Serve up fire Safety in Your Kitchen for Fire Safety Week
What are three little words you never want to hear? Fire! Fire! Fire!
While we are at work, we have the privilege of the local fire department’s assistance in keeping our work areas fire-safe.
Whether on one of the military installations or the in-town offices, we count on the fire inspectors to give us a periodic and thorough shakedown to ensure we keep JT4 and our neighboring businesses safe from fire hazards. But what about when we leave work? Who helps us at home?
The answer is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA)! The NFPA established Fire Prevention Week in 1922, and three years later, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed it a national observance.
Fire Prevention Week is observed annually during the week of October 9th in remembrance of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire and the terrible devastation it caused.
A Recipe for Safety: Fire Prevention Week
This year, Fire Prevention Week is October 4 -10 and has the special theme, “Serve Up Fire Safety in the Kitchen.” According to the NFPA, the number one cause of home fires and related injuries is cooking, and the leading cause of kitchen fires is unattended cooking.
For more information and tips on fire safety, visit nfpa.org. The website offers many resources to help families be fire safe, not just during Fire Prevention Week, but all year long.
There are resources for fire prevention, preparedness, smoke alarms, and fire escape plans. They even have teaching tools to help children learn about fire prevention, which may be particularly useful this year with so many schools relying on distance learning.
Who knows? Maybe even some of us older kids might find something useful and entertaining in their resources—they have puzzles and coloring pages for kids and adults!
So, whether you are cooking up your favorite “firehouse chili,” making the latest culinary craze or just boiling water for macaroni and cheese, remember to serve your dish with a side of safety!
Featured image: Sparky the fire dog reminds us of four tips to stay safe in the kitchen. See nfpa.org for more details.