October is Fire Prevention Month, which provides an opportunity for the Monmouth Fire Department to visit local schools and daycares to bring awareness to fire safety and explain to children what to do in the event of a fire, shares Assistant Fire Chief Craig Cozadd:
“We do this every year around this time in remembrance of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. We like to hit the youth, usually pre-k through 3rd grade is our target audience. They seem to be probably the most receptive to what we have to say and then they take that information home. Of course we talk about smoke alarms in the home, what to do if there is a fire, how 911 works, what to expect when they call because we tell them to call 911, but they are scared to call because they don’t know what will happen, and just explain the difference between true emergencies. One of the big things we always do is put a firefighter in full gear. The main idea of that is that it can a little scary, especially for little kids, to see somebody in that and the idea is to see that we are friends. If there is an emergency in the home that they aren’t hiding from us, they are coming to us.”
The Monmouth Fire Department also presents informational fire safety talks for the residents at the Costello and Oak Terrace buildings.
