and Meghan Foley
By Ryan Hutton, North Adams Transcript
Article Launched: 10/04/2008 03:06:58 AM EDT
Saturday, October 4
Next week is National Fire Prevention Week, and fire departments in North Berkshire are preparing for this year's theme "Prevent Home Fires."
In Williamstown, Chief Craig A. Pedercini said his department will have its annual open house on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The main area of the station behind where the trucks are kept will be where training videos will be shown for children, including "Smoke Detectives," which is about identifying and fixing fire hazards in the home.
The fire trucks will be on display outside the station, and there will be a fire extinguisher display where trucks are usually kept, with someone there to answer questions for those interested in getting extinguishers for their homes. Firefighters will also be available to meet with children in local day care centers and to show them fire equipment. The children can try on and touch the turnout gear, so they won't be afraid of it in a real emergency.
"Our primary concern when we have little kids is to teach them not to be afraid of firefighters," Pedercini said. "It's hands-on and the best training we can give them."
Cheshire Fire Chief Tom Francesconi said his department will focus on older kids.
"We're up at the high school all week," he said. "We do fire drills with the kids, then the rest of the week we do a firefighter obstacle course. We have the kids dress in full turnout gear and breathers, and they do
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different activities simulating firefighting -- stuff like spraying fire extinguishers at bottles to knock them down, a hose drag, going through a smoke trailer and crawling through a tunnel in full gear. It's a lot of fun."
Cheshire will also have programs in the elementary school.
"We're having a firefighter go in and talk about fire safety and fire prevention in the home, what to do when you hear the smoke detectors, having an escape plan, stuff like that," Francesconi said.
The North Adams Fire Department will host an open house at its station on American Legion Drive on Sunday, Oct. 12, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. That's one day after Fire Prevention Week officially ends, but the Fall Foliage Parade is this Sunday. The event will feature fire-safety activities and likely cookies and punch.
Lorraine Carli, spokesperson for the National Fire Protection Association, said the premise behind this year's theme is that roughly 3,000 people die in home fires every year, and the majority of them can be easily prevented by taking simple steps.
"The leading cause of home fires is cooking, and the majority of those fires result from people leaving the food unattended," Carli said. "The easiest thing people can do is stay in the kitchen when they have food on the stove top."
Another major fire concern for both chiefs this winter is people finding alternative ways to heat their homes, with the price of oil and gas still fairly high.
"People may buy a wood pellet stove, and the biggest fear we have is that it's not installed properly," Pedercini said. "Stoves need to be installed to manufacturer specifications, and permits need to be pulled from the inspector's office, and devices need to be inspected after installation."
Francesconi said Cheshire does not get a lot of house fires typically, but he is worried that the increased heating costs may lead people to use more plug-in space heaters.
"I just get nervous when people misuse space heaters, don't get their chimneys and furnaces cleaned to save money and then start using them," he said. "That's how you get furnace blowback."
Carli said people should always be sure to get their chimneys inspected and cleaned because failing to do so is the leading cause of chimney fires. She also cautioned against using space heaters.
"Space heaters are particularly dangerous," she said. "They cause about three quarters of the heating-fire deaths, usually because people place them too close to things that can burn."
Francesconi reiterated the dangers of space heaters being left unattended and used improperly. He said he has been to numerous calls where sleeping people have left them plugged in and they have ignited something.
"I say don't use them, but if you do, don't leave anything close to them -- don't plug them into an overloaded outlet, don't put them near anything combustible," he said. "Don't leave them running for any length of time and certainly not when you're sleeping. That's what scares me the most."
More information can be found at the National Fire Protection Association Web site, www. firepreventionweek.org
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