Each October, Fire Prevention Week (FPW) arrives with reading materials and presentations to the Grade 1-3 students in the Prince Rupert area.
This year's theme is about "Kitchen Fires", and the Prince Rupert Fire Rescue Department has been cooking some great ideas for 10 months in order to make this year's FPW a real success.
Beginning in 2012, Community Safety Net (http://www.communitysafetynet.com/) began calling local Prince Rupert businesses with the hopes of raising enough funds to produce a 115 page fire safety booklet and DVD to be handed out to the children in our area. This successful campaign was well supported by the community and industry partners, and by working together, were able to produce 870 booklets. This accomplishment has not been matched by any community of our size, and Prince Rupert can be very proud of earning this number one ranking.
During Fire Prevention Week, fire fighters will be visiting each of the five elementary schools to present these booklets along with another great surprise.
Sparky the Fire Dog has been a recognized mascot of the Fire Service since the 1950's, and this year Sparky will make an appearance again in Prince Rupert after a long absence.
The Department applied for FM Global's fire prevention grant and according to Michael Spaziani of FM Global "this application stood out among the hundreds we received" and awarded a $2,000 grant to the Fire Department. A generous donation from Prince Rupert Grain filled the needed funds to complete this purchase and the Department is excited to announce that Sparky will play an active role in the 2013 FPW activities and for many years to come.
The goal of Fire Prevention Week has always been to educate children about fire safety. For decades, this program has proven to be an effective way to reduce fire incidents in our communities. With the help our community partners, the Fire Department has been able to provide effective fire safety materials to our children in Prince Rupert.
The efforts of everyone that contributed to these programs will help reduce the occurrence of fires and give the children the knowledge of how to act if they ever encounter a fire.