smoke detectors/open house ideas

[LRMark26]

I am in charge of planning an open for our department in October. First I was wondering about smoke detectors. Has anyone had their department give out free smoke detectors to those that needed them? I have heard from some people that there may be a liability factor there that they could come back and say that we gave them a defective smoke detector. In my eyes i could never see this happening or a viable argument in courts.

I am also looking for ideas during the open house. Here are the ideas I have already. If you have any to add please do.

Smoke Detectors
Escape Plans
Extinguisher training
Exrication
Smoke House
Flight Care Helicopter
Spraying the hose

[Diane E]

Sorry it's long, but I love Fire Prevention!

Re. Smoke Detectors, I don't see it as a problem as long as you tell them (better yet -- hand out a pamphlet or quick check off sheet -- something you know they will actually read) to check the smoke detector often (some people say monthly) and change the batteries at least twice a year for safety's sake -- usually when the clocks are changed.

Try not to have too much going on at the same time. People can just grasp so much knowledge in one day. We may do it every day or week, for most of the public, the yearly Open House is it.

My dept. sets up "stations" and we try to follow it in a scheduled format, in a somewhat circle.

Our ladder company puts the ladder up and has members climb it, and since they run the rescue truck, they cut up one or two cars. They used to repel off the firehouse roof, but the rain reaked havic on the roof and we need a new one.

One engine company makes a smoke room out of one of our rooms in the firehouse and it includes bedroom furniture and a matress and, of course the fake smoke -- they go over smoke detectors, too.

Another engine company builds a "frame" with cabinets (if we can find them) around an oven and does stove-top and oven fires (we hand out pot holders with our phone number on them, too). We incorporate fire extinguishers in that station, as well.

Our other engine company has little kids use the booster line off the brush truck to hit a "flame" in a window (picture a plywood mini house cut-out with a flame that folds down when hit with the water) -- the kids love it. They get a plastic fire hat at that station.

Our Juniors have a table with applications and will put gear and SCBA on and go through a maze.

Our Fire Police make the hot-dogs and what-not (all free to the public). This year I think they're going to do a mini class on what the public should do when they come across them in the middle of the road (we've had a couple of close calls with drivers not having a clue).

Our Ladies Auxiliary has tables set up for coloring (we have coloring books with our name on them for fire prevention) and usually have baked goods to pass out. They hand out the trick or treat bags with pamphlets, too.

We "borrow" a fire prevention trailer and some members from a neighboring dept. -- that's a hit with the kids, too. A couple of years ago, a couple of our computer-tech guys started taking digital pictures of the kids by the engines, in gear, adding nice backgrounds and the date of the open house, etc. By the time the families are ready to leave, their picture is printed and lamenated -- it's not an exepensive thing, you just need a decent printer and a lot of ink cartridges. We have a Lady Aux. member or Junior dress up as Smokey the Bear. Pumper, our unofficial mascot, makes an appearance -- the friendliest Dalmation you'll ever meet. The engines are on display and kids can climb through them (with supervision, of course). We do all this in 3 hours, too....

Other suggestions -- if you're going to order pamphlets and the like, do so early. Places get busy and may not be able to deliver on time. The USFA.FEMA.gov site offers a lot of free stuff. Insurance offices (i.e. Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Statefarm, etc.) will, too. And don't forget to adveritise -- in the schools (elem. to high school), nursery schools, religious schools, religious establishments, library, stores, hospitals, local newspapers, etc.

We don't have an ambulance, but some area departments will do blood pressure screenings.....

Hope this helps! Good luck.

Diane

[hwoods]

And Don't Forget...........

Recruiting new Volunteers. The fact that someone is in attendence at your Open House means that they have some interest in what's going on. Take advantage of that interest, have a table staffed by someone who can answer a lot of questions, as well as hand out a lot of material. We do equipment displays with the price of each item listed, so people know how much it costs to replace equipment Etc. We have a large chart that outlines each member's training hours, and a list of classes for each member as well. Stay Safe....

[SMCAPT7]

SMOKE DETECTORS AT OPEN HOUSE

We have a program at our town in which we will give any resident (1) smoke detector if they don't have one. They can either contact us directly, visit the station or if we go to a call in their home. We keep 5 detector on each of the apparatus to give out during calls if none are present in the home and the homeowner wants one. The purchasing of these detectors come from the local ELK lodge which has a program to give away safety items. I would contact the ELKs and see if they will set-up this program with you. If you have any questions, you can email me at [email protected]

[JFDdan]

a couple more ideas:

in wisconsin, we get free pamphlets from the state (department of commerce) regarding where smoke detectors are required in a home. (we use them in the construction industry, but they'd be good for fire prevention too)

a department south of here (new richmond, wi?) has a great smoke detector program. they've teamed up with the local pizza shop, and every monday night the fire dept. delivers a pizza order for the pizza shop (yes, they even use the firetrucks) and offer to inspect the homeowner's smoke detectors. if they are all in good order, they get a coupon for a free pizza. if not, they give the homeowner a free smoke detector. sounds like a great program.