Fire Prevention Week celebrates our heroes

This year’s fire prevention week is all about everyday heroes. The National Fire Protection Association has announced this year’s Fire Prevention Week theme as “Not Every Hero Wears a Cape: Plan and Practice Your Escape!” The focus will be on the everyday people who take the time to educate and motivate their households to create and practice a fire escape plan for their home. It’s these seemingly basic practices that can have a lifesaving impact.

The theme also puts focus on creating a good home escape plan and the value of practicing it. This is more important than ever as newer homes can burn faster than ever. The use of synthetic fibers in modern furnishing and newer homes tend to have more open spaces and lightweight, unprotected construction do contribute to the increased burn rate.

A good home escape plan should include two ways out of every room, normally a door and window with a clear path to a meeting place that is a safe distance from the home. It is also recommended that the plan is practiced at least twice a year. Along with an escape plan, it is recommended that homes have working smoke alarms on every level of the home, with one in every bedroom and near all sleeping areas.

Fire Prevention Week began in 1925 when the President of the United States signed a proclamation declaring the week for the national observance. It is the longest-running public health and safety observance on record according to the National Archives and Records Administration’s Library Information Center. The NFPA has sponsored the week since 1922, three years before it was officially declared a national week of observance.

The National Fire Prevention Association was founded in 1896. It is a global, nonprofit organization devoted to the elimination of injury, death, economic, and property loss due to fire, electrical, and related hazards. The group uses more than 300 consensus codes and standards, along with research, training, education, outreach, and advocacy to deliver information and knowledge. It also partners with those who share in wanting to further the NFPA’s mission.

For more information on this year’s theme, “Not Every Hero Wears a Cape: Plan and Practice Your Escape!” the consensus codes, and a wealth of resources to help locally promote the campaign, please visit the NFPA’s website, fpw.com.