Santa Paula Fire Captain John Harber gave a presentation to Barbara Webster Elementary School 4th-graders on how to be “fire safe” and following the lesson students demonstrated their knowledge inside the Fire House.

Smoke alarms, Fire House exercise
facets of Fire Prevention Week

October 17, 2014
Santa Paula News

There are a lot of kids in Santa Paula learning a lot about fire safety due to an entertaining but life-saving program being presented at area schools.

The Santa Paula Fire Department, as a continuation of the October 5-11 National Fire Prevention Week has been making unique presentations to 4th-grade classrooms.

Chief Rick Araiza said SPFD Firefighters “Will visit every single 4th-grade class in Santa Paula to deliver important fire safety tips,” via a PowerPoint presentation focusing on EDITH AKA Exit Drills In The Home.

Following the presentation the 4th graders go outside and demonstrate their new skills in the Fire Safety House for firefighters who continue to work with the children on EDITH techniques. 

But Araiza said the SPFD and firefighters also stress the importance of smoke alarms in the home.

At the October 6 City Council meeting where Araiza was presented with a proclamation recognizing Fire Prevention Week, Councilman Martin Hernandez noted that “Home is where people are at the greatest risk,” of dying from fire injuries.

The theme of this year’s Fire Week is Working Smoke Alarms Save Lives - Test Yours Every Month. 

Last year there were more than 369,000 home fires in the nation that killed 2,700.

Smoke alarms cut the death rate by more than half; three out of five fire deaths were attributable to not having working detectors.

One-fifth of those fatalities involved fire alarms that were not working, mostly due to batteries not being installed or the batteries being dead; some detectors were disconnected.

Smoke alarms should be installed on the hallway ceiling outside of sleeping areas and ideally inside bedrooms. Other devices should be placed throughout the home. 

Araiza said there are special smoke alarms for the deaf.

The SPFD is now working on a grant to purchase more smoke alarms to give to residents free of charge: “We gave the last of them out at the last Cruise Nite and now we’re temporarily out,” until more funding can be obtained. 

Araiza told the council, “One thing we are doing is visiting elementary schools with the Fire Safety House that we share with the Fillmore Fire Department... and during that exercise with the kids we get them familiar with smoke alarms as well.”

Araiza said Captain John Harber is directing the Fire House program that will also include an essay contest.





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