MILAN, NM – The Milan Fire Department partnered with Domino’s and NFPA for Fire Prevention Week. The department helped deliver pizza and were able to reach out to residents in Milan to speak about cooking safety and fire safety in general. The department installed ten smoke alarms and delivered pizza to five houses.
Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of October 9th in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871, and caused devastating damage. This horrific conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land. During Fire Prevention Week, children, adults, and teachers learn how to stay safe in case of a fire. Firefighters provide lifesaving public education in an effort to drastically decrease casualties caused by fires. This year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign is, “Cooking safety starts with YOU. Pay attention to fire prevention,” the campaign works to educate everyone about simple but important actions they can take to keep themselves and those around them safe when cooking.
For this year’s Fire Prevention Week the Milan Fire Department held an event on October 9, partnering with Domino’s to give individuals who resided in Milan free pizza in exchange to test their fire alarms and install fire alarms if they had none. Residents were also given a talk to speak about fire safety and cooking safety. The department also is working with the New Mexico Red Cross in order to install the alarms, residents would fill out a form showing how many people live in the home and the fire hazards that may exist within the home.
Vickie Rougemont who works for the red cross says that when a fire occurs in the area, the fire department will check the fire alarms and see if they were placed by the red cross, if they were, they can use the information collected when the alarm was installed to see how many people live in the home, how old the individuals who live there are, and if there are any health problems. With this information the department and the red cross can provide all necessary aid to the residents.
Chief Daniel Urioste says along with this event they are planning on holding other events at the schools to speak more about fire prevention and fire safety and why it is important. He said that they will be giving demonstrations on how they combat fire and other information that can be important in preventing fires.
For more information on fire prevention and this year's Fire Prevention Week you can visit NFPA.org.