Town of Cary to Kickoff National Fire Prevention Week This Weekend
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2009
This year’s message is “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned.”
CARY, NC – Families from all over the Triangle are invited to head to Cary’s Fred G. Bond Metro Park, 801 High House Road, this Saturday, October 3, 2009, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. for the National Fire Prevention Week Safety Festival; this year’s festival focuses on the theme, “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned.” Throughout the day, kids and their parents can get a first-hand look at fire equipment, and the Cary Police Department, Cary’s Citizen Emergency Response Team, Safe Kids Coalition, Cary EMS, and Cary’s Inspections & Permits Department will be available to provide valuable safety information. Kids can also get their IDs made at the event. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Carolina Air Care’s helicopter is scheduled to drop in for a visit at 10:30 a.m.
This year’s campaign focuses on ways to keep homes fire safe and prevent painful burns. Each year, about 3,000 people die as a result of home fires and burns, and more than 200,000 individuals are seen in the nation’s emergency rooms for burn injuries.
“This event is a great opportunity for you and your family to receive safety information that could save you or your loved ones’ lives,” said Fire Education Specialist Kathy Ellis. “We appreciate the support of local agencies to help promote this vital, safety message.”
From 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., kids ages 3-12 can compete in the Kid’s Combat Challenge – a course with seven obstacles, including a 22-foot inflatable slide; a stop, drop and roll station; crawl low in smoke simulator; dummy drag; and house fire simulator. Age groups will be divided into three brackets: ages 3-6, ages 7-9 and ages 10-12. All participants will receive Survivors’ T-shirts while they last, and winners in each age group will be awarded trophies.
To help avoid burns, the Town also offers the following safety tips:
• Keep hot foods and liquids away from tables and counter edges so they cannot be pulled or knocked over.
• Have a 3-foot “kid-free” zone around the stove.
• Never hold a child in your arms while preparing hot food or drinking a hot beverage.
• Be careful when using things that get hot such as curling irons, oven, irons, lamps, heaters.
• Install tamper-resistant receptacles to prevent a child from sticking an object in the outlet.
• Never leave a child alone in a room with a lit candle, portable heater, lit fireplace or stove, or where a hot appliance might be in use.
• Wear short or close-fitting sleeves when cooking.
• Set your hot water temperature no higher than 120 degrees.
• Install anti-scald valves on shower heads and faucets.
In case of rain, the fire safety event will be cancelled.
For more, visit the Fire Department section of the Town’s Web site at www.townofcary.org.
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PRIMARY CONTACTS:
Kathy Ellis, Fire Education Specialist/Code Official, (919) 460-4958
April Raphiou, Deputy Public Information Officer, (919) 481-5091
Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, (919) 460-4951
September 30, 2009
This year’s message is “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned.”
CARY, NC – Families from all over the Triangle are invited to head to Cary’s Fred G. Bond Metro Park, 801 High House Road, this Saturday, October 3, 2009, from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. for the National Fire Prevention Week Safety Festival; this year’s festival focuses on the theme, “Stay Fire Smart! Don’t Get Burned.” Throughout the day, kids and their parents can get a first-hand look at fire equipment, and the Cary Police Department, Cary’s Citizen Emergency Response Team, Safe Kids Coalition, Cary EMS, and Cary’s Inspections & Permits Department will be available to provide valuable safety information. Kids can also get their IDs made at the event. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Carolina Air Care’s helicopter is scheduled to drop in for a visit at 10:30 a.m.
This year’s campaign focuses on ways to keep homes fire safe and prevent painful burns. Each year, about 3,000 people die as a result of home fires and burns, and more than 200,000 individuals are seen in the nation’s emergency rooms for burn injuries.
“This event is a great opportunity for you and your family to receive safety information that could save you or your loved ones’ lives,” said Fire Education Specialist Kathy Ellis. “We appreciate the support of local agencies to help promote this vital, safety message.”
From 11 a.m. until 3 p.m., kids ages 3-12 can compete in the Kid’s Combat Challenge – a course with seven obstacles, including a 22-foot inflatable slide; a stop, drop and roll station; crawl low in smoke simulator; dummy drag; and house fire simulator. Age groups will be divided into three brackets: ages 3-6, ages 7-9 and ages 10-12. All participants will receive Survivors’ T-shirts while they last, and winners in each age group will be awarded trophies.
To help avoid burns, the Town also offers the following safety tips:
• Keep hot foods and liquids away from tables and counter edges so they cannot be pulled or knocked over.
• Have a 3-foot “kid-free” zone around the stove.
• Never hold a child in your arms while preparing hot food or drinking a hot beverage.
• Be careful when using things that get hot such as curling irons, oven, irons, lamps, heaters.
• Install tamper-resistant receptacles to prevent a child from sticking an object in the outlet.
• Never leave a child alone in a room with a lit candle, portable heater, lit fireplace or stove, or where a hot appliance might be in use.
• Wear short or close-fitting sleeves when cooking.
• Set your hot water temperature no higher than 120 degrees.
• Install anti-scald valves on shower heads and faucets.
In case of rain, the fire safety event will be cancelled.
For more, visit the Fire Department section of the Town’s Web site at www.townofcary.org.
###
PRIMARY CONTACTS:
Kathy Ellis, Fire Education Specialist/Code Official, (919) 460-4958
April Raphiou, Deputy Public Information Officer, (919) 481-5091
Susan Moran, Public Information Officer, (919) 460-4951
