Fire Prevention Begins at Home

Diana Gish/KMXT

October is Fire Prevention Month in Alaska.Fire safety prevention may not sound like an exciting topic but its one that can save your life and the lives of those you love.

–(Fire Prevention 1"Fire that doesn’t …to put out.")

That’s Dave Tyler, State Fire Marshall. He was in Kodiak recently to do a review of area fire departments and to help draw attention to Fire Prevention Month.

For many years, Alaska has had one of the highest death rates by fire in the country. For that reason, Alaska focuses an entire month on making people more aware of how to prevent fires.

The challenge of fighting fires in communities throughout Alaska led to the creation of project "Code Red" as Tyler explains:

–(Fire Prevention 2"and its basically … that is there.")

The primary focus of fire prevention month is on teaching school children. Tyler hopes that the children will take the message home with them.

—(Fire Prevention 3"It’s the responsibility … that we’re making.")

One of the responsibilities of Kodiak’s fire departments is to conduct inspections and to enforce building codes. Something the State Fire Marshall says is usually not appreciated.

–(Fire Prevention 4"You know … of our goals.")

In the U.S. around 3,000 people died last year as a result of fires. Most of those deaths were in homes with no working smoke alarms. Cooking is the leading cause of home fires and that is usually caused by unattended cooking. Smoking is the cause of one out of four fire deaths in the U.S. . Heating, electrical and lighting equipment are the next biggest causes of home fires. Having working smoke alarms at home doubles your chance of surviving a home fire. Having and practicing a home escape plan greatly increases your chances of surviving a home fire.

I’m Diana Gish.