Observe Fire Prevention Week Oct. 6-12 with Escambia County Fire Rescue

Escambia County Fire Rescue encourages residents to join in observing National Fire Prevention Week Oct. 6-12, which presents several calls to action to help the public reduce their risk of home fires and keep their families safe. 

The National Fire Protection Association has sponsored Fire Prevention Week since 1922, celebrated each year during the week of Oct. 9. This year's theme is "Not Every Hero Wears a Cape. Plan and Practice Your Escape." 

Through three simple calls to action, the theme identifies basic but essential ways people can reduce their risk to fire and be prepared in the event of a fire:

• Look for places fire can start. Take a good look around your home. Identify potential fire hazards and take care of them.
• Listen for the sound of the smoke alarm.  You could have only minutes to escape safely once the smoke alarm sounds. Go to your outside meeting place, which should be a safe distance from the home and where everyone should know to meet.
• Learn two ways out of each room. Make sure all doors and windows leading outside open easily and are free of clutter.

The National Fire Protection Association statistics show that in 2017 U.S. fire departments responded to 357,000 home structure fires. These fires caused 2,630 fire deaths and 10,600 fire injuries. On average, seven people died in a fire in a home per day during 2012 to 2016

To learn more about Fire Prevention Week and get tips on how to prevent and prepare for home fires, visit firepreventionweek.org.

Escambia County Fire Rescue is available to provide and install smoke detectors free of charge for residents. According to NFPA, a working smoke detector cuts the chances of dying in a reported fire in half. For information about obtaining a home smoke detector, call 850-595-HERO (4376) or request a smoke detector online through the Ask MyEscambia app. City of Pensacola residents may call 850-436-5200 for smoke detector installation assistance.