), is always looking for new members to join their ranks as firefighters or emergency medical personnel; no experience is necessary. The fire department provides the training required.
There are numerous benefits associated with volunteering, including tax breaks, college scholarships, annual health checkups, life insurance, and a service award pension program, all at no cost.
For more information on volunteering with the East Meadow Fire Department, visit www.eastmeadowfd.com, or call 516-542-4565.
—Submitted by the East Meadow Fire Department. Additional graphics courtesy of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA®)
