Preventing home fires this year'€™s campaign

Firefighters in St. Tammany Parish will take part in Fire Prevention Week today through Oct. 11 with a host of open houses, school demonstrations and more.

Sponsored by the National Fire Prevention Association, the annual event has been held for 85 years, generally around the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The theme for this year’s campaign is “Prevent Home Fires,” and the NFPA is urging families to take active measures to keep their homes safe.

According to the group’s latest research, more than 2,500 people died in home fires in 2006, and 12,500 were injured. Fire departments responded to nearly 400,000 home fires that accounted for 80 percent of civilian deaths and 76 percent of injuries that year.

“While the number of home fires is daunting, the good news is that many are easily preventable,” said Fire District 1 Chief of Fire Prevention Neil Ricca. “There are lots of things you can do to keep your home and family safe from fire.”

The leading causes of home fires are cooking, heating and electrical equipment and smoking materials. Ricca said something as simple as a potholder left too close to a lit burner or a space heater left on overnight could be all it takes to start a home fire.

Ricca and other fire safety educators will travel to elementary schools around the parish to talk about fire safety next week. In addition, almost all fire departments offer free home safety inspections or can demonstrate the correct usage of a fire extinguisher.

Fire District 3 in Lacombe will extend its campaign through the entire month of October.

“Some of the schools will bring groups to tour the fire house,” said Stephanie Bestor. “We’ll also be doing demonstrations and reading to the kids in several other schools.”

In Mandeville, Fire District 4 will be taking its Fire Prevention Trailer on the road to help spread the word about fire safety. Complete with puppet shows and video demonstrations, this will be the first time the department has fully utilized the vehicle after getting it last year.

FD4 Chief Rick Tassin echoed the cautions offered by the NFPA but said Louisiana residents have an added item to consider as hurricane season is winding down.

“People should always operate a portable generator outside,” said Tassin. “We had a couple of incidents here during Hurricane Gustav, and some of our guys on deployment in Bayou Cane had to take care of some folks that put it in their garage.”

Tassin said many residents are tempted to put the generator inside the home to avoid the chance of theft. However, in addition to the risk of fire, operating the gasoline-powered device indoors can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.

Candle safety is also high on Tassin’s list of priorities, saying at least two recent events were due to improper candle use.

Parents concerned about children who seem prone to playing with matches or starting fires can contact FD4 for an evaluation and recommendation from the firefighters, trained to look for certain clues to an abnormal situation.

Genevieve Cancienne of Fire District 12 said the department will conduct an art contest in honor of Fire Prevention Week for children who are residents in that district.

One winner each will be picked from two groups, ages 6 to 11 and ages 12 to 17, and each will receive a Nintendo Wii gaming system.